Retired - Now What?

[NIGHTHAWK]

I was thinking of your topic here and then heard you dropped some major coin at SCI...well played sir...well played.

If I don’t book now, I won’t go. And time will slip away…

I’ve extended my conversation with the Kyrgyzstan outfitter to this:

Arrive Kyrgyzstan Nov 25
Spend night in hotel in Naryn
Get to camp Nov 26
Hunting sheep & ibex Nov 27,28,29,30,, Dec 1,2,3,4. Drive to Bishkek Dec 5, Rest in Bishkek.

Fly to Kamchatka Dec 6,
Hunt moose Dec 7,8,9,10,11.
Dec 12 Rest in Kamchatka.
Dec 13 fly home.

Lots of detail to work out. Exciting to plan…

So yes, smart to keep working for a while!

 

[Green Chile]

If I don’t book now, I won’t go. And time will slip away…

I’ve extended my conversation with the Kyrgyzstan outfitter to this:

Arrive Kyrgyzstan Nov 25
Spend night in hotel in Naryn
Get to camp Nov 26
Hunting sheep & ibex Nov 27,28,29,30,, Dec 1,2,3,4. Drive to Bishkek Dec 5, Rest in Bishkek.

Fly to Kamchatka Dec 6,
Hunt moose Dec 7,8,9,10,11.
Dec 12 Rest in Kamchatka.
Dec 13 fly home.

Lots of detail to work out. Exciting to plan…

So yes, smart to keep working for a while!

Lots of bucket items being checked. Any concerns with Russia? I talk to some people and they won't go right now...maybe because they have extensive military records...and then you talk to someone like Bob Kern and he doesn't seem concerned with his extensive local connections.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Lots of bucket items being checked. Any concerns with Russia? I talk to some people and they won't go right now...maybe because they have extensive military records...and then you talk to someone like Bob Kern and he doesn't seem concerned with his extensive local connections.

All good points and concerns. I have a DOE contracts history…

This hunt will be for 2027. I know a guy that is going to Kamchatka this year. Hopefully it works out. Then I’ll know.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Well,

That didn’t last long!

Took a lay off after 2 1/2 months of working after retirement. I actually never stopped, I just started collecting my pension from end of November.
Took a layoff mid February.
Went to SCI Nashville.
Did some fishing.
Took a couple mini vacations.
Hammered out all my significant “To Do” list items, and now I’m back to work in the pipeline business as a Construction Manager…

Was able to negotiate all my future hunts and fishing trips into my hire package.

I will say, I was busier in the last two months off than I had been in my last 6 months of working after retirement! Felt like I was working 7/12’s!

My commute is a breeze, got my old job back with a client I worked for 9 years, got my old office back, beautiful new truck, and I’m working with a group of people I’m familiar with and appreciate. Nice to be needed and wanted.

Also, the pressure is off…

 

[PARA45]

Great to hear and now you have an option that if it gets too stressful, you can always walk away. Congrats and if this makes you happy, keep doing it.

 

[Speedster]

Well, I will be joining the ranks of the retired in about 2 and a half weeks. A little uneasy but looking forward to it and I plan to hunt and fish and camp a lot more.

 

[coreydb]

Good for you! I couldn't do that when I retired. I ensured I filled my days with nothing but pleasure; I go to the range one to two times a week, do club shoots monthly and regional competitions when they occur. I plan for two to three hunting trips a year, so I go every four months or so.... Northern hemisphere in the fall/winter and Southern hemisphere in our Spring/summer. BTW....my shooting sucks, but it helps keep me this side of the grass. Enjoy your retirement your way!

 

[Rare Breed]

Great to hear and now you have an option that if it gets too stressful, you can always walk away. Congrats and if this makes you happy, keep doing it.

That’s where I am…I do not have to work but I enjoy what I do and I completely make my schedule with no problem working in my trips! Life is good!!!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Good for you! I couldn't do that when I retired. I ensured I filled my days with nothing but pleasure; I go to the range one to two times a week, do club shoots monthly and regional competitions when they occur. I plan for two to three hunting trips a year, so I go every four months or so.... Northern hemisphere in the fall/winter and Southern hemisphere in our Spring/summer. BTW....my shooting sucks, but it helps keep me this side of the grass. Enjoy your retirement your way!

