I'm sure you'll have plenty by the time you retire.

Good thread. My wife plans to retire in a couple of years. Her job is just too stressful. She will still have to find some other employment as I don't think we can afford to live on my income and her retirement.

Me, I figure unless I can work some magic, I probably have at least 10-12 more years before I can retire.

Most people that I have ever talked to about retirement are looking at what health care costs and/or when they are eligible for Medicare. We are both early 50s so Medicare will be awhile. But she can retire and I'll just add her to my healthcare. We both work for the same main entity, just different departments. So, the healthcare should remain the same for her.

That is great that you will be able to add her on to your insurance.

I might suggest rolling over your 401k to an IRA. Once you hit 73, you will be required to take min distributions

There are a lot of different variables, a lot of which depend on your needs/wants but here are a few things I’d do if it were me. (Note: I’m just a schlub telling you what I’d do. No advice here)

Take your CD money and split it like 4 ways and then every 3 months put one section in a CD. Or you can do it 12 ways and do it every month. Laddering CDs can help offset the timing risk.

As for your 401K, I’d leave it in the market as long as you’re comfortable with the risk profile of your investments. One thing I would do is figure out if there are any client paid fees. They don’t advertise them so you’ll have to do some looking. If there are any fees, definitely roll that shit into a self directed IRA. Almost all the big ones have no fees. Then if it’s me I keep some index fund type exposure to the market.

EDIT: another thing you should probably figure out is how difficult it is to get normal distributions out of your 401K. If that’s very difficult, again I’d roll it to an IRA.

I'm pretty fascinated by people who could retire, but don't want to. I like what I do well enough, but if I could afford it, I'd never work again. I admire people who love what they do for a living, but it's a foreign concept to me.

Just under 5 months for my planned retirement. Question for those that have retired. Did you have any apprehension or second thoughts about turning in the paperwork and making it official? I have to give 1 month or more notice and sometimes I am feeling unsure about it.

I'm not gonna lie, I had those types of thoughts last month. But, I'm prepared for retirement and decided that me and my family deserve the best that I have left. The job just kept getting more and more in the way of that goal. Bottom line - I've never heard anyone on their death bed say " I wish I had worked more". That statement alone made my decision for me.

yep, you can’t get on Medicare until you are 65. Married filing jointly you have a limit of $129K in income. Anything over that, you’ll have to pay part of the Medicare costs. Since I retired sooner than planned, I had a lot of income on my W2.

I'm paying close to $400 a month for Medicare A&B, G plan and a drugs plan. But when I get the new tax return for 2004 taxes, we should get that down to around $150 a month.

I had a good PPO plan. Still charged me $500 co-pays for MRI ‘s and Cat Scans. $60 for an office visit. I don’t have to pay those co-pays on Medicare. So that’s saving me more than chump change.

I had none...I ended up giving my company 18 months notice but part of that was because of some events that elongated my stay.. when I finally said enough is enough I gave them my final date and said get my replacement or else the position will be vacant.

Excellent mentality....what time I do have left here on earth family deserves the best I have left.

Since retirement, I’ve taken over most of the cooking. Been trying new recipes. Some I like, some not so much. But, that’s part of the process.

Made Shepherd’s Pie tonight. Pretty good, but I can see some alterations I’m going to make the next time.

Lord knows I’m never going to be a threat to Gordon Ramsey or Bobby Flay, but maybe I’ll make the cooking these proud one of these days.:thumb:

yeah, I’m adopting this mindset and put it in my signature.

So, I retired earlier than planned. I still can have a great retirement. I also gained a couple of years of not working. When you are 65, time is worth more than money.

Been doing that myself as much as possible...mostly the normal things...meatloaf, tacos, spaghetti and meatballs, baked chicken, etc. I am nowhere near as good as my wife but in the last month no one has had to go to the hospital.

Made a couple of cakes...both peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies....

But the hard stuff my wife is having to teach me.

Not a frequent poster here, but retired a few weeks ago. I got a ton of info on YouTube, starting with this guy (https://www.youtube.com/@joekuhnlovesretirement), although he can be a bit repetitive. Once you start watching retirement videos, the YouTube algorithm will recommend more, some good, some folks just like to blather on. But overall, still a good resource.

