Can we talk about retirement?

I was laid off at 58, went back to work at 63, worked until I was 66, and am now 70. We'd over planned for retirement and experienced no hardship because of this.
Lots of people could give you better financial advice than I could, but I can tell you about life experience. Turning into a couch potato when you retire will kill you. If you plan on a long and active retirement you have to deliberately re-invent yourself after a lifetime of work. It's trickier and more work than you might think. If you put it off too long, you may not have the energy or imagination to do it well. I am healthier, happier, and a better machinist at 70 because I had those years when I was 60ish, more spry, and sharper mentally than I am today.
So, if you think of retirement as just an extended vacation, put it off. If it's going to be a new life, go for it.
Also, your wife may say now she would like you at home; but she may reconsider that after a while. My workshop is essential for my marriage.
 
mmcmdl said:
Great timing on this thread Jeff . I'm following along as I'm in the same predicament as to thinking retiring early .
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You deserve it Dave, You've been burning the candle at both ends for too long.
We all need to stay healthy to enjoy those golden years.
 
JohnG said:
My workshop is essential for my marriage.
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I plan on spending plenty of time out in my shop.

Glenda won't let me sit on my ass, she is very active and expects me to be as well. Couch potato, I've never been happy sitting still.
I agree 100% with what you are saying!! Good advice.

Spending has to come to a crawl when I retire. I have this need to acquire what I need now. I will be very reluctant to touch retirement funds.
 
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I have a few offers working with a neighbor Jeff . Going out to different companies in the area and doing some special project work as needed . I'm seriously considering this now . My job is not in jeopardy but I can't get off this dumb arse shift because they can't find a replacement .


Off to work for another 13 hour night ………………………...:rolleyes:
 
I am 54. I can retire in a month with a full pension, but I am going to try & hang on until I am 65.

My wife is 59 & works at home. She pretty much insists that I work until age 65 because of all our expenses & consumer debt.

I’m going to try to pay off a big lathe and mill before I retire.
 
I retired a 59. As soon as eligible I took my social security, not because I needed the money, but because I paid in and wanted to get some return. The true difference in the money is not that great. You still can't live on the full amount. You had better have something already in the piggy bank. As someone else stated, I calculate my break-even point was 85. I am still a long way from 85 ;)
The system is not sustainable, but if the money runs out I don't want to depend on Washington to make things right.
 
I am the odd man out here. I rather enjoy working. I get bored easily when there is nothing to do. And I DO have retirement plans (they don't include staring into space). While I am earning good pay, I am building up the tooling and materials to perform some of my profitable hobbies. One of the advantages of being an older guy, is crafts/skills which once had competition to worry about, has literally seen the generation which know those skills die off with time. There are many crafts which make rather good money (due to few people knowing how to do it), but can have some steep up-front equipment costs. While I am at the peak of my earning, those tools are being purchased. I may stop working my "day job" when I hit 70, but my other crafts/works will continue; likely my income will remain the same (or go up). I hate being idle; I DO like looking at what has been accomplished at the end of the day. The thought of RVing does not stir my soul. The other piece of the pie is that my parents are still alive; we tend to live to a rather active and old age in my family. I have had relatives who were living on their own, past age 105.
 
Same point as you. I talked with my financial advisor for his thoughts. He said that originally he would of stated take it now as the future is not known. Currently here in Canada the hit is 36% less at 60 with 6% added back per year that one waits. After 65, it is 6% added to a max of 36% at 70.
Now he suggests retire when you want as you live on your savings, if one has any, and claim the pension later.
I will have to make a decision at some point, but not for a year or two if my health stays good.
Pierre
 
My wife semi-retired in June. I planned on retiring this year too but with Covid, there's no place to travel really so I decided to take on another consulting job that will take me through Q1 2021. We're 58/60 years old. With our 401Ks in pretty good shape, we plan to wait for SS until 68 or 70. It works for us but we've been lucky with 401K plans etc. Each year you wait is a gain of about 8% in income. It is like a guaranteed annuity with a fairly large return. There are a few variables that we can't know like when we will die, what SS will look like 20 years from now, what income taxes will be later on etc. It is really hard to come up with a one size fits all plan for taking SS. It also makes a difference too if the major earner dies first. Waiting can leave the spouse with more to live on.

There are a couple of spreadsheet tools available. One I use is called Neurosphere. I found it on the Bogleheads forum. They're a .org. BTW, if you are still investing, the Bogleheads is a great place to train yourself on the ins and outs of simple, low cost/diversified fund investing. Great retirement advice, and general advice too. I learned years ago to stop giving my money to the financial advisors. That's a losing game. They provide very little benefit and by the time it is over they have peeled a huge chunk off of your nest egg. There's also a pretty great retirement planning tool called "Flexible Retirement Planner". If you like noodling around with the numbers, it is a good, and free tool.

I'm not affiliated with any of the above. I just have found those tools very useful.
 
I farm for a living. Started collecting SS at 62, kept working. Milady did the same. Now we are both on medicare, never had it so good - cheap health insurance.Obama care was killing us before that.

Now we have certainly slowed down on the farm - no sense earning money just to get it taxed away. Obama care was the worst. It was a reverse tax for self employed. We dropped 1/2 our business instead of paying both income and health care tax.
 
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