I get it. I’m going to try it the rest of this year. Practicing with 2 months off this 1st quarter and 6 weeks off 4th quarter for two hunts (Africa and Alberta) and a BC fishing trip.

I’m going to work 4-10’s so I can fish this season. In the mean time, I’ll put in more time Shooting sporting clays at my gun club. I need to get my shotgun fitted too…

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Great to hear and now you have an option that if it gets too stressful, you can always walk away. Congrats and if this makes you happy, keep doing it.

There are a few people that I work with I need to train, mentor, and encourage to be part of a succession plan. I enjoy that part of it too…

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

That’s where I am…I do not have to work but I enjoy what I do and I completely make my schedule with no problem working in my trips! Life is good!!!

Good place to be in! Congrats.

With 5 signicant hunting trips coming up in the next 3 years, along with a need to buy a small ranch with a Barndo or equivalent space to build a big trophy room, I would rather work and earn the money than dip into my invested retirement funds or have a mortgage. I don’t care for loans/financing. It’s good to have a goal or at least a moving target to aim for.

I’m looking at another 5 years until I’m 60, so we’ll see how it goes…

 

[Ridge Runner]

Well, I will be joining the ranks of the retired in about 2 and a half weeks. A little uneasy but looking forward to it and I plan to hunt and fish and camp a lot more.

Yeah,....Good Luck! with that idea. There's the "Honey Over Due Lists", kids and/or grandkids, boredom, your own to do lists, and you have been psyoped into functioning by the clock; time to go to bed, time to get up, etc.. You only thought once you retired everyday is a Saturday.

After your first week of retirement..... Hobby(ies) hours are now substitute work hours for the regular job you retired from, without the perks and benefits.

Your wife is most likely still working. Now your the house husband.

I can recommend several really good cooking shows that will improve your home cooking skills.

House cleaning:....Oh Boy! UGH (sarcasm)....You will never be able to clean the house to her standards....BUT At least she will thank you for your effort,...with a critique of how to better clean around the house and do a better job on the laundry.

FYI: NEVER WASH WHITES WITH RED CLOTHES. Red clothes get washed separately from whites and other colors of clothes.

YEP, Everyone looks forward to retirement to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Give it 3 weeks and you'll wish you were back working your suddenly less stressful job.

Happy Retirement.

LMFAO......

Aaahhhh.....my days are just 24 hours long instead of the all hours of day and night 24/7/365 wondering which a$$hole f'cked up, at 2am.

 

[R eight]

I get it. I’m going to try it the rest of this year. Practicing with 2 months off this 1st quarter and 6 weeks off 4th quarter for two hunts (Africa and Alberta) and a BC fishing trip.

I’m going to work 4-10’s so I can fish this season. In the mean time, I’ll put in more time Shooting sporting clays at my gun club. I need to get my shotgun fitted too…

That sporting clays is addictive. I took it up about a year before I retired. My only regret is that I didn’t take it up decades ago.

 

[leslie hetrick]

i have been retired for over 20 years now and the best advice i can offer if you are healthy is don,t lay down, keep active and busy. i,m up at 5-6 every morning and hit the sack at around 8 if nothing is going on. too many of my friends just lay around and bitch at the world. i do all the shooting sports along with fishing and alot of hiking(not to fast). i even do house work, tho i don,t enjoy it to much. i got rid of the tv, but kept the computer to keep in touch with friends and familey.

 

[Newboomer]

i have been retired for over 20 years now and the best advice i can offer if you are healthy is don,t lay down, keep active and busy. i,m up at 5-6 every morning and hit the sack at around 8 if nothing is going on. too many of my friends just lay around and bitch at the world. i do all the shooting sports along with fishing and alot of hiking(not to fast). i even do house work, tho i don,t enjoy it to much. i got rid of the tv, but kept the computer to keep in touch with friends and familey.