Looks good. Been watching a lot of you tube videos like these to get my education level where it needs to be to make educated decisions about all this retirement stuff.

I want to go back to work, it was a lot less work.

Yielding to peer pressure from you other oldies, I have announced my retirement, though it's a retirement with an encore.

I'm going work-free in September of 2024, but in the summer of 2025 I'll come back for three months to work on a specific annual contract that I've been working on for several years. Then in September of 2025 I'll go fishing or whatever for good.

Congrats!

Good for you, time to enjoy life.:toast:

Cheers!

This should be an interesting week of cooking for me.

Tonight was Voodoo Pasta, which is blackened chicken with pasta, Alfredo sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and hot sauce on the side. I've thought about adding some peppers into the mix, but the family seems to like it as is, so don't screw up a good thing. Add in some salad and garlic bread, and that's a quick and filing meal.

Tomorrow night will be Tuscan Chicken over Orzo and then Thursday night is my first real adventure- Beef Tenderloin with a creamy mushroom sauce and garlic Parmesan asparagus. That's going to have a lot of moving parts, so I'm hoping everything turns out well.

There's little worry I'm going to show up on Iron Chef anytime soon, but I enjoying tracking down new recipes and giving it a shot. So far, no major disasters and a few dishes I've cranked out recently have been requested multiple times.

Considering the fact 90% of my cooking before retirement was either centered around ground meat or BBQ'ing something, I'm getting quite adventurous in my old age. *grin*

And you thought peer pressure was the territory of the high school agers....

Congratulations on the announcement of your retirement....September will come quickly and all of a sudden you are one of us.

Prepare to enjoy making your lawn look like the greens at Augusta and yelling at every kid that dares to walk on your lawn.

Also...the fun thing to do is find all the places you get free coffee and a discount on your dinner. 😁

Congrats! I'm still trying to find my groove but will once my hand surgery heals. Enjoy!!! You've earned retirement

Good of you to come back for that annual contract contribution. Buy some 'celebration quality' whiskey with a paycheck is my advice. While we've got #15 playing here - you never know what we might need to celebrate.

Reminder that if you earned >17K in those 3 months, the SSA will take all your $'s over that amount from your SSA. If its more than your SS benefit in one year, it'll take it the next year too. Supposedly people have got that money back in 2-3 years but thats just rumors in the SS redditt threads.

Slept to noon again. Havent done that since I was sick or on the weekend.

Wifes last day is tomorrow. We are taking our first road trip after she gets out of jury duty on Wednesday. Have a destination, its in Missouri but how long the road trip lasts depends on how much fun is being had stopping to look at stuff along the way as we travel.

We are initially going up the east coast of Florida and over the panhandle. Neither one of us have ever got off the interstates to check out those beaches or towns. From there, who knows which path we will take north.

Awesome!!! You're going to love it...

Sorry, that’s wrong info. Here’s the right stuff. I’m still a noob with this stuff.


Retirees, however, are required to stay under an income limit while taking Social Security. For 2024, that limit is $22,320. After that, the Social Security Administration will deduct $1 for every $2 earned.

100% correct. That's why you alter how you're paid post-retirement if you can. Remember, a dollar saved is dollar earned, so structure you post-retirement life in such a fashion where you have things paid for instead of you getting paid. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty creative.

I believe the income threshold becomes unlimited at 67, full retirement age.

true and not. The true is full retirement age. A persons FRA age varies.

For most born after 1960 it’s 67 years and 10 months.

After you reach FRA, you can make as much as you want without a penalty.

That limit is true if you haven't reached FRA....after that you can earn as much as you like and still draw Social Security, but it can also put you in a totally different tax bracket.

That is correct...

Sorry....I didn't read all the way through.

My bad.

For me, my full retirement age was 66 years and 3 months. I worked up until March of this year and drew Social Security for the time that I reached FRA until this year. My advisor and I computed it and taking the amount early vs. waiting to draw was insignificant in comparison.

That may not be the case for everyone so make sure you work with your tax advisor.

