i'm of the age where i'm seeing people retire around me.

[vash]

GAH!

my youth; i subcribed to the "PPP" way of living my life. Piss Poor Planning. i didnt get started and working towards my retirement until i was 30+. now? all the typical issues get pushed back. savings, paying off house, etc.

my coworkers that did college, got a job when they were in their early 20's.. BOOM they are turning in papers and one guy quite literally gave me the (friendly) finger as he went out the door.

Covid means no big retirement parties. which sucks.

i just got off the phone with my awesome project manager. today is her last day. damn it. bye bye. they ALWAYS without exception, will ask. "so how many more years do you have?" like a stab in the eye. hahaha

btw the way, the answer is 7. 7 more years. retiring at 55 must be surreal. super proud of those that could get that done. my wifes target is 55.

if i could have had my future self pencil out a strongly written note to my 19 year old self..................

EDIT: thinking back. i could have accelerated things if the day i started my career, i started double fisting cash into investments and savings..but NOOOO. i might have made say 58 year old retirement.

[URY914]

I feel your pain my friend. I'm in the same boat. If I could only do it over again,,,,

[Evans, Marv]

If you think that's bad, wait until your friends start checking out of life when you hit your seventies and beyond - or maybe before. Doesn't matter how well anybody prepared for retirement. Even if you didn't prepare for retirement as early as you think you want, live life as full as you can. You generally seem to be doing a pretty good job at that, Cliff, retired or not. Keep on keeping on.

[otto_kretschmer]

I haven't worked in 3 years and I'm in my early 50s. Its a little boring to be truthful and I may start working from home in a month, part time.

But I'm not going to any more dead end interviews and I'm done commuting.

My 76 is on rear jackstands and I found gear oil on the floor yesterday. I think its leaking out of the shift seal.

I want to do a ride up the haul road in Alaska to the Artic.

[vash]

Originally Posted by otto_kretschmer

My 76 is on rear jackstands and I found gear oil on the floor yesterday. I think its leaking out of the shift seal.

.

my 75 leaked there. that DIY repair is the fondest one I have in my memory. the point of no return is the very first move you make!! when it came out, I hollered like a nutjob. my neighbors must have jumped to conclusions.

[ckelly78z]

Many of the folks around me must have subscribed to the PPP as well, I seem to be in a much better financial spot than most of those my age (no debt, large 401K, pension), but i'm only 55, so health insurance is the killer !

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

GAH!

my youth; i subcribed to the "PPP" way of living my life. Piss Poor Planning. i didnt get started and working towards my retirement until i was 30+. now? all the typical issues get pushed back. savings, paying off house, etc.

my coworkers that did college, got a job when they were in their early 20's.. BOOM they are turning in papers and one guy quite literally gave me the (friendly) finger as he went out the door.

Covid means no big retirement parties. which sucks.

i just got off the phone with my awesome project manager. today is her last day. damn it. bye bye. they ALWAYS without exception, will ask. "so how many more years do you have?" like a stab in the eye. hahaha

btw the way, the answer is 7. 7 more years. retiring at 55 must be surreal. super proud of those that could get that done. my wifes target is 55.

if i could have had my future self pencil out a strongly written note to my 19 year old self..................

EDIT: thinking back. i could have accelerated things if the day i started my career, i started double fisting cash into investments and savings..but NOOOO. i might have made say 58 year old retirement.

Originally Posted by URY914

I feel your pain my friend. I'm in the same boat. If I could only do it over again,,,,

+10. I'm 50, and not nearly as close as I'd like to be. It took me far too long to figure things out.

[gacook]

My minimum retirement age is 58. I'll be able to, but doubt I will. I actually enjoy what I do, and would be bored NOT working. My wife doesn't get it, and told me she is DEFINITELY retiring at 55. Told her, go for it.

Only problem is she wants to move somewhere tropical, and I don't.

[craigster59]

I'm 61 and have watched family and friends in other lines of work retire, some younger than me. My union (IATSE 44) for some reason does not have early retirement even if you have the years and hours in. If you retire before 65 you have a reduced pension.

But I have helped a business get off the ground and become very profitable. The owner recently retired and is loving it. He encouraged me to retire a bit early saying "If you need to work a few more years to make a few more bucks just let me know and I'll work out a consulting gig for you and give you a monthly check".

I might take him up on it. I got a call Monday from a dear friend and Set Decorator. She's one year from retirement and she was just diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. She has no husband or kids, just a sister in Florida. She was one who's job was her life and now this. She spent a whole year in COVID lockdown and now that things are opening up she gets a death sentence.

Life isn't to be taken for granted. You need to take full advantage of living it to the fullest while you have your health.

[mgatepi]

Sometimes life just doesnt go your way....I got involved with our family company (owned by my brother) then loaned him all the money I had and took out a home equity loan to help....huge mistake......Basically I started over at 37. Which will keep me from retiring early!

[vash]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I'm 61 and have watched family and friends in other lines of work retire, some younger than me. My union (IATSE 44) for some reason does not have early retirement even if you have the years and hours in. If you retire before 65 you have a reduced pension.

But I have helped a business get off the ground and become very profitable. The owner recently retired and is loving it. He encouraged me to retire a bit early saying "If you need to work a few more years to make a few more bucks just let me know and I'll work out a consulting gig for you and give you a monthly check".

I might take him up on it. I got a call Monday from a dear friend and Set Decorator. She's one year from retirement and she was just diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. She has no husband or kids, just a sister in Florida. She was one who's job was her life and now this. She spent a whole year in COVID lockdown and now that things are opening up she gets a death sentence.

Life isn't to be taken for granted. You need to take full advantage of living it to the fullest while you have your health.

oh no. sorry to your friend.

that is why that saying Carpe Diem. its BETTER in it's full phrase version!!

carpe diem quam minimum credula postero

I think is says, seize the day because you cannot trust tomorrow..something like that.

[vash]

back on topic.

on the bright side. I am THANKFUL my boss is easily impressed. I just showed him how to compress all the photos in powerpoint with a few keystrokes.

I see an early day for me. FISHING this afternoon!!

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

If you think that's bad, wait until your friends start checking out of life when you hit your seventies and beyond - or maybe before. Doesn't matter how well anybody prepared for retirement. Even if you didn't prepare for retirement as early as you think you want, live life as full as you can. You generally seem to be doing a pretty good job at that, Cliff, retired or not. Keep on keeping on.

Beat me to it...well said.

[cantdrv55]

My target age was 55 then we got pregnant again at 44. Retirement target age is now 67.

[GH85Carrera]

My dad retired at age 48 from the Air Force. He had a comfortable retirement check.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

My dad retired at age 48 from the Air Force. He had a comfortable retirement check.

Officer? 20 years or more in?

[Ayles]

I'm 44 so a ways out, but I do worry about funding hobbies in retirement.

[RonDent]

I gave my manager my letter of intent at the end of February. My exit date is in November. Plenty of time to find a replacement.

[creaturecat]

i tried retirement. for 4 years. 59 - 63.
i now work part time, unionized environment in the movie 'biz.
i am fortunate in being able to pick/choose days worked/not worked.
it's been a perfect arrangement for me. a tiny "framework" - with extra discretionary income, in a dynamic environment.

[biosurfer1]

I was lucky and interested in stocks early in my career. I didn't have much of a plan back then and looking back made some odd/not optimized picks but overall, investing in something is light years better than not investing at all.

At 40, I now have a good plan, focus almost exclusively on dividend growth stocks and have a great start at a monthly dividend snowball which will fund early retirement. Couple that with my pension and I should be on a beach in 15ish years