Retirement 2.0

I retired from a job that involved lots of windshield time. I don't miss the travel for work but do enjoy travel to State and National parks to camp. When the price of fuel is high, we take our Roadtrec Versitille 19.5 foot van camper that gets 16 mpg and when the price is lower we take our Coach House 27 foot camper. It gets from 10-14 mpg. We both have a pension and social security so we can afford some travel. I am going on 75 now but we both have decent health. She is my baby at 69. We have a 9 month old grand daughter and an 8 year old so that limits how much we travel. Got to enjoy them while they are small. The 8 yr old is why I retired. Her mom and dad both work and I know how I hated to leave my boys and go to work.
 
Congrats on your retirement and having these choices.

I retired on September 9 2005 at age 52 from a very lucrative high tech engineering job. No pension. In hindsight I wish I had worked longer. It wasn't so much the money - we'll be fine - I missed "the game".

From 1999 to 2005 I worked remotely (all pre-Covid of course). I was well established in the company and had been there 25 years. I had earned the privilege to work pretty much on whatever I wanted, but working from your home office - even if it overlooks vineyards in the wine country - is not the ideal way to enjoy your career. I missed missed seeing my colleagues and playing "the game".

My manager and I rarely talked, but when I sent him an email telling him of my early retirement plans he couldn't believe it. He called me 60 seconds after me hitting the return key to send it, asking me to reconsider. I'll never forget that.

I still have a company poster with my name and employee number printed on it hanging on my office wall that about 30 of my colleagues signed. I cherish the names on that thing. These were good people, exceedingly talented people, a few of them actually brilliant (I'm looking at you Charles!). As I write this I am feeling a wave of gratitude...

Scott
 
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Neither good nor bad. I just found it interesting that they all chose to continue working in some capacity. I anticipate doing the same unless I win the lottery but then I'd have to actually play the lottery and even then.
Yes-financial considerations do play a role.
 
I hung my working shoes at age 52 after coming down w/ some weird medical issues.

3 months after I stop working some of the issues started to fade, so yes your work environment can actually kill you.

Find something that you enjoy doing and just enjoy life. :)
 
I have tentative plans to go on a trip with my son, see friends in Arizona (and rent a Harley for a few days while I'm there),

This will be your downfall. Or rescue. We came to visit our son who was stationed at Luke AFB at Phoenix in March of 2004 at the end of a nasty winter in NW Pa and moved to Arizona in June of 2005. Best decision ever.

I retired 8/2020 and wife will in July. Travel plans up in the air a little, wasn't planning on $5 gas pulling a travel trailer all over @ 10 mpg.
 
This will be your downfall. Or rescue. We came to visit our son who was stationed at Luke AFB at Phoenix in March of 2004 at the end of a nasty winter in NW Pa and moved to Arizona in June of 2005. Best decision ever.

I retired 8/2020 and wife will in July. Travel plans up in the air a little, wasn't planning on $5 gas pulling a travel trailer all over @ 10 mpg.
My wife, daughter and I vacationed in Arizona in March a few years ago, but only had a week there. Been wanting to go back ever since, there's so much to see, and winter is so much nicer there than here. Our snowbird friends are loving their winters in Arizona.
We've had a truck and camper in the past, but haven't really wanted to get back into it yet. We look at decent used stuff occasionally, but purchase cost, gas prices, camping fees, etc. kind of cools our heels.
 
Retired at 61 with a bad back. Been retired 10.5 years. Never been bored always something to do. Bought a house in the middle of 60 acres of woods surrounded by cattle farms. Now i grow rocks and ticks in the Ozarks. 18 miles to a town with a hospital and grocery store. Retire as soon as u can. Just make sure you have good health insurance.
 
This will be your downfall. Or rescue. We came to visit our son who was stationed at Luke AFB at Phoenix in March of 2004 at the end of a nasty winter in NW Pa and moved to Arizona in June of 2005. Best decision ever.

I retired 8/2020 and wife will in July. Travel plans up in the air a little, wasn't planning on $5 gas pulling a travel trailer all over @ 10 mpg.
Don't let gas prices make you stop traveling. I think people overthink it a lot.

If you go out and pull your camper for 5,000 miles, the difference from $3 a gallon to $5 a gallon is an extra $1,000. Really, not that much. $1,000 extra for 1 massive trip or a bunch of smaller trips is well worth it in my book. Sure it isn't something to sneeze at, but I don't think it's really life changing.

Enjoy your time.
 
Funny thing Nick, those are the numbers I've been thinking about on our first planned trip East. Not making money to replace what you're spending takes getting used to.
I think there's some retirement article that claims that whatever you budget per month, it's an extra $400 per month. That guy was from the south so I guess that number can vary depending on where you are. Most of that $400 he was claiming were unexpected emergencies that weren't budgeted.
 
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