Tell your wife congratulations on her retirement also....

If you are near Jacksonville anytime on the road trip and want to get together for lunch let me know.

Otherwise.....have a great time...

We are planning to go to the game in Charlotte. Planning to make it a road trip to visit the Biltmore and the eastern coast beaches and the Appalachian forest. You going?

SS rant

Holy shit navigating signing up for Social Security is a mess. So complicated and every sentence written, paperwork must be exact, no help with their ****ed up system. Beyond that....

Because my wife is a teacher of 40 years, she is going to get a fraction of my SS when I die. She'll get about $500 a month. I'm close to maxing out on SS so thats significant money when I'm gone.

And even though she paid in SS taxes just like everyone else all those decades, she only gets $800 a month. Thats $2K less a month than what she earned. Seems like its a "need" based system. But, billionaires still get SS, who came up with this idea that teachers don't deserve their full SS just like everyone else?

We have enough money for a comfortable retirement. It just seems unfair that you paid in for decades just like everyone else but you get 80% less than billionaires receive.

How I've always understood it:

Your work history determines your payout, which is a fixed amount. You will receive that amount from date of retirement to age 80. How much you receive each month is determined by how many months of payout are within that time period, from the retirement date to age 80. The amount is fixed, and the rate of payout you receive is determined by the number of months the payout is spread over.

The benefit becomes when you begin to receive payments after age 80. If you take retirement early, the smaller check remains the same throughout your life. The longer you delay, the larger your check will become (fewer months to divide the fixed amount by), and that amount will continue after age 80. It's the extra money from the larger payout received after age 80 which makes a difference.

This is why if you do not anticipate living past 80 years, due to illness, family history, or whatever, you should start taking the benefit as soon as possible. If you figure you will live past 80, and can afford to live without the benefit, delaying to receive the benefit will give you more payout over your lifetime.

I never heard SS ends at 80.

What the ****?

I'm looking at early retirement. Not really by choice as the business I'm in has pretty much run it's course and it's time to shut it down. I'll be 63 in August and I wish I had four more years of business for the income but more importantly at this point the health insurance. I'm going to end up paying for my health insurance out of my pocket for a couple of years and that sucks. I own my home and cars outright, I don't have a lot of bills and I do have a substantial amount of cash in investments and my retirement fund. I should be able to live off dividends alone for four years till I'm 67 so that's good. We're going have to learn how to live on a budget though and we haven't really ever had to do that.

How much a month is enough for a comfortable retirement? $5,000.00, $10,000.00 or somewhere in between?

It doesn't end at 80. Read closer. After 80, the amount received is determined by when you began receiving benefits. Start taking benefits early, receive less after 80 than if you had delayed because your payout is fixed at that number. Delay, receive more after 80 because you set payout at a higher number. Between retirement and age 80, benefits received are the same regardless when you begin taking them. So, if you start at 62 or 70 doesn't matter, up to age 80. Because the amount is fixed, you will receive the same. After 80 is when you gain benefit from delaying, as now you receive the benefit of setting your lifetime number at the higher payout from waiting.

I don't know about that....we were told that both my wife and disabled son will receive my full amount of my benefit upon my death....now she does lose her current retirement benefit which is much less than mine.

And as for the whole Social Security paperwork mudhole, been there felt that! And even if you get it right it doesn't mean someone at SS won't enter incorrect data that will cause you to be rejected.

I always tell everyone to start your paperwork at least 6 months before you retire the first month you are eligible.

I dont think he knows what he is talking about.

70 is the age you wont get a bigger check by waiting. 80 years old is never even mentioned in anything I've seen Show your work.

You were not a teacher. It only applies to that profession. Other people who have a pension get their regular SS payment.

She will only get $500-$800 a month when I die.

That is a tough one to answer....my immediate response would be to tell you to find a job to work for 4 more years but that may not be possible for you. That could at least be a job that has company supported health insurance and a monthly wage to alleviate your need to dip into your post retirement funds that early.

I worked until March of this year...but in October of 2022 I hit the "Full Retirement Age" for my birth year and after talking with my retirement counselor, I started drawing my Social Security benefits along with continuing to work. I used that monthly SSI benefit as a supplement to my income without any restrictions...so basically we were adding to our retirement fund a little extra money each month.

