^ I like the sound of a free endless energy source, but only if it doesn’t create greenhouse gases. But that might take you only a couple of weeks, so I’d work on saving the world after that.
@busdriver11 - I recently met a man who was driving the excellent Arizona shuttle between Prescott and the Phoenix airport. He used to be a pilot. When he first “retired”, he began teaching at Embry Riddle. Something about cockpit dynamics and emergency response. Then he wanted to work less so he started driving the shuttle once a week, “just for fun”, he told me, lol.
Hey now, I didn’t say my endless energy source was gonna be free! 
Though maybe I’d use some of the profits to save the world…fund my retirement and give cc’ers discounts.
greenwitch, I meet a lot of retired people driving airport shuttles, a number of them prior aviation. I think many of them enjoy talking to a captive audience. That would be like a nightmare for me!
I’m in Manitou Springs right now, grpund support for my husband running the Pikes Peak Ascent. I think being one of these aging superrunners would be cool. There’s a guy running it who is 87!!
Regarding grandparents. Mine died young- three out of four before I ever knew them and the fourth was not much to even talk with. My mother died before becoming a grandmother. Inlaws visited from India typically for a few weeks at a time. My father’s visits were less than three days- he is a terrible houseguest. I read about adult parent child/grandchild relationships, but not in my world.
Regarding warm water, H’s aunt from S California and his mother (who had been here before) came to visit together July last year. We had to persuade H’s aunt to wade in the water when we went to Clearwater Beach on the Gulf. She discovered what we know- in the summer it is around 90 degrees and lovely. Winters it cools down. But, seeing how tap water runs perhaps 72 (55 up north), even then it won’t be too cold.
I like what I do, but there is too much other cr*p that goes along with the job. If I could just be left alone to do that actual job I was hired to do, I would be ridiculously busy (more than 40 hours/week busy), but I would happily do my job. Unfortunately, things don’t work that way. That is why I won’t keep working … and why I think more and more about retirement every day. I’m too old to be Superwoman, too young to want to gallop off into the sunset quite yet. Well, I told my kids life isn’t easy, and I was right.
Part of my thinking of retiring on the early side is watching the health of people around me. My “surrogate step dad” died of cancer at 71. My aunt died at 71, and had dementia, but that wasn’t the cause, necessarily. My mom has moderate dementia (diagnosed) at 69. My friend’s sister and brother in law both died before 65.
So, I am sort of trapped between making sure I have enough money in case I live til 90, and retiring young enough to enjoy myself some.
If only I had a crystal ball 
H’s sister died of cancer recently. She was working as a dentist until the last year of her life. She was in her early 70s. I am doing my best to have H spend time with his only remaining sib–his brother. We are having his brother come with us on several trips and make a point of seeing him every time we are in CA (which is at least annually). I also spend a lot of time with my sibs and folks. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. My extended family does tend to live a very long time–my folks are in their 80s & 90s and still fairly healthy.
We’re traveling now. Both my mom and MIL were bedridden in their 60s, and had medical issues that precluded traveling much earlier than that. FIL moved from the Bronx to NJ to live a block away from my BIL; my dad is in the same house and swears he will never leave. He has a good network of friends and the military hospital, my sister lives nearby and COL is very low. Works for him.
I have come to see that DH looks at retirement as packing up the tent and not doing much of anything, which is probably a good part of why he says he will never retire, and why I suspect we will stay in our state, even though it’s expensive.
With my medical stuff, we are doing fun travel now so we will have those shared memories whatever happens. It feels decadent, but this is really the only big splurge we do. House is modest, we drive cars til they die, DH has turned down opportunities for much better paying jobs because he loves what he does. Both guys graduated from college. We have made good decisions over the years about saving and spending (though I admit we should have pushed the state school option more). There are no big inheritances forthcoming, but DH gets a pension and we both have 401(k)s. We’ll be OK down the road – maybe not by some CCer’s standards, but I don’t think we’ll be a burden on our kids.
It’s the “not be a burden on our kids” that worries me most. H and I want to enjoy our life in retirement. We don’t have extravagant tastes, the house is paid for, taxes are relatively low … but I worry about the money lasting. H will live until he’s in his 90’s, probably, based on the longevity of both sides of his family. My family longevity is more mid-70’s to early-80’s. It’s important to balance enjoying our life together with not being able to finance life down the road. We have saved, and we should be in good shape, but it’s uncharted territory & is stressful.
