Welcome!

This is the place to introduce yourself to the others.

We suggest you create a new topic when you introduce yourself, rather than replying to this message or someone else's introduction.

Hello - venny here - just joined up at recommendation of esteemed colleague. Am follower of REHP on MF.
Also offer career advice to those in large corporations.

http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/6057/career3.html

Am happy retired (long time) oil field grunt.

venny

__________________
venny

Hello
I am a 59 year old married nurse who now is in a position to retire. Financially we have finally reached a point where we could manage with my retirement and husbands salary, but.....
Although there are days I don't want to go to work and days I work way too hard, I do get alot of satisfaction from what I do. I like my coworkers a great deal and enjoy the patients and families. I am trying to decide to leave it all or just work 3 days a week for awhile as a tranistion.
Have others faced this? Any advice?

Though I am happily completely retired (I have other activities that would preclude work), my husband is working 3 days a week as a contractor for his old company. He is quite happy with the situation since it allows him to hang out with people he greatly respects, and generally does interesting work. That's because the boss (a great guy) knows he'll leave if he gets bored. He's been doing this for 2 years and doesn't plan to stop anytime soon, unless he's bored.

arrete

My situation may be a bit unique, mostly in that I was
a textbook workaholic for most of my working life.
In my case, it was not so much not liking the work
(I owned my own company) as it was wanting to do other things before the inevitable health problems
interfered. So, although I am still interested in business,
I will never go back as I am happy with the way I spend
my time now, even though it's a complete reversal of
what once was. I still have the urge but don't want the hassle. My wife is still working (2 jobs at present)
but she has the comfort of knowing it is not a long term
necessity.

Dory36!! Is this your retirement home? How does it work out for you? After looking at retirement places none are so fasinating as a Trawler. I found a Cheoy Lee 50 Tri-Cabin. My wife is a seasoned sailor (48' Schooner) and she said "Honey, if that's what you want you should at least try it". Any advice? Jack

We love it! We've been hanging out in south Florida for a couple of months, and are floating within a mile of about 40 other early-retired couples also retired on boats. The social side is spectacular, and the costs are much less than living on dirt!

Some more info can be found at http://www.early-retirement.org/dory

Dory36

__________________
Often uninformed, seldom undecided.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain

Thanks for the encouragement (Like I really needed it) I'll check out the web site you left me. Enjoy!!!

I retired last May, helped my son build a house, they moved in on Nov 23. . It was getting chilly for him and his new wife living in my 27 foot R/V.... :P Since then I have just floated about without a sense of purpose. I have done some small projects, but wonder if this is a normal phase or I need to engage in some other sort of thing? I have been a caregiver my whole life so the idea of getting into more people helping situations does not interest me now. I am looking for advice or success stories.

I think there is a "finding your feet" stage for a lot of people. You may be particularly sensitive to it if your job involved dealing with a lot of people. I would suggest activities that involve at least some people. And the lack of purpose problem is quite common. You had set goals when you were working, probably set by other people. Now you have to set them yourself, and if you aren't used to that, it may take some time. But if you just want to live day to day and you're happy with it, what's the harm in that?

Any new activities should involve peers, considering you don't want people-helping activities - which I can understand. I help wildlife myself . But you can give some structure to your retirement (which maybe is what you really need) by getting involved in various sports (if that interests you), reading clubs, classes in anything (from learning a new language to making clay pots), gardening clubs, hikng club, bird watching, etc. Unless you are in a very isolated area, there should be some activities that are already set up that you could try.

The internet might actually help. This is a weird example, but my daughter-in-law felt very isolated after moving, then having a baby. It was hard to get out (because of the baby) and she didn't know anyone in the area. She found through some moms and baby chat groups about a moms group close to her home. She has really enjoyed it. She also joined the local women's soccer team which gives her social interaction and exercise.