As for how much it takes to live?? That depends on your needs and retirement plans...we always lived modestly and as such, our budget for retirement is nothing extravagant but we are happy. We did most of what people call "extravagant travel/vacations" while the kids were Middle school and older...so not only could we enjoy them in good health, but so the kids could also.

Now our travel plans are less extravagant and more about what we see as what we enjoy. I doubt we will travel anywhere overseas (been there done it and not impressed in some cases) or to places we have already journeyed. To be frank...anything above NC/TN is probably not on our radar and most of our journey's will be southern and to my daughter and son in law who live in Walmart Land.

What your needs are....is what you set them at. (Budgeting is the one thing many people stop doing at retirement, when it should be the most important thing you do)

Damn....that sucks! I was not aware of that exemption for them.

Just another way we screw the teaching profession.

Create a SS account. You don't have to file. You can do that at anytime later. But, they have a calculator on their site that will tell you how much you will receive if you retire on "X" date. You can move the slider over to see what it would be at 62 years of age when your eligible all the way to your FRA(Full retirement age) and beyond all the way up to 70.

I was going to "retire" in the SS system but using that slider I was able to figure out I was gaining $17 a month by waiting. Then you just do the math that worked for you. $17 per month X 12 months etc. I "retired" officially this month. Was going to wait until FRA but did the math and we decided we would have more money in our pocket in the long run to take the SS now.

Redditt has the most SS feedback from any of the other sites I've visited. Just join the sub-reddit's and you will see lots of varied opinions and you can decided what's BS and what's not. Or this thread gets used by posters here, then you can already know if this poster posting in here is FOS.

Thats the advice I've seen the most from people. Get a budget immediately. You'll be surprised where your money is going. Decide what to do next when you know what you are spending money on now and what you'd like to spend your money on in retirement.

This is where I was.....I would get $19 more per month at age 70 and it made no sense waiting to start drawing for that extra dollars at that time.

Not to de-rail the conversation, but this somewhat pertains to retirement.

After years of watching American Pickers, Flea Market Flipping and a few other shows, while talking to friends who have gotten into it.....I decided to let one of my hobbies/part time jobs be flipping. (Not house flipping...I am not that crazy!)

What I would love to know is if anyone else has ever ventured into flipping before and what success/failures you might have had?

I am just now doing garage sales, estate sales and flea market shopping....have found a few items that I have flipped...or just purchased and resold for a profit. I am not in it to become the next HGTV/Magnolia Channel/History Channel TV show...just in it to have some fun...make a little money and keep my butt off the couch. I have honestly enjoyed it thus far...but too soon in the process to think I have all the handles on it.

Any input?

BRC and Mos, without quoting I'll just say thanks for the responses.

I'm not sure how it works in regard to how much I'll get based off my income. I always had a smaller salary but received a lot of income in k-1 disbursements. If what thinking is correct I'll probably get my SS based on my salary and not my total income. Please tell me I'm wrong.

My wife is a retired teacher (Kansas) and her SS is not affected by being a teacher. She gets her KPERS pension plus SS of about $2500/month. Combined total of about $4500. Very nice!

Unfortunately, you're not wrong.

I'm assuming the K1 is owner distributions or some such thing. The easy way to check is to see if you paid self-employment tax on it, and I really doubt that you did. I think one purpose of having a K1 is to avoid paying that tax, which means you don't get the benefit later.

People always say to maximize your K1 to minimize taxes, but I never really saw a huge advantage in that. Other than medicare where you're going to get the benefit anyway, paying self-employment taxes on income is going to give you more social security income later. It's probably slightly better to take K1 income over regular income, but paying on regular income kind of creates a forced savings with regards to social security.

K-1 can be SE income. For instance if you have a LLC that has an active farming operation, it will flow through to the personal as SE income.

I think you can get your earned income and projected payments from the SSA. That's probably better than estimating.