I’ve been retired since the end of February, my wife effectively since June although officially last week. I’ve found that minor things to do seem to fill up all my time. My wife used to wonder what I did with all the time, now she realizes it and is basically like me. We will travel cross country for roughly two months starting right after labor day. We made sure we traveled a lot before this point. I’ve got a few places I have left to go including Antarctica. She still wants to go to Vietnam.
Yes, it is surprisingly easy to keep busy. For me, one of the advantages was to finally get a full 8 hours of sleep a night, or if I couldn’t for some reason, to have the ability to take a nap. Sleep is a good thing and I was running too huge a deficit while working.
God willing I will be the first person to retire in my family going back a while. Everyone has died before they reached retirement age. I grew up in a family of heavy drinkers and heavy smokers. When you see this going on around you…you have no desire to drink or smoke. I’m eligible to retire at 49 1/2 (next year) and mandatory at 57 (federal law enforcement). Many have asked why not work into 57 which is still young…my hubby is 64 and I want to enjoy time with him. When POTUS eliminated the 10% penalty on TSP withdrawals (before 59 1/2) for LEO’s who reach retirement age I decided it was time. Between that and a full pension/benefits it’s time.
One of the most difficult parts of my sweet girl heading off to college is my mom and dad aren’t here to see it. Not drinking or smoking is great but stress can kill you. The quicker I get rid of the stress the better.
^ This just brought back memories of my college years in Prescott. Small world… B-)
Just learned that one of my former co-workers whose been retired for two years had a heart attack. He worked until he was mandatory (57 years old). I’ve seen several of us over the years have heart attacks (one dear friend retired one week and had a massive heart attack the next). They were both fit as a fittle from all outward appearances.
@HappyFace2018, you’re convincing me that sooner is better than later for retirement.
My H will likely never completely retire, but he may write a book or become a researcher on soft money or something.
I think I would volunteer and things like that, but am afraid of losing the paycheck.
“HappyFace2018, you’re convincing me that sooner is better than later for retirement.
My H will likely never completely retire, but he may write a book or become a researcher on soft money or something.
I think I would volunteer and things like that, but am afraid of losing the paycheck”
"So, I am sort of trapped between making sure I have enough money in case I live til 90, and retiring young enough to enjoy myself some.
If only I had a crystal ball "
I think I have the same issues as you, @1214mom . I would like to retire before this job kills me in the ways that so many of my coworkers have died (cancer, melanoma, heart attack, brain tumor, lung disease). However, I fear giving up the paycheck, and there is no way I’m going to get paid like this to do something else. There’s got to be something in between working until you die, and retiring in your prime earning years, too early.
I also had college years in Prescott, as well as a significant part of my 20s. It is a far more interesting town these days.
As I feel I took part of my retirement by working very part time when the kids were young, I always expected to be working longer than most. But it is no fun to be here facing 5 more years with friends retiring all around me. The social aspect is something I had no idea would affect retirement wishes.
So am trying to brain storm ways around it. Rent the house out, and volunteer, in Peace Corps or a National Park? Teach English abroad?
When you all do your financial planning, what age do you assume you will live to?
We had to do this recently. I am 51 and in excellent health with no notable risk factors. My maternal grandmother is still living at 97, my maternal grandfather died at 80 but had been a 2 pack a day smoker for many years. My paternal grandmother lived into her 90s, but paternal grandfather died at 76. My mother is still living and in good health at 74 (my bio father died young, but not natural causes). Given that, I figured I’d use 100.
My H is 55 and also in good health, but has genetic high cholesterol unrelated to diet and exercise (as he eats perfectly and exercises like a maniac). His parents are in their 80s but much frailer than mine (MIL has Alzheimer’s, FIL has diabetes and had a triple heart bypass), and his grandparents all died much younger than mine did. What runs through his family is heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Nonetheless, he assumed 100 as well. Honestly my fear is that he WILL live that long physically but not be “all there” given the Alz on his side.
What do you all plan/assume?
We use 95. Neither of our health backgrounds indicate that we’ll live that long, but we’d rather be safe in our planning.