View Single Post
Baz Baz is online now
G'day!
 
Baz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Posts: 47,148
Garage
Fred - it's fantastic that you are thinking about the big picture.

Good for you!

For me there are several factors involved here.

1. Financial aspect - what are your needs as tied to your business endeavours? Obviously the less you are leveraged with debt or financial responsibilities the more flexibility you have. For me it was always the home mortgage. Once I paid that off - everything changed. It will be different for everyone.

2. Do you like to work? I do.....and based on what I know about you from the forum here you do too. If so, maybe just consider reducing your obligations to the public. I call it - shrinking the hamster wheel.

3. Where is the balance? This is something everyone has to determine for themself. I think it also evolves as we grow older. An easy way to think about it is how many days per week do you want to have for yourself - vs. how many for work. For me it started with no work on weekends plus taking Mondays off. Having 3 whole days to myself was very enlightening - I have to say.

4. Health insurance. Once you qualify for Medicare you will have even more flexibility. That will be a while so in the meantime you will need to be careful with your health situation and try to survive some kind of coverage.

Lastly - with your skill set it doesn't make sense to stop cold turkey - if just from a financial perspective. I suggest you continue to work and bring in $$ but be more selective with jobs you take on and hours of operation. I don't know how you'd do that exactly but I have confidence a smart person such as yourself can easily figure it out.

At 68 I am still working as groundskeeper of 4 properties. I do all the work myself. I'm also collecting my retirement social security. I have zero debt so just have to pay property tax once a year plus whatever it costs to maintain myself and my estate. I also have a Humana medicare advantage plan, which costs very little per month and is deducted from my SS payment.

I also have to say it's not unusual to suffer a little burnout this time of year - just from the freaking heat if nothing else. Try to keep everything in perspective my friend and give yourself some mental health time off here and there. In most cases this means putting YOURSELF ahead of everyone and everything else. You've earned it and it's all about what I call "Survival Mode".....
__________________
Old dog....new tricks.....
Old 08-28-2022, 09:21 AM
  Pelican Parts Catalog | Tech Articles | Promos & Specials    Reply With Quote #8 (permalink)