60+ year old thread.

You aren't the only one needing donations!!! Just had to get a new battery for the truck

Congratulations!!!

 

I know and am friends with many many retirees and only one got bored and ended up going back to work. He has no hobbies and no real interests. He’s back at a high stress job as a VP for an engineering firm. Me personally would rather watch paint dry than go back to work. But you won’t know for sure until you retire. When you take a couple weeks vacation are you bored at the end, do you look forward to your vacation being over and returning to work. If yes then maybe retirement isn’t for you. If you retire and want more to do you can do volunteer work, serve your community in different ways,, find a part time job for a little extra $$ and to keep busy.
Also you don’t have to fill up everyday. There’ll be days that you’ll just kick back and read a book or see a movie, or get some exercise and go for a walk or hike or what ever. I personally do not sit around worrying about what I’m going to do tomorrow, there’s always something. As long as you will be financially ok, you have lots of options, just do it.

 

The day will be filled so much you’ll want to go back to work to rest..

 

Good morning fellow Porchatonians!!!

 

sixtys/wannabes/retirement fence sitters. I retired in January and don't even think about going back to work. I have plenty of projects. Financially I seem to have picked the worst time imaginable to stop producing income! But I survived the 1970's and I expect I'll survive this too.

Speaking of projects, we have a set of outside steps that appear to have been attacked by the 'dry rot' fungus. I stepped on one of the stairs and the whole end of the board broke off. Looking at it more closesly a lot of the wood in one area can be broken apart by hand. I'm surprised and disappointed because we just had the stairs built about 5 years ago, with pressure treated lumber. I would have expected it to last a lot longer than this. I was going to patch it but I woke up this morning thinking that the best course of action might be complete replacement. That'll keep me busy!

 

Love your outlook on retirement Rusty! I will retire to my Grand Daughters and their activities!

 

Dehumidifier setup today. Arrived yesterday but took all my time to set up a new PC, which also arrived yesterday. Dehumidifier also has a built-in pump, so I don't have to re-use the external pump from the old one, but I think I'll just gravity drain it. That way, nothing mechanical to fail when we need it most.
Setup was a bit of try and see what happens. Instructions these days are mostly translated from some other language. After a few days on max, I was able to set it so it keeps the living space at 50% or slightly less. Perfect.

 

Keep the retirement posts coming! Very inspirational to me. Was planning on retiring in 17 months, but due to my desk audit finally coming through with a promotion and back pay, my date is moved back to 29 months. Pension is based on 3 highest years, normally an employees last 3 years. I can do 29 months. Union contract ends 6/30/2023 so will see what new contract brings. I am on the negotiating committee.

 

Welcome to the porch. I have not seen a post by you in the past, but at my age I forget stuff too often. LOL You will enjoy retirement.

Another side to retirement, I was basically forced into retirement and still feel it was the best thing that has ever happened to me, except for my wife and son. Nothing can top my family. If you have 17 months to retirement the best advice, I can offer is to save all you can, and then some more, up until retirement. Once you retire, plan to do things you always wanted to do but never had the time to do.

My doctor's visit yesterday went really well. I should have my blood work back on Friday afternoon. My doctor was happy with my 3-month progress towards better health. I need to start a walking program pretty quickly. Anyone have a recommendation for decent footwear for walking on sidewalks?

We start to remove the pond liner today. Going to be sad but inspiring at the same time. I am looking forward to a transformation of the space.

 

Morning 60+
Still no rain

 

The best advice I can give regarding footwear is to ignore any and all specific shoe recommendations from the peanut gallery (i.e. all of us). Why? Everybody's feet are different, a perfect shoe for me may well be the exact shoe for you which causes all manner of damage and injury. I would strongly recommend finding a local running store which caters to walkers and runners; have them analyze your foot shape, arch height, walking gait, and any number of other factors, and then try on every shoe they have which is designed for your foot and stride.

 

Good Morning Porch Pals & Gal! Well, after bloodwork for two Doctors, and two breakfast tacos; I had myself a nice long nap! Did get in the pool a bit though. Last night was watering night, and today is mowing. Seems silly, but I'm not interested in surrounding myself with dead brown grass. Window cleaning can wait. See, the beauty of a retirement schedule!

