Hey I used that same line in an email recently to a distro here in AUD and it backfired as they couldn't see the joke in it

To the OP, you do what you want to do and don't worry about anyone else.

If your expenses are/would be covered, what's stopping you?

Biggest thing is health care. If you are too young for Medicare and are not eligible for a health care plan from an employer, you are better off working until eligible.

I retired from a job I could no longer tolerate (commute became awful, was being taken for granted) and started a new job.
Happier than ever as I am drawing a pension. Double-dipping is nice.

Semi retired when I turned 60 and supplement by doing home and business remodels. I don't actively look for work to do but, I stay busy as I want to be.

can you start at my place flights would be costly though

I think about retiring every single day......
But doing in home pinball repair to support myself? No way. There's no money in it and it would never be steady enough to solely support our every day lives. Plus like someone else said, the insurance is outrageous.
And I think going from a hobby to a business is probably not good and doesn't make it fun anymore, it becomes serious.....very serious.

John

I retired 15 years ago at 55 and I wish I had done it sooner.

I tried this just after a container load import and did nothing daily for six months but teardowns and restorations. By the end I had lost the sense of satisfaction of completing a machine as I knew that meant another one to start.

In the end, I did get through the entire container of 30 plus but didn't want to look at another machine for months afterwards so went back to my regular non pinball related employment and now keep the pinball import/restoration as a side venture as time/funds permit.

That's the key. Have a separate interest not just repairing or you will either burnout or grow to loathe pinball altogether over time.

Don’t do it! I used to play Magic the Gathering at a shop in Costa Mesa 5-6 days a week. I’d go after work play with my friends and really enjoyed the hobby. I was also collecting and at one point decided to sell some stuff off at a tournament as a dealer. I made a little money that day so I started going back to sell every Saturday. I started understanding how to run the business and started spending all my time selling, looking for deals online, etc., everything but playing. Cards that used to really impress me soon became just a dollar transaction to me. What can I buy this for and what can I sell it for. I had stopped playing altogether.

If you go into pinball repair you’ll go down the same path that I did and no longer enjoy playing.

I thought you were going to say you’re retiring from pinside

Noone would care.

If you can, you should.

Best decision I ever made!
(although I did get an email this week if a couple bulbs were under "warranty" from 3 years ago!)

Health insurance is the snag. Many people could retire early if it wasnt for that and it sucks.

I don't know your circumstances but friends of ours, the husband lost his job a year ago and is coming off Cobra. He and his wife are 62 and he said Health Insurance is about $1,900 per month unless they qualify for a subsidy.

Toss in the hospital and doctors they go to aren't in the network. The individual market is BCBS the only game in town and they reduced the hospitals from over 200 to less than 100 for individual plans. When he told me this I said you need to find a job so you can have affordable health.

If you can get enough consistent side jobs to cover your expenses go for it!

I'm looking forward to retirement, even if it's 30+ years away

I retired early and highly recommend it if you live simply and keep your expenses down. Health insurance is an issue, but starting in 2019 the individual mandate which forces you to buy an ACA compliant plan or otherwise incur a tax penalty will no longer be in effect.

Starting in 2019 you will have the ability to purchase a short-term health insurance plan (up to 1 year) which suits your needs and should be much less expensive. Research it to make sure this is the right choice for you, but it opens up a lot more options.

I figured you were retired with how much you post on here.

I think about retiring too buddy. Won't be able to for 20 years but I sure think about it.

I’m retiring from thinking.

Sell a pinball company and retire to a hydrofoil yacht

Does the word "RETIRED" actually make sense to anyone?

Maybe the "tired" part shouldn't be viewed out of context.. but it's also 70% of the letters in that word.

It's pure insanity. Was I tired before? So what.. I'm now tired again?

I did last year and it's great. Bought my first pinball machine 9 months ago and now I'm up to 12 (all of which needed work). Lots of time to work on pinball projects and always looking for more. Wife says I should open an arcade and make some money with the machines I have fixed, but then running an arcade would be a job, and I don't want a job. Retirement is great!

Really depends on expenses and cash fund you have stashed. Speaking as someone that works on pins and arcades for a living...it’s not all fun and games! Health care is definitely a negative unless you have a spouse that can cover you. I will warn you it will ruin your hobby over time. I hardly touch my personal games anymore. Not fun playing pinball after working on them all day.

Start doing more side jobs while keeping your job and see if it want you want

My criteria is yearly expenses cannot exceed 3.5% of portfolio. Once we're at that point, we can retire.