RE: reducing SE income. Not to distract from the retirement thread, but it matters what you do with the tax savings. If you invest it, either in other instruments or reinvest it in the business, it's probably better to reduce SE income. If you're just going to consume it, it's better to pay SE tax.

The return on SE tax (Social Security) is shit, but it's not 0. If it's just going to consumption, it is definitely 0.

When I'm not wrong it's wrong.

Easiest way to check is to make that social security account. It will show what SS says your salary was for each year. The SS throws out the bottom 5 years so that will help.

You need 40 quarters of work to qualify for SS. Its a complicated formula. Dont know how it works. I got a letter from SS I think, around 60 that I had qualified. Again, create the account and you can see where you are at with the 40 quarters of work.

:banghead:

Happy for you but WTF SS? You got pissed off at Missouri teachers?

EDIT: Its about your state being a "Windfall" state. NHo idea what that means but Missouri is one, Kansas must not be.

I don't think that should have been a thing in Missouri... the whole reason she doesn't get SS benefits in Missouri is because (I'd assume) she has a pension and didn't pay into SS.

Missouri is an opt out state... if she was paying into SS for 30 years or whatever , I'd think someone ****ed up and it's a shame if no one explained how it works all those years (not necessarily surprising, HR departments on average are terrible). The 2nd link specifically says Missouri teachers don't (well, shouldn't) pay into SS.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/mapED/s...ity/index.html

https://benefits.lsr7.org/financial/...0Certification.

She paid into SS as anyone else does. In addition, she contributed to the pension. Maybe they changed the rules in the last 14 years we have been down in Florida? Maybe the Lees Simmit school district were idiots interpreting a law?

Only about 5% of teachers that start in education stay in the field their whole careers. What about the teacher that works for 7 years or so, then changes fields? They have lost 7 years of SS time.

She does get $800 a month from SS. But, Im not clear if thats from my taking SS or not. Still new to all this.

That first link says Florida is an opt-in state, so it makes sense she's been paying into it since you've lived there.

If you 100% have paystubs/info from MO that shows SS was taken out, if I were in her shoes I'd be really curious if that was supposed to happen... but I'm by no means a SS or Missouri teacher/pension expert. It would take a pretty massive **** up to be taking out for SS all these years and then not seeing that benefit back, but I guess it's possible.

But as you mentioned, the more you make, the more you put into SS and the more you get out of it, which really sucks for underpaid professions like teaching.

I came close to maxing out SS due to my lifetime income, despite me not earning shit in my 20's. But, I was making 3X-4X what she was making as a teacher. They are so underpaid. They should be more respected and paid more but that's never going to happen.

What if I don’t know what I want to do in retirement?
 

From Redditt

Retirement doesn’t need to mean Viking cruises on the Danube, or RVing for three years, or hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I’m a huge fan of the Small Adventure, something that gets you out of the house for one thing or another, but requires neither a big expense or big time away from home. Let’s make a post cataloguing favorite Small Adventures to share. Here are some of ours.

[ ] Try one new recipe a week, especially if it involves a new, fun ingredient like swordfish, whole fennel, or garam masala. Take the time to shop for the ingredients, maybe in specialty shops.

[ ] Volunteer 2 afternoons a month at an animal shelter. Cats and dogs mostly need attention, touching, play time from volunteers. Training is an hour, typically.

[ ] Find a nature trail and walk it regularly. If it’s a 10 mile trail and you can’t walk that far, then park at one trailhead, walk to the next trailhead and back, and then walk the next leg next time.

[ ] Have one library book at home at all times. It’s nice to make a regular visit every couple of weeks to see new titles.

[ ] Go to the Tuesday matinee movie with your partner, which is usually dirt cheap.

[ ] Volunteer at your nearest grade school, helping 1st and 2nd graders read. Little girls and boys that are a little behind get special attention/practice with these volunteers.

[ ] Draw a 4-hour driving radius around your home for day trips. It’s amazing how many towns are inside that radius (unless Alaska, Hawaii, Montana) and there’s usually something fun in every town. If you leave by 8 in the morning, you’re there by lunch. If you’re done by 5pm, you can drive home. Otherwise spend a night in a motel and come home the next day.

