<p>I sort of retired now but can’t really afford it yet. I was actually pretty much home free until first to go headed off to grad school and I’d like to help pay for her grad school so semi-retirement beckons for a few years. But only on my terms … something I find fun and rewarding … fortunately I can work at practically any pay level as long as Mom3ToGo provides health insurance through her job.</p>
<p>My FIL retired at 62 and lived until 91. He had almost 30 years with very good pension. Not everybody will die after retirement.
There are people who refused to retire for whatever reason like my husband’s coworker. He finally left the workforce after having a heartache on his desk. His work was not stressful but the guy had one more year syndrome so I can go to India and live like a King. He did have a quadratic heart bypass surgery and then retired immediately after the heart attach incident.</p>
<p>My D is buying her first house about 15 miles from us. There are over age 55 developments around that area where I can pick up a house for about $100,000 less than mine would sell for and with 1/2 the property taxes. I could probably retire now if I sold and moved to one of those.</p>
<p>Tom1944, sounds like a plan.</p>
<p>Our DS is thinking of buying his first home nearby…a very small house might be affordable at this point for him. He’s asked me to window shop online for him. I find lots of small homes with low taxes and then I think wait, I want this one! Downsizing in our area is becoming my housing plan for retirement.</p>
<p>Doc T–re not understanding folks who aren’t interested in retirement.
My husband has a small company (12-20 full/part time employees). There’s a fair amount of variety and it’s intellectually challenging. My H is good at what he does and he’s really proud of projects that the company has completed. H started this company when he didn’t get tenure, so this is a second career. He’s now old enough to retire but has no interest in doing so. Despite working H does what he enjoys-- reading, baseball, fishing and listening to jazz. We spend time with our kids who don’t live nearby and also spend weekends and summers at our vacation home that’s in a beautiful spot. We have a good life and much for which we are grateful. H might retire some day–but for now he’s content. His situation is quite different from someone who has less control over his/her work life. Maybe that’s the difference. </p>
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<p>With the inflation there, who knows how long India is going to be the cheap place to live. It’s not inconceivable that inflation there will continue at 8-11% annually for the next decade and a half. </p>
<p>We’ve talked about retiring early. Finances look possible, depending on what happens in the market, and inflation. Our income will come entirely from SS, savings and living below our means. Unfortunately neither of us will have any pension income.
Two major obstacles to our retirement: </p>
<p>1) health insurance unknowns. Currently my private health insurance cost nearly $7200 per year (high deductible). We don’t have medical issues (thank goodness), but if we did, the medical costs can easily grow to $13000 per person, per year. That will only get worse as we get closer to age 65, or if the ACA is challenged by future administrations.</p>
<p>2) I can certainly fill a day working in the yard, on our home, reading, volunteering, traveling, etc. but there is still a satisfaction achieved by working that I’m not sure is possible through occasional volunteer work.</p>
<p>Our ideal, if our health remains, would be to work for 3-4 months each year, travel for 3-4 months each year, and fill the rest with volunteer activities, chores, fun, etc. I’ve read about seasonal jobs for national or state parks, but by the time you pay for your temporary housing (or buy an RV), the income is minimal. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>I have several volunteer things I do. They are year round and one is actually two mornings weekly. The others are monthly in the evening. But because they are volunteer things. And involve a number of other retirees, it is still possible to schedule other things and swap times or just not go…with notice. </p>
<p>Last year, I went on a short trip every six weeks or so. And I was gone more than 10 days on a couple of those trips. No problem! I personally enjoy working and going away all mixed in. I would hat to restrict my travel to 3-4 months a year…just as I would hat to work full time for 3-4 months per year.</p>
<p>Believe me, you won’t have trouble filling your days. In fact, what you will find is that you now actually have time to get things done in a more leisurely fashion…and you don’t have to do all your errands (bank, P.O) on Saturday with the crowds.</p>
<p>Honestly there are weeks when I’m very busy every single day. But these are things of my choice, and they change over time. I love it.</p>
<p>With volunteer organizations, you can be as busy (or not) as you choose. Most of us welcome volunteers, as long as they are consistent and give us adequate notice so we can proceed when they have other plans things work great. Many nonprofits could not function (or not well) without the generous volunteers and we’d love to pay but simply don’t have the resources. Being “semi-retired” has allowed me to devote time and resources to my nonprofit and I spend as much or little time and energy as my schedule and energy level permit. I find it at least as fulfilling as all the other jobs I’ve had and loved.</p>
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<p>Happened to me. In May, 1986, the month I got my MS in engineering, oil prices fell from $27/barrel to $13/barrel. The Texas economy tanked. I had a great job lined up, in an office overlooking the Hill Country west of Austin. All of a sudden, there were NO new construction projects planned, and my employer had to rescind the job offer before I even started! So DH and I sent out almost 300 resumes all over the US, and we landed in Maine.</p>
<p>I have a good situation. DH and I work out of our home. I take care of routine bookkeeping and AutoCAD drafting. Most weeks, I have to work only a few hours. So I consider myself partially retired. And now that our son is doing better and has a real case manager, I’m not having to devote as much time to him.</p>
<p>My body let me know this week that I need to retire. The constant stop and go on the pedal on the long congested freeway, cause my right knee some strain. My acupuncture did some magic and it got better but she was joking around that I can’t work for 10 years. No kidding, I’m not made to work 10 more years. Time for me to go play, aka retire.</p>
<p>My Dad’s neighbor works for the school district tutoring kids who can not attend school due to poor health. She loves it.</p>