Of course, the real issue is - do you mind just floating around? If you feel uncomfortable about it, then you need to do something. If it is because other people feel uncomfortble about it, you may just need to learn how to deal with people that don't approve of your new life style. All of us early retirees go through some of that.

You may note that our fearless leader just floats around - literally

Good luck.

arrete

Ken:

If you read my initial post under "Hello with socioeconomic commentary," you will pick up that I became retired before I wanted to be and wasn't too happy about it. However, it's something that a person tends to adopt to (at least if they are fairly secure financially).

You may also pick up that I'm sort of an amateur philosopher, who likes to comment on the way that society functions. So I'll add this observation.

I became married at the ripe old age of 39, and as such had my share of contact with "singles bars" and other organizations where single people could interact. As a person who appreciates attributes such as intelligence and character in both women and other men, I regretted having to "compete" with other males on the basis of the superficialities that the most "successful" people learned to flaunt.

Now, not too many years later, I'm retired. But an encouraging discovery is that most people who are retired are pretty much finished with competition (other than the friendly type such as in golf). They tend to regard themselves as belonging to a fraternity/sorority, to which new members are always welcome. I hope that you will "get out" and discover that for yourself.

Retired from the US Air Force in 98 after 26 years. New career in telecom since. Would like to retire as early as possible and thanks for having this forum. Spouse and I have two active paychecks and one from USAF retirement, and of course, living well beyond our means. Goal: Move to the coast and downsize in 3-5 years. Interested if any ret-mil folks are in the forum.

__________________
Oberst One

Well, my only military experience was in the sexual
revolution. I think your goal is a good one, except for the "3 to 5 years" part. You should work hard on the
"living beyond our means" part also. That tends to retard
the march toward ER most severely (voice of experience).

Good Morning Folks--

I am new at this and grateful I stumbled across this site--especially the forum capabilities.

How do you condition your emotional, psychological, etc side to prepare for early retirement--have worked in the telecommunications industry for 31 years and at the age of 56--thinking of enough is enough.

Don't know if it's the fear of retiring or what--love to hear from you

Welcome! I'm new here too.

I was kicked by the "invisible boot of Adam Smith" (I still remember a little bit of Econ from years ago, but maybe not correctly so whether to do it or not was immaterial. But it would not have been possible if not for my prior lifestyle and mindset.


Some people can never retire. Either due to lifestyle economics, or no real life outside of work. I have worked with a few people like that, without their job to go to, their reason for being would cease. They really don't know what they "would do with themselves". And/or a Wife that doesn't want them at home.
Was never a problem for me!

__________________
-- Telly, the D-I-Y guy --
Two fools dancing on the hands of time

I just signed on this site. Not retired but looking towards it in the next few years. I enjoy the various input from those alreay retired. 52 and I stil enjoy working.

I look forward to great future exchanges

RYD

Welcome aboard RYD! This site is my favorite spot to
visit when I am cruising cyberspace. By the way,
although I still got satisfaction from my work when I retired, it was stressful (Type A personality) and I
had a huge list of "adventures" I feared I might never get to if I kept on working. Now, 10 years after semi-
retiring and 5 years after hanging it up for good, I can
see I will never live long enough to get to everything on my list. So far I haven't been bored a minute. I know
everyone is not this lucky.

BTW, I reread Paul Terhorst's classic today for about the 5th time. Have enjoyed it every time, and always
find something I forgot which I need to keep in mind
as we continue down the ER highway.

Hi Y'all
A bit new to this type of forum. Fifty Six and about to make the big jump. A bit scared that I will outlive my cash (especialy in this market) and that I will go bored.

I hear all kinds of numbers fro m 35 to 90% of retirement salary. Need to find a reasonable spreadsheet or something that allows estimating needs - anyone know of anything that's free ?

Lot's of hobbies but not sure if they will all keep me busy.

4jems,

Welcome.

There are many useful downloadable spreadsheets at this site (created by an engineer who retired at 38!):

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/

HTH,

omni