[ ] Get to know your neighbors if you were too busy to do that while you were working. Just carry a plate of cookies, knock on a door. Hit the whole block by the time six months are gone.

[ ] With your spouse or a good friend, go to a sidewalk cafe, sip coffee, and tell each other fictional backstories of other people on the street. “He hasn’t seen her in 15 years and is wondering what she wants.” “She’s a field agent and got a report he’s been selling secrets to Venezuelans.”

[ ] Go to a fruit farm during picking season, get a peck of strawberries or apples or melons.

[ ] Test drive a new car every month. Give a fake email address. It’s a nice way to see what an Escalade or a Porsche feels like.

[ ] See how many federally managed parks and preserves there are in your state. With a lifetime senior parks pass ($80), visit all of them over the course of several years. There are about 2000 nationally.

This is one of the best posts on this thread......you don't need to be Jet Set John and Jane to enjoy your retirement. I love all of these suggestions save for the one where I go to my local coffee house and make up stories.

The Senior Lifetime Pass is one of those things many people overlook....I know I did once I turned 62 and now I regret it. $80 to go to any National Park for free? And if you don't want to do the Lifetime Pass and just want to try one out for a year? They have the Annual Pass for $20.

Here's one.....make yourself an expert on all the places that you get Senior Discounts....there are loads of places that either give you a free drink or coffee but you have to ask. Make sure you ask for any Senior Discount....find the stores that have Over 55+ Discount Days....

I've been doing the volunteer reading program for a couple of years...but now I plan to invest more time in it because nothing is more fun than watching kids be enthralled with a good book. Making a book come alive for a young boy or girl to dream is paying it forward in the best way.

Here's one that takes dedication....and an earnest desire to help your fellow man. Go to one of the local retirement homes and make a friend. Unfortunately there are way too many people that are dumped in a Senior Citizens home by the family and rarely do they visit. Sit down one or 2 days a week and just talk with them....find out what is in their diet and what they are allowed to eat/drink and bring it to them. You tell them stories or let them tell you stories...in some cases you can read a book to them....heck in some cases you just sit and watch an old movie or television show they love.

I am just starting into retirement....and each day I am fascinated by what I really don't know or think about that life holds for me and the opportunities I have to give back.

I am in a similar position on the Missouri side. I have a while but now that I am 40 I am starting to try and run the numbers or looking into the crystal ball in regard to what LAGERS (pension) and SS will look like. A lot pension wise is determined by my last 3 years of service. I *could* retire at 55 but I doubt that is in the cards for me we will see.

Originally, SS was not available to government employees that had state retirement plans. When SS was expanded in the 1950s to include public employees, some states chose to opt out. A few states later joined SS, but many teachers retired without enough years accrued in SS to get a retirement benefit.

https://www.teacherpensions.org/blog...ocial-security

For those who have been retired 6 months or more. did you find that keeping a semi-regular schedule helps ease into retirement or did you give yourself a year to figure out what the hell to do with the rest of your life?

Staying up and binging something on a work night does hold a little fun. Those poor slobs are getting out into traffic, dealing with overbearing bosses, insane deadlines and unsatisfied customers or suits.

My wife was a teacher, retired "officially" as of tomorrow. The teachers have to report and start work for the new year on Friday. We are going to the beach. :D

I "officially" retired as a civilian from Uncle Sam 6 years ago when I turned 56 after 32 years with him in one uniform or another. Saw too many military retirees who passed after they retired because they didn't have a mission (aka good reason) to get up every day. I retired on Halloween of 2017 and by early spring I and my spouse knew I needed to get out of the house for both our sanity. I got 2 part time jobs, one 12 hours a week and the other 3-5 days per month. Having a 40 acre hobby farm helps keep me busy as well. So, to answer your question, it took me about 3-4 months to get "restructured".

Retired 1 yr and 11 months. I took the first 6 months to detox mentally after 32 years of corporate life. No more deadlines, getting up at 7am for conference calls, or being stressed about contacting individuals, who really didn't want me addressing concerns my company had to complete a project. Would multi-task with as many as 15+ projects ongoing with contractors and company employees. I was the blunt end of discontent by property owners for the actions of the employees and contractors.

