60+ year old thread.

Good Morning everyone

Still under a Winter weather advisory for my area with light rain and cold temps , currently feels like temp of 27°

 

Both were on I have to see" list. Sadly, both passed before I could get back to the states.

You might get lucky and be RIF'ed before you retire. It happened to me, and I never looked back. You can receive unemployment and Social Security at the same time. Both are programs that you paid into. I took on a more active role in our church and was fortunate to work with our sponsored scout troop on Eagle Scout projects and with our grade school to create a church garden for the third and fourth grade students to learn about environmental sciences. You will figure everything out.

Good morning. Going to see Pam Tillis today at an Elks Lodge then out to dinner. Should be a fun day. Pretty chilly at 18 degrees here this morning.

 

mebbe alittle topwater action at dusk ???

 

Morning 60+
Finally feeling better ,not 100% but better .

 

Darn... not at the farm today. I am looking out at Weedon Island preserve and a beautiful estuary, though.

 

Morning all:

Sure sounds like you have had enough of it Greg, that's a good reason to consider retiring!
Enjoy being retired and I doubt that you will have any regrets.

No deer, we aren't seeing much of anything no matter where we go, this is going to go down as the worse deer season that both my buddy and I have ever seen.
We did add 4 to the total seen so far during FL, running and in slash, think our total is somewhere around 25-30 deer seen while hunting, that's pathetic for the amount of times that we have been out, on top of that we have only seen 1 legal buck during bow season that was well out of range of the crossbows, MAYBE 2 if the "iffy" one I passed on was legal.

Looks like the majority of the storm is "SUPPOSED" to stay well South of our area, calling for up to 2" locally.

 

Ha! Hard Rock Cafe in Peking, that’s one I haven’t been to yet. That night sounds like one to remember. I was fortunate to be stationed in Yokosuka,Japan for 3 years in the early 70’s (73-76) and lucky enough to see some good bands roll through Tokyo; Leon Russel, Elton John, Grand Funk, Rod Stewart/Faces, Moody Blues, kiss (2) Queen (2) Jethro Tull, more that slip my mind. But good times for sure.

 

I retired 10 years ago at 60 and lever looked back. When it’s time, it’s time. Enjoy.

 

sixtys/wannabes/retirees and would-be-retirees. @woodtickgreg even though there is lots of anecdotal stuff out there about how and when to retire, as best as I can tell it comes down to the individual in the end. I can tell you that I overthought retirement for years! I first did what you're thinking about -- cut back my hours on the job. My situation was a bit different in that my employer valued me and I liked what I was doing; I just wanted to do a bit less of it. I cut back to 4 days, then 3 days per week. I also was lucky that I was able to keep health insurance even on the reduced schedule. (Health insurance can be a major expense in retirement, so as you do your planning keep that in mind.) Then just when I was going to pull the trigger, C---- hit. That tossed a wrench into my plans for sure! But life happens.

Another big thing that I think folks tend to undervalue is delaying Social Security. Every year you wait to take it, your payout goes up by 8%. They actually break it down by the month; every month you wait, it goes up 3/4%. That's a pretty good return. On the other side of that coin IMO is mental health, which is priceless. If you aren't loving your job or if you are living with a lot of stress, and taking SS will let you leave it behind, take SS! You won't get that time back.

There are retirement calculators online that let you put in all of your assets and income sources and expenses, and then they spit out what sort of income you can expect throughout your retirement years. I used one at Fidelity.com and when I was finished entering all the information it gave me an answer that made my decision process a lot easier. I went from wondering *if* I could retire, to wondering *when* I would. Big difference. It took some time to get all the numbers in but for me it was worth it.

Good luck with the decision process. Don't overthink it! Life is short.

 

I finally got to see the Moody Blues in Reno... after chasing that dream for decades and even having tickets to a small concert in Lampe Missouri which they cancelled last minute. The venue in Reno was terrible, lots of echo, and for some reason they set up in the center of one of the long walls in a long rectangular room instead of on one of the short walls. I like orchestral rock so MB and ELP and Rick Wakeman were always high on my list. Never saw Rick W but ELP we saw several times and loved every time.

 

Good morning all...new to the group...been reading a lot and enjoying the morning coffee grinds here.

All this talk about music...struck a chord in me.

First concerts...since it seems I'm a bit at the low end of the gray follicle totem pole...my paper ticket journey started in 1981, with Pat Benatar at The San Diego Distorts Arena...if you attended concerts BITD you'd get the sarcasm of sound.

Second big concert was The Pretenders at Golden Hall...awesome show, Chrissie Hynde stopped the show to curse out the fire marshal who was threatening to stop the show if the pit/GA folks didn't stop crushing at the stage front. 19 year old me was transfixed by a bad a** woman taking charge and launching an F bomb tirade at "The Man..." It was also the debut tour for new guitar front man Robbie McIntosh who replaced James "Honeyman" Scott who had succumbed to his needle based vices.

Anywhoo...pic below is evidence of sufficient hearing loss...prolly my two fave tix are:

First, the Armored Saint ticket from 1985, where an up and coming band opened and blew the doors off of The Hollywood Palladium...Metallica. Seeing Cliff Burton on bass was extremely cool before his untimely passing in a bus accident whilst touring in Europe, and watching a young James Hetfiled get crowd surfed across the mosh pit is a forever memory.

