At what age did you retire.........

[Maple Trapper]

I retired at 51 when I sold my business, but after about 3 weeks I decided to start driving school bus. With the exception of one year when I had to drive the kids who had been kicked out and their last chance was a special program, I enjoyed it. I had planned to retire at age 75 but my wife talked me into retiring at 69. That being said, I still run a blueberry farm and make maple syrup. I still work on average about 25-30 hrs a week except in Jan-April when it can get real busy in prep. or production of maple syrup and I might then work up to 50 or 60 hrs a week with no days off for weeks on end. As such I guess I'm still not retired, but I draw my SS and a pension every month. I might give up the maple business at 80-85, maybe later. My Dad died at 91 and mom died at 94.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

Cocked and Locked,

That is a pretty good way to spend a day at any age, 14 or 74! I don't see an arrow so I am assuming you did the deed with a forearm of some type?

I don't know much about deer hunting in your area but from watching the outdoor shows, I would call that a trophy buck if it was hanging on my wall. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks GB! You're right no bow & arrow involved. I shot it with a Remington 700 Classic .35 Whelen...handloaded 200 grain Hornady Interlock Spire Point over 57.0 grains of IMR 4064.

It was in rut and came in low to the ground nose sniffing and in a semi-fast trot. I shot it at 8:00 in the morning. It must of been on the trail of a hot doe that came thru before daylight.

 

[VNK971]

I retired at 62+ a little over 3 years ago. I loved my job, but hated where I was living. I tried to transfer back to my previous location, but I had been promoted out of the positions I wanted. I started Social Security last month at 66. I regretted retiring at first. Now I'm glad I did.

 

[Whitwabit]

Was injured at work in 2001 in an accident that severely injured my lower back and never returned because of several different reasons .. Company finally forced me to retire in 2012 when I turned 62 ..

Cant do what I would like because of the injury so much of what should have been a pleasant retirement has ended in a great deal of pain .. and not being to do much of what I would like ..

 

[Sal1950]

I am amazed...almost dumbfounded...by the number of you who have retired before age 65, and so many in your 50s.

Just chose your post to insert a further comment here. As I stated earlier I did retire at 60, but doing so required quite a bit of sacrifice, a major downsize in housing and lifestyle, but it's worth every bit of the changes. I've read some posts here from folks who are bragging about being still working at a very late age, putting it out as some badge of honor. IMHO it is simply a badge of foolishness. When they wake up some morning in hospital after having a major heart attack or worse, their heads will be full of would haves-should haves.
Life is short, don't let it slip away.

 

[chuckie]

I retired in 2009 at age 60 after 38 years turning wrenches at my hometown DPW. Took a few months off, got bored and went to work part time for a NAPA store delivering parts. I had to give that up because of my health problems. If the Docs can find out what's wrong with me and fix it, I'd like to go back part time again..

 

[Bozz10mm]

I retired at 52 from the military and went to work for 10 years running a CNC lathe. Retired again in 2011 at age 62½. I like it.

 

[Dave from Pa]

Retired at 56 only problem was l didn`t go at 55.Finally found something l`m good at.Its been a great 9 years.

 

[chaparrito]

58 because I could, but after 2 years felt bored and useless. Realized if you love what you do it's not work. Now work half time six days a week. Healthier, and much better off. I need the structure and expectations as I'm not real good at setting them for myself.

 

[TTSH]

I am amazed...almost dumbfounded...by the number of you who have retired before age 65, and so many in your 50s. My hat is off to you. I have to believe that you did some very intelligent saving in addition to working in occupations that you enjoyed and were able to invest substantial time in.

As I stated earlier I did retire at 60, but doing so required quite a bit of sacrifice, a major downsize in housing and lifestyle, but it's worth every bit of the changes.

Yeah, don't think that it was easy or well-planned out for all of us. Not by a long shot. In my case, it was anything but easy, although I can't say I didn't see it coming as my last employer was brutal about letting engineers go in their mid-50's. I had watched it happen so many times before that it was no big surprise when it happened to me. One of the smart things I did (Thank God!) was to refinance my house while I was still employed. Had I not done that, I would have lost the place for sure.

Like I said above, after it happened I did try to start a couple small businesses in order to survive. One took a big investment of almost all the money I had... and it produced near nothing. The second business took almost no investment and it did okay for what it was, albeit on a modest part-time scale. But 3 years later, it all fell apart due to the recession and poor health anyway.

My biggest regret? Not taking all the money I put into the first business and invested that money elsewhere instead, perhaps in the second business, in fact. It would have made survival until Social Security much, much easier.

Bottom line is that living on 20% (or less) of your former income is not easy. It takes some serious sacrifices and lifestyle changes. It's not for everyone.

 

[bagga]

i retired at 64 years and 14 days. i started to "not like" my job about a year before i retired. i just got my 3rd SS check yesterday. i don't need to work but i got a 1 day a week part time job driving big rig around the state. it's 7-9 hours a week and the only reason i'm dong it, is because i like it. with the 1 day a week and the SS money, i'm making more than when i was working 40 hours.

 

[jculloden]

Retired

I retired from my real job at 55, been doing P/T security for 15 years (play money) .. Looking forward to full freedom this year..