Had a computer display with 3 screens at once, which looking back probably led to some brain scramble issues, as I was trying to problem solve several different tasks at the same time. There were times I would send written correspondence out via regular mail or email and would need to verify shortly afterward that I completed, as I couldn't recall. It was not healthy.

After 6 months, I decided to volunteer for the Red Cross and supported blood drives as a pickup driver and delivery to hospitals. The Red Cross is very dysfunctional and most of the regular staff have a love hate opinion of their career path. They were too woke for me, and it drove me to forgo being a volunteer after 11 months.

This led me to a parttime job now, (not required for income) but need the responsibility and reason to connect with the general public. Work 10-15 hours a week making prescription deliveries to those organizations that support Individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Looking back, I realize how blessed I am to retire at 59. My retired life is such a relief to my fulltime working life. When asked to describe retirement I respond with it is "Preschool for Heaven" as I can enjoy activities and sleep terms on my clock. Oh yes, the biggest benefit of retirement has been rest! I go to sleep when I'm tired and get up, minus the bathroom break when I please!

I'm one month from hanging 'em up as of today. But it's a 31-day month so it's still a long way off.

:LOL:

Congratulations, Kevin!

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick..........

Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?
Are we there yet?


(Pause.)


Are we there yet?

Time for the young whippersnappers to take the lead.

2 months and 11 days for me but who's counting. It is getting harder to stay motivated at work, I will say that. My employees are starting to grate on me every time they screw something up. I just do a countdown of how long until I won't have to deal with them.

It's taken me a bit to get into a rhythm since retiring last January.

One thing that's helped is taking over some of the daily house chores simply to make more time for the rest of the family. I'll never be mistaken for a Michelin chef, but I'm defintely getting more comfortable making dinner and trying recipies I never thought I'd be able to handle.

Finally getting into a good rhythm with my writing. Just about to put the finishing touches on a novella, got three short stories started, and two novels are at various points of being finished.

Also, getting caught up on my backlog of books I've been meaning to read, DVDs I've been meaning to watch and found a couple of channels on the tube that specialize on older TV shows (esp. GRIT to catch up on those old 1950s westerns and GET - watching the heck out of Mike Hammer, Magnum P.I., Rockford Files, and Kojak.)

So, yeah, it takes a little bit and some experimenting to figure out what works, but if you don't try to force it, I think it's easy to find something that interests you enough to keep you from being bored.

You are in something I kind of dealt with....I call it the lame duck syndrome.

Once people know you are leaving they either ignore you, listen but don't really hear you, or treat you like you are Charlie Brown's teacher. Some of them resent you because you made it to the goal line and they are so far away. The really good people are happy for you, but it also reminds them how far they are from achieving what you have worked to accomplish.

But....and here is the good part for you, that last 71 days will go by faster than you think. The last day you will spend cleaning up things, having people come by and say their farewell's and some will be truly sad to see you go.

And saying this from recent experience....you will not believe the feeling freedom that you get from leaving work for the final time. I have had lunch with a couple of my former co-workers just to catch up and the first thing they said was that I seem so happy...and even look a bit younger.

Retirement looks good on me.....and I am loving it. Here's to hoping that you get the same joy that I have now.

And what I look forward to most is the upcoming 3-peat by the KC Chiefs!

I actually have become a part time "Picker"....doing it just enough to keep me occupied. I will never become a millionaire doing it, but dang it is fun when you sell something you have purchased, repaired and resold.

I also set time to watch TV too...but mine is watching the Discovery+ channel and all those shows there, along with watching all the YouTube channels that shows all the Abandoned Places.....

I've been retired for 9 months and other than an immediate trip to Roatan that allowed me to sleep-in a little longer (other than the travel days), but after that I found that the internal clock still worked. I used to start work around 4:45a, but teleworking allowed me to sleep until 4:30a and shower later in the day.

So I'd say let nature take its course, your internal clock will adjust over a few months. I'm still a 6:30-7:00am person, but that's because I don't want to sleep away my retirement.

Just my $.02

Retirement is everything you ever imagined it was and a lot more. It's freaking amazing...