 

I found that less = more in my case. They make minimalist running shoes, sometimes they're called lightweight running shoes or lightweight trail running shoes. Very light uppers, hardly any padding under the foot -- just enough to support the arch. It sounds counterintuitive but they are the most comfortable sneaker-type shoe I've worn in a long long time. Your mileage may vary of course! But that's my go-to style of walking shoe now.

We finally got some last night. All of the storm systems that moved through over the past week so split up and went around us. Finally one hit.

 

Well since you asked... I retired at 52, moving to South Dakota and buying a wreck of a house in Lead (three miles from Deadwood) and a land damaged 240 acre ranch in Newell (25 miles north of Sturgis). I did a total remodel on the hundred year old house in Lead, right down to the studs... and a light remodel on the house in Newell. The ranch had great outbuildings, a 40 X 80 shop and a 120 X 120 barn and a few smaller sheds... but the guy that had owned it previously crop farmed and had ruined the fencing and the soil. I repaired what fencing I could and replaced a lot, and put cows on it to renew the soil. In a couple of years with good management the pastures were once again thick with grass and the wildlife had returned. I put a high price on the ranch thinking it would be years before it sold and in less than a month I had a full price offer. Damn...
After selling the ranch I spent a lot more time in Lead and Deadwood and eventually sat down at a Texas Hold'em game. I hadn't played poker since high school but I won my third tournament... and the horses were off... I played 120 nickel-roll (small, 20/60 players) tournaments in the next three months and was at the final table half of the time and in the money half of those times. There is no satisfaction in the world like winning in a game against people trying their best to take your money. Affirmation that is not dependent on people that have their own reasons to give a compliment.
The wife wanted to be closer to her family and we moved to the middle of Utah in '09 and have been here ever since. Longest time we have ever spent in the same house. Remodeling as I feel like it, and otherwise doing a lot of gardening, sightseeing, hiking, and an occasional camping trip. Some big projects like doing a restomod body swap on an M37 and building a shop/garage to do other projects, like painting, carving, and general tom-foolery.
Coffee in the morning... life is good.

Oh... and money is not as big a deal for me as most people. We've set everything up so our only expenses are utility bills and insurance. We live on what we get from SS and bank some of that every month. Everything we buy, including the new building, is from SS savings.

 

Sounds like you are living the dream. Good on you!

 

Good morning all you good people who occupy the porch and observe activities in the neighborhood.

I finally pulled the trigger and sent in my application to the retirement office. My last day of work will be Aug 31 although my boss won't know until the middle of August. My first defined benefit payment will be effective Sept 1. While I'm extremely excited, I'm also very scared and sad. I've had many experiences and know so many friends that I'll miss. I know I'm financially ready. I'm 63 and my health is good so I'm not concerned there. I chose to go 4 months early because there really isn't a financial reason to stay to Dec 31. I have 36+ years which is 72% of my income for life and my wife continues if I die first. I have enough insurance credits for both my wife and I with my saved sick time that I won't pay a dime in medical insurance until I'm 72. There is no debt. My wife will work until next spring. I already put all of her income into savings so we don't live on that now. I'm waiting a few years to collect social security. I disagree with my wife and 2 brother-in-laws about holding out longer but to keep peace I'll delay it. I love the fall with the golf, fishing, ATV riding, cool hikes, etc. Sept is going to be a good reward.

Have a great day all.

 

At 59, I'm sort of cheating while posting here. I'll request full membership in 10 months. LOL

 

Close enough, just fill up the cooler and we will consider you an apprentice until you are a legit 60+ member of the porch.

 

Shoes: Find a real shoe store where that is all they sell, find the oldest person there.

After years of pain and difficulty I found a real shoe salesman and in the first time in years had comfortable shoes.

I buy Keen shoes and they work for me although there are many quality brands.

The key is to identify the brand that works with your feet - that is where a good salesman comes in.

 

Still planning on April 1 next year.
Everything is on track...so far.
Wishing for an end of year offer, as my company has done in the past. Haven't had one since 2019. If that's the case, I'll be out earlier.