I "retired" about 10 years ago but kept doing small jobs mainly to have something productive to do. I like being able to run my life on my own terms and I am as busy as I ever was. Daily workouts, bowling 3 or 4 times a week, some shooting, spending time with the great grandkids. Now and then a small job just to keep my hand in.
With spring coming it's time to think about cutting my woodpile for next year. Yeah, I know. Everyone tells me that at 85 I have no business out in the woods but growing up that way it's in the blood.
Life is what you make it and as long as you keep going you'll keep going.

 

[cwickgo9]

I'm right there, God willing and the creek don't rise, end of August this summer. I've been working since I was 14 (12 if you count lawn mowing) and thankfully have everything paid off. I'll be busy with my leatherwork, reloading (and unloading), laser work, traveling by Harley-Davidson and visiting the grands (they are all within an hour). I accepted being the Director of my Harley Owner's Group for the next two years and my wife is waiting for my retirement for me to be home while the contractors "build her kitchen" (which I cook in more than she does).
Plenty of trips in the "planning" stage and if I get the finances worked out, Africa will be on there again.

 

[Newboomer]

I'm right there, God willing and the creek don't rise, end of August this summer. I've been working since I was 14 (12 if you count lawn mowing) and thankfully have everything paid off. I'll be busy with my leatherwork, reloading (and unloading), laser work, traveling by Harley-Davidson and visiting the grands (they are all within an hour). I accepted being the Director of my Harley Owner's Group for the next two years and my wife is waiting for my retirement for me to be home while the contractors "build her kitchen" (which I cook in more than she does).
Plenty of trips in the "planning" stage and if I get the finances worked out, Africa will be on there again.

Ya notice how us old guys who have worked all our lives stay busy after retirement? Must be something in the upbringing. "You want it, you work for it. Nobody owes you a damn thing."

 

[Dparr]

I really appreciate all the posters on here. One of the best / most helpful threads I’ve read in a long time - to hear all the different perspectives. I’m 53 and struggling with this decision now. I’m an international tax consultant and am on a plane about 800,000 work miles a year - in my 27th year. All my finances are in order and for the last 7 yrs or so I’ve been able to arrange my work life so I go to Africa once a year and two or 3 other “big” trips to Alaska or Canada or mexico. We’ve got a ranch in east Texas and live on a lake where I fish just about every day I’m home. I don’t really work for the money at this point and don’t need to but worry that I’m just too young to stop. Current thinking is I’ll hang it up at 55. But struggle with these thoughts expressed above about how mentally health that is to walk away from work. I’ve never been one that lives to work but it has been a central motivator in my life.

 

[Woodcarver]

I really appreciate all the posters on here. One of the best / most helpful threads I’ve read in a long time - to hear all the different perspectives. I’m 53 and struggling with this decision now. I’m an international tax consultant and am on a plane about 800,000 work miles a year - in my 27th year. All my finances are in order and for the last 7 yrs or so I’ve been able to arrange my work life so I go to Africa once a year and two or 3 other “big” trips to Alaska or Canada or mexico. We’ve got a ranch in east Texas and live on a lake where I fish just about every day I’m home. I don’t really work for the money at this point and don’t need to but worry that I’m just too young to stop. Current thinking is I’ll hang it up at 55. But struggle with these thoughts expressed above about how mentally health that is to walk away from work. I’ve never been one that lives to work but it has been a central motivator in my life.

Doesn't sound like you'd have any issues dealing with the mental health part as it doesn't come across that you define yourself by your job. I had "planned" to retire at 55, ended up jumping ship at 57. The job was never more than a means to an end. What I have seen, and what is a recurring theme on this thread, is don't stop moving after retiring. Hobbies, whether they generate income or not, are important. The key part of your post, "...but worry that I’m just too young to stop.", is what a lot of people worry about, but from the wrong angle. Don't stop, just quit going to a job. Big difference.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I don't want anyone to retire. Keep working and paying taxes so those SS checks keeps coming.