 

[Skeet 028]

The only thing wrong with an early retirement like I did is money issues. Not that I don't make out ok. If you have investments when recession hits it reduces income significantly in some cases. I am not eligible for Social Security so I get no money from it but do get my medicare ins through my wife's account. As far as money I hope I have enough for my wife's future as she has long livers in her family(father was 101). Amazingly no matter how we plan the cost of everything keeps rising...sometimes at a precipitous rate while our income sometimes stagnates. I kinda feel I'm lucky to still be among the living though and am happy every day to have been able to retire when I did. No regrets for sure and I have been able to do many things I wanted to do. Only thing I wanted to do was to still have an airplane....but regrettably that is out of my ability these days...monetarily anyway. But..we still have the ranch

 

[BAM-BAM]

Recognize that there are many LEOs , and other State and Federal employees.... and a bunch of teachers here....... with good (but generally underfunded ) pension plans....... same with Unions.

But like some others I'm surprised at how young many of the folks here were able to retire.......with the average 401K balance of only $92,000 in 2016...... with just $104,000 in savings for those 55-64.

Compared those #s to published "goals/targets" of 6-8 times annual salary/ job income saved by your early 60s.

Only about 1.3% of Americans (4.4 million) qualify as "High net worth individuals" with more than $1,000,000 in liquid financial assets to invest.

Course given that 'we" are S&W collectors...... AKA; smart guys .... maybe all the HNWIs in the US are on this Forum

 

[TTSH]

Course given that 'we" are S&W collectors...... AKA; smart guys .... maybe all the HNWIs in the US are on this Forum

Ha!!! I wish! The truth be told, I am much closer to the bottom 1.3%.

Does that mean I can call myself a Low Net Worth Investor?

My idea of a "big investment" is buying the large size jar of peanut butter.

 

[NYlakesider]

Recognize that there are many LEOs , and other State and Federal employees.... and a bunch of teachers here....... with good (but generally underfunded ) pension plans....... same with Unions.

But like some others I'm surprised at how young many of the folks here were able to retire.......with the average 401K balance of only $92,000 in 2016...... with just $104,000 in savings for those 55-64.

Compared those #s to published "goals/targets" of 6-8 times annual salary/ job income saved by your early 60s.

Only about 1.3% of Americans (4.4 million) qualify as "High net worth individuals" with more than $1,000,000 in liquid financial assets to invest.

Course given that 'we" are S&W collectors...... AKA; smart guys .... maybe all the HNWIs in the US are on this Forum

My wife and I are both union members, me construction her NYS and as of now our pension funds are doing OK. Both got out at age 55 We both made good money and that of course gave both of us good Social Security when we hit 62.

I think you missed a few things in your post. One of which is having GOOD health insurance. We both do now, cannot tell what will happen in the future.

Another thing you missed AFAIC is having a paid for house. Not having to make a large mortgage payment each month is nice.

Also seeing a elder lawyer and getting trusts and your will set up by people that realy know what their doing. One or both go in nursing home and many of your assets you thought we going to your kids will not. Be advised some things take 5 years to be valid.

 

[BAM-BAM]

I think you missed a few things in your post. One of which is having GOOD health insurance. We both do now, cannot tell what will happen in the future.

Another thing you missed AFAIC is having a paid for house. Not having to make a large mortgage payment each month is nice.

One or both go in nursing home and many of your assets you thought we going to your kids will not. Be advised some things take 5 years to be valid.

Some very good points.............

My last post was not intended to be comprehensive........ intended more as humor (dry) and a complement to the members here for being able to do what many have done.

One thing I've noticed having a house in the "burbs of the Burgh" and having a place in the very rural Laurel Highlands.........is the wide swings in housing costs and cost of living......................


Probably the main reason I'm still working is that my boys are a College Sophomore and a High School Junior.....and we live in a very good school district here in the "Burbs of the Burgh"..... so not ready to uproot.

LOL when we go to my son's HS soccer games the rest of the parents are 10-20 years younger than me......many/most will have their kids out of college by the time they are 50/55.

My younger and better looking MBA/MHA wife went back to work when the youngest hit middle school........ don't care what she makes.... but the Commonwealth's Health Insurance ........ WOW! Haven't had such good coverage since I worked at a 600 bed teaching Hospital!!!

While the last 24 years have been good....... even though I was working .... 18 to 39 were some really fun years!!!! Better than retirement? Maybe!


IIRC depending on the state..... sometimes it's more than 5 years..........

 

[BAM-BAM]

Ha!!!

My idea of a "big investment" is buying the large size jar of peanut butter.

Have you done the BAM-BAM " Number of Good years Left" calculation to determine if you have a solid rational basis for buying the "large" size?

You know someone will just throw what's left in the jar away!!!!!

But I guess you can't time the stock market or your last PB&J!

 

[jsfricks]

I retired in 2012 at the age of 49. I hired on with the fire department at 18 years old and we use a point system, years of service plus age has to equal 80. Since I hired on so young I ended up with almost 31 years service. I received 75% of my yearly pay and full healthcare. They no longer take out SS, and several other deductions such as healthcare and a few others, and because of that I now bring home more than when I was working. Of course, over time that will change. But with my investments over the years I'll have that kick in to supplement the loss of raises I no longer get. Being a full time firefighter at a pretty large metro fire department, we run a lot of calls over the years. So getting out healthy as early as possible is smart. Now they have determined that almost half of full time firefighters are suffering or will suffer from PTSD. That is not a surprise from all the baby and child deaths and carnage we see over the years. But I do still have a small landscape company that I work alone, so that keeps me busy as I want to be.

 

[Cold Warrior]

Retired at 62, haven't missed the "rat race" one bit. Enjoy being retired and stay joyfully busy at what I find interesting and keeping up with Grand children.