Second, seeing Sam Kinison perform at SDSU arena, and apply his special brand of shock humor was amazing. His best bit was where they brought a corded push button phone onto the stage and called the ex-girlfriend of a local radios stations (KGB 101.5) weekly winner of the worst break up story...and got to watch Sam ask for the poor girl in a kind voice, only to proceed in decimating her verbally. The 21 year old me laughed out loud and loved the show...lucky to see another performer before his untimely passing.

Sorry for the long reminisce session, but seems appropriate since we have been sharing great memories of hearing loss and concerts past...thanks for the share...

 

Good Morning Porch Pals & Sue! Need to take care of some simple putz outside before the cold front gets here. Four nights below freezing, and highs in the 40's. Great week for all these appointments! They are threatening us with "winter mix" on Thursday, maybe Friday. It doesn't take much to make the road useless here. Meanwhile.....

GO LIONS!

 

Greg, good on you on deciding to retire. The thought of retiring can be scary, a little overwhelming. It was scary for me. Even though I was financially set the thought of not having a job and pay check was disconcerting. I had worked all my life. Was only unemployed between jobs for one week in over 40 years. So the thought of not earning a check was scary. I had figured our finances dozens of times and gone over them with our financial planner and finances were simply not a problem. I retired at 65. The reason I waited til 65 was Medicare. Without Medicare healthcare can be quite expensive. A friend who retired early just turned 65. Prior she was paying 1600 a month for health insurance.
I liked my job up to a couple years before I retired. I had a very stressful job, lots of responsibilities and pressure. The stress was getting to me. It was time to go. My wife said after a month of retirement I was a changed person. I was the happy Ken again. I was positive and upbeat.
A couple words of advice - figure out your finances and keep in mind that retirement is not necessarily cheaper than when you were working. Everyone thinks that they can get by on less than when they were working. Sometimes true but not necessarily always true. When you retire start your SS. While waiting to collect SS you will get more per month, it takes 10 to 12 years to make up what you lost by waiting a year. However it is best to talk to a financial advisor.
Have everything paid off (if possible) when you retire. When I retired we owed zero, no house payment, car, boat payment, no credit card payment, nothing , zero, zilch. Only monthly recurrent things like utilities, taxes etc. Also when you retire if you use credit cards for anything, pay it off every month. Only reason we use credit cards is because we get free air miles and have free flights all over the US. Cards are paid off immediately.
Make a plan for what you plan to do in retirement. Some people retire without a plan, have no real hobbies or interests and waste their retirement years sitting around watching tv. Stay busy and active. I am busier now than when I was working - hunting, fishing, traveling, gardening, reading, boating, socializing, etc etc etc. it’s really important to stay social. Get more involved in your church, volunteer for things, join organizations etc.
I could go on but I’ll just leave it there. Good luck and good fortune in your retirement, you are going to love it. God bless.

 

Greg, I believe I've said it before: DO IT! The little you lose monthly retiring at 65 vs 67 was not worth the trade-off, when I ran the numbers. For that 2 years of freedom, it will take until you're almost 80 to make more by waiting. What is 2 years of your life worth? Like you said, you can always get something part time to cover if you feel the need. Hell, I've had no less than 3 offers to drive CDL part time in the last 10 months, others are there if I want...I just don't want. I did my time. I still live very comfortably.

I've known too many people drop over either before retiring or within months of retiring to wait any longer. I feel better than I have in years! Stress is down, givashit is down, happiness is way up.

DO IT!

 

@woodtickgreg - get an overview done, and do it! Medicare is the worst expense if you are not 65. Other than that, if you life is mostly paid for, it's not a hard decision. I got kicked into it, but they gave me insurance to the end of the year, after which I promptly turned 65 and registered for everything.

 

Good morning gang!
Checking in... and see a lot has been posted since my last check in.
My first concert was Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1976, San Diego Sports Arena... followed by others that included Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Pablo Cruise & Doobie Brothers (front row seats!), Boston, Rod Stewart, Kiss, and in 1985, BTO + Van Halen!
My ears never were the same after the front row seats for the Doobies!

 

^^^ THIS!

 

Ohhhh... We saw BTO in a CAVE. Man, talk about ears ringing...

 

I want to say a big thank you to all the peoples advice here about retirement, it is truly appreciated. I will wait till I turn 65 in July so I can get Medicare. I will work part time for a little pocket money. I have discussed in in detail with my wife and friends in church whose opinions I value. I think for my mental health this has to happen. I will still have a mortgage when I retire but it will be manageable for the 2 of us. My truck and is in good shape and it will be paid down and almost paid off or paid off by then. I will stay busy by working part time, going back to the gym, working in my woodshop, and being more involved with my church. I should be much happier and more at ease without the dread of going to work where I am not appreciated and treated poorly. Crappy old trucks, long hours, 6 days a week, bad boss, I won't miss it at all.
Making this decision feels like a weight 1has been lifted off me. Now I see light at the end of the tunnel. August 1st can't come soon enough. Lol.

 

101.5 KGB FM. “Look to the sky, San Diego.

Crazy, I still have all my concert stubs in a drawer somewhere. Some of the shit one holds on to, huh?