I havent golfed in a long time but its great fun once you get decent at it.

You ain’t retiring. The man has you!

Haha be at my house at 11:30pm the night of January 3rd and see. Theres going to be a party going on! Heck it might even be sooner than that. It might be tonight if they piss me off. I am holding all of the cards right now.

Going on second year now. Never bored. Working on books, magazines, helping people with films, smoking cigars and drinking tequila. So far so good.....

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Lucky bastards!

Many years ago a big industrial company started up a consumer products division that hired me a year in. Eight and a half years later there were almost a hundred consumer products employees nearing their ten year employment anniversaries, at which time they would be vested for retirement pensions. So big industrial quickly sold off consumer products division to another big company that wanted the product lines but didn't need any of the office staff and we all lost our jobs. I returned from my honeymoon to find this out. My boss knew before I went, but didn't tell me because he didn't want to ruin my honeymoon or cause me to cancel the wedding.

Then I got a job with another consumer products company and worked there for almost ten years while saving money to buy a house. Two months after my wife and I moved in, the owner sold the company to an out-of-state company that wanted the product lines but didn't need any of the office staff. If you stayed until they let you go you would get one week's severance pay for each year of service. If you quit to look for or take another job, then you got nothing. Because I was considered a key employee they wanted me to stay through the transition until the end, so I got ten week's severance pay, but then I was out of work again.

I've always been recognized by management and coworkers as being extremely competent and knowledgeable. But I got married and lost my job. Then I bought a house and lost my job. So now I'm afraid of major life changes. I might retire and lose my job.

You gotta watch out who you cough around these days!

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Congrats to those that retire early.
Been running my own business for the last 18 years and I am currently 51
Can't say that I don't dream of an early retirement

Sometimes I think this job was a good thing and sometimes I think it was the worst thing that ever happened to me so I'm not so sure if I'm lucky or not. I definitely have mixed feelings about it. I'm just glad to be getting the hell out of there that's all I know. I will probably still find some sort of part time work here and there or do something on my own to keep me busy.

.

I went from a string of various positions mainly in the corporate world to starting a business as a piano tuner 18 years ago. It’s been a real blessing, I feel like I’ve been retired in a way for those 18 years. I’m 58 and I figure my real retirement will be tuning one piano a day instead of two. It’s great to determine how you work, where you work, how much you work, and how much money you’ll work for. And now that I’m back at it after the Michigan quarantine, I realize I missed it.

Is it true, what they say?

If you mean the saying that is also an REO Speedwagon album title, please don’t, I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me!

9.5 years to go for me.

Hi Infidelity?

No, if you look at an REO discography, it’ll be obvious.

I was going for "you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish"!

Bingo! Now you owe me a dollar!

LOL, at least you're a good sport about it

Kind of like wishing you had a dollar for every time a non-pinhead comes over for some pinball, pulls out his phone, and plays “Pinball Wizard.”

All in fun, my friend!

Wheels Are Turnin'!

As this thread becomes derailed, we’re Ridin’ the Storm Out!

I’m a year done and mine aren’t there anymore. The first part right after was reliving my last couple of weeks before I retired over and over. Then I started having return as a contractor dreams. Very vivid stuff that I wish I didn’t experience.

I occasionally will dream that I'm back in college, it's end of semester, and I realized I forgot to attend one of my classes.

And I'm out 25 years.

Hoping to retire in maybe 6 or 7 years.

At least you didn't dream you showed up for the exam buck naked ...

REO's first 3 albums were fantastic! (from late 60's up)

Not gonna lie.
If you enjoy pinball, like I do...I’ve got the dream job.

It doesn’t seem like a job when you do something you love.

I semi retired at 42.

Best move I ever made.

When you get to a certain age, you figure out that life is more than getting up and working 90-100 hours like a robot every week and dying in your 40 from stress.

That’s me .... YMMV.

rd

I've felt semi retired since March when my Mega Corp went to a work at home model.

So THAT’s how you can travel all over and can do a complete re-theme in less time than it takes me to touch up and clear coat a playfield!

Helps to be rich. The rest of us will have to work until we drop dead.

I've had that same dream a dozen times. Its great when i wake up and realize i have a degree and have worked for 40 years

Details on the avatar din?

I’m retiring at the end of July can’t wait
Almost 44 years of foundry work I’m toast
I’ll finally have pinball time my NASCAR has been in my collection for 13 years less 250 plays on it. After 60 plus hours a week for almost ever it feels like pinball time is in my future

Well some of us had to pay for our home.

How do all of you who retired early account for health care costs into your budget?

I retired early. Health care insurance is not cheap.

Turning 65 and getting Medicare was a welcome, life-enhancing event.

Spouse.

I’m 61 soon to be 62 I put the max amount in my HSA for over 3 years and didn’t use any now I can pay for insurance the next 3 years out of that account until Medicare kicks in

I was gonna leave that alone ... but ...

Our family was poor when I was a kid. My old man worked three jobs to get ahead. And he did get ahead. He’s a simple meat and potatoes guy - I learnt from his work ethic and doubled down.

No inheritance.
No stock market windfalls.
No ripping people off.

Everything we have is made from working around the clock, carrying sofas on our heads, lifting heavy washing machines by ourselves, unloading whole 40ft HC containers of furniture with a hand truck by myself, in the weekends while all my mates were off drinking and partying and wondering why I did better than they did.

To the point where my doctor said if I kept doing it, I would be dead by 45.

So I stopped.

I had worked hard enough to get a good asset base. We live a pretty simple life day to day, and we get by nicely.

I’ll leave it there.

rd

I have no bills and my health insurance will be paid for from my pension, rental property income and my 401k if needed. I hate to spend my retirement savings on health insurance but health insurance is part of retirement if you retire early and the reason I put money back into my 401k was............to retire, so that's what I'm going to use it for.

My situation is also a little different than most peoples. I don't have any kids to leave my money to so I'm going to use it on myself. I also live a pretty modest lifestyle. I don't drive fancy cars or take 5,000 dollar cruises etc.

The #1 thing that I want more than anything right now in my life is to get the hell out of where I work at and to not have to work swing shift anymore so that's what I am going to do. That is much better than driving a new car or living in a new 250-300K home to me. Everyone is different though so to each their own.