I've been retired for about four years, and I am glad I have. We are fortunate since we health insurance, otherwise, we would not be able to retire until Medicare age.

I could keep myself very busy repairing pinball machines all the time, but as others have pointed out, doing that all day takes the pleasure out of it. Don't make your hobby a source of income - once you do that, the fun is gone.

Find something else that you're good at to get extra income. Pinball repair is not the answer. I tried it for about a month, and each day became more and more miserable. I found I didn't play my own machines, and I began to not like working on anyone else's machines. I felt like I was back at working my old day job.

Good Luck, and enjoy the ability to do what you want to do when you want to do it.

As a Canadian, I have never considered healthcare being an obstacle for retirement. I can see why it can be so disheartening for young people trying to get into the job market. Is it a common thing for people to hold on to jobs they don't really need or care about just to get healthcare? Sorry is this is off topic this just wasn't something I have ever heard of before.

As an American, where the health care industry is "for profit", unfortunately it IS a huge factor, and the very reason many can't retire when they want.

Don't know your situation. Some people leave the job with full med benefits, or full benefits from the military.

Basically that's what I'm doing at the moment.
Not really retired, but now on disability.
43 years old. Multiple sclerosis hit me almost a year ago.

Glad I didn't have to worry about health care.
So far over the last 10 months, 3 MRI. 2 CT scans,
A week hospital stay. Six times on 5 day doses of IVs. (Home visits)
8 different specialist appointments. Blood tests every month.
And lots more drs/hospital visits to come.
Not a penny spent.

Canada

It sucks that I'm all fucked up out of nowhere.
But it could be worse.

Do what you enjoy doing. Then, if you no longer enjoy it, switch to something else.
Life's too short.

There comes a time when time is > $$

Yes, unfortunately.

I’m coming up on 55. This is the formula I use:

Annual taxable income = .04*(IRA balance - (65-age)*(annual health insurance cost))

When that annual income stops looking scary, I’ll retire.

(Edit: I forgot the 10% penalty, but I’m not drawing money out of my IRA before 59-1/2)

Nimble and O-Din’s Supreme Renovations?
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Each reno we do comes with a restored EM, or SS, tastefully placed in the living room or dining room.

I think low-cost health insurance makes sense for a younger person with not a lot of savings. But if you’re sitting on a nice nest egg you don’t want an uncovered health issue to come along and wipe it out. I plan to stay on our current insurance (through Cisco) as long as I can.

My formula is:
Not Dead = Life Finds A Way

But I'll admit, there's not too many variables and the "way" may be death. But I find it easier to remember and less taxing on the brain.

I've semi retired twice. Couple things I'd consider.

Hobbies aren't hobbies once they're work.

Depending on what your income level was, it can be hard for the rest of the family to adjust (read wife) and that adds some stress.

For me, had too many opportunities to go back to what I did for big dollars and couldn't say no. I managed to keep pushing my income higher walking away and coming back to my career. So, I wouldn't change how I approached it. But, I think retiring early is tough in many ways people don't realize out of the gate...

I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice, but READ THE CONTRACT!!!!!
I've read that those short-term health plans are NOT required to cover pre-existing conditions.

Thought you once stated that you did not work on Friday. Do you work on Saturday and Sunday? A 4 day work week can not be that bad?

need to recoup money from finding that Supreme?

Did they claim a defect in materials or workmanship?

If you don't like money this is a fantastic idea.

O-Din’s Supreme Daycare?

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I thought Pinside was your full time job already, you retiring from here?

Yes.

Also, what's your address? I'm always looking for foreclosures.

Correct. The short-term plans most likely won’t cover pre-existing conditions and aren’t required to cover all of the essential mandatory benefits under ACA. That is why they can be offered for such a low price. But most do provide an out-of-pocket maximum, which is very important to me as I’m frequently traveling out-of-state and hence will be out-of-network.

I researched this today and found plans costing 20% of what an ACA bronze plan costs. That is a huge savings. And more plans will almost certainly come to market before the end of the year since the new rules were just announced and companies need time to adjust to them.

These short-term plans make sense if you aren’t taking costly medications, don’t have serious pre-existing conditions, but want a low-cost no-frills plan that will help guard against catastrophe. In my view that’s perhaps the true role for insurance, as opposed to paying for routine medical expenses.

I would recommend anybody who is considering this option to research it thoroughly, as it isn’t for everybody, but could be a very good option for some.

Property taxes are still a bitch even after the house is paid off.