# Sorta scared



## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

I plan on retiring in 5 years and it is kind of worrying me. I have working since I was 13. My job has always defined part of who I am in my mind. I worry the economy will collapse and my savings will be wiped out. I worry my wife will lose respect for me since I will no longer be working. I worry I will just lay down and die. I tend to be lazy if nothing is pushing me. Has anyone gone thru this yet?
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## Lloyd Dobler (Apr 24, 2014)

Thound said:


> I plan on retiring in 5 years and it is kind of worrying me. I have working since I was 13. My job has always defined part of who I am in my mind. I worry the economy will collapse and my savings will be wiped out. I worry my wife will lose respect for me since I will no longer be working. I worry I will just lay down and die. I tend to be lazy if nothing is pushing me. Has anyone gone thru this yet?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I haven't gone through it, but I kind of feel the same way. You might want to consider getting a part time job after your official "retirement" just to keep you from lying down and dying. I'm also thinking about doing some volunteering or mentoring after I retire, so maybe something like that might be of interest to you.


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## Julius Beastcavern (May 11, 2015)

What sort of field are you in Thound?


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

Julius Beastcavern said:


> What sort of field are you in Thound?


Right now Im an instrument supervisor in a oil refinery.
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## richardsharpe (Jul 8, 2014)

Good evening Thound
You have to find some other place to direct your energies. My grandfather was a chemist, and when he retired, he started teaching part time at a local college - it gave him a lower stress job but where he was doing something useful.


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

richardsharpe said:


> Good evening Thound
> You have to find some other place to direct your energies. My grandfather was a chemist, and when he retired, he started teaching part time at a local college - it gave him a lower stress job but where he was doing something useful.


I used to teach instrumentation at a local community college. I guess I could do that again part time.
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## Thor (Oct 31, 2011)

Yup, I understand your worries. 

The rules have all changed since I came out of college in the early 80's. I worked for the biggest blue chip corporation, where they had a great pension plan and cheap retirement medical benefits. I always expected a decent pension as part of my retirement.

Then I switched careers in 1991 to aviation. Very high pay, mandatory retirement at 60 with very generous pensions. Of course it is totally different now. Pay slashed 60%, pensions gone, retirement age now 65. But my Social Security age is 67.

A large inheritance was stolen by a second wife who wrote our entire side of the family out.

So here I am at 55 with less savings than I need, because I had made my plans based on the old rules. And I, too, worry about the economy. Looking at the national debt, deficit, Europe, social security, etc it seems there is no way out without serious hardships.

But those are all things out of our control. I think the best plan is to have good diversification. Stocks, some bonds (but they are far from risk-free), real estate (even if it is just your own home), gold, silver. And then try not to worry about it. If Europe tanks, or inflation takes off, it is not something we can control. And to put together a very defensive retirement plan would mean giving away the upside potential of a normal retirement plan.

There's a book called "You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think" which helped me calm down quite a bit.


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## Thor (Oct 31, 2011)

Why would your wife lose respect for you? Will she still be working to provide the bulk of the family income?


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

I would like to restore an old Chevelle, but I dont want to gobble up my savings.
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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

Thor said:


> Why would your wife lose respect for you? Will she still be working to provide the bulk of the family income?


She will work a couple of years after I retire. I dont know if she would lose respect. Just one of the fears I guess. I make double what she does. I have always been the main provider.


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## Fozzy (Jul 20, 2013)

With so many fish begging to be caught and eaten--who would have time to worry about working?


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## Thor (Oct 31, 2011)

Thound said:


> She will work a couple of years after I retire. I dont know if she would lose respect. Just one of the fears I guess. I make double what she does. I have always been the main provider.


I think an answer is for you to jointly put together a retirement financial plan. Lay everything out and make it a comprehensive plan.

So you are retiring in 5 years, and expect to have $X in savings. You plan on withdrawing $Y per year from that savings. (4%, 6%, 8% whatever number works for you). She will earn $Z per year _if_ she is working. She has whatever savings or pension she has, which translates into some amount of retirement income.

Now look at your ages and Social Security. How much will you get if you take it when you retire, vs if you take it later. Same for her.

Now tally up your expenses.

Look at all the permutations. What if she retires when you do? What if you work another year or two? What if you both take Social Security at the minimum age? What if you put it off to age 70?

Now you'll have a good overview of all your different options, and together you two decide on which plan meets your needs and desires.

If it turns out she keeps on working after you retire, she will understand it is part of the big picture plan. She isn't _supporting_ you, she is fulfilling her part of the retirement plan.

Plus she'll see on paper as you go through this exercise how you are providing the bulk of retirement.


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## Methuselah (Nov 24, 2014)

I retired almost 20 years ago. Now, at 83, I wake up every day and walk out to my woodworking shop, where I custom-build high-end furniture, cabinetry and virtually anything else that is fabricated from wood. 

Retirement is merely a change in priorities. Today, rather than getting out of bed and going to work for someone else, I get out of bed and can choose to work on what is essentially a hobby, or spend time with my wife Edna.

I was fortunate though, I had a pension which allowed me to retire; Edna continued to work until she finally retired in her late 60's with her own pension, and between the two of us we survive quite well. 

Some of my children are in their mid 50's and approaching retirement age, I would not want to be them. They will never be able to retire given the economic realities of their "401-K" plans.


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## Julius Beastcavern (May 11, 2015)

Thound said:


> Right now Im an instrument supervisor in a oil refinery.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Ah, nothing you could do part time when retired then


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

Methuselah said:


> I retired almost 20 years ago. Now, at 83, I wake up every day and walk out to my woodworking shop, where I custom-build high-end furniture, cabinetry and virtually anything else that is fabricated from wood.
> 
> Retirement is merely a change in priorities. Today, rather than getting out of bed and going to work for someone else, I get out of bed and can choose to work on what is essentially a hobby, or spend time with my wife Edna.
> 
> ...


I hope to have 1.3mm when I retire, but my 401k has been stuck wealth wise for 2 months now. I have an old 401k from another company I used to work for, and its doing pretty good right now.
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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Thound said:


> I used to teach instrumentation at a local community college. I guess I could do that again part time.


I'm looking at the same thing very soon. The idea of just being home is scary because I've never done that.

Find something that you enjoy doing, even if it's volunteer, something meaningful so that you are still contributing. If you can do something like teaching part time that brings in a bit of an income that's good. But look at volunteer things too. Then can round out your life and keep you active.


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## unbelievable (Aug 20, 2010)

Neither your job nor your wife's opinions defines who you are. You are retiring, not dying. You have five years to prepare and you have the intelligence and the work ethic to pursue other vocations or hobbies. If you've been working since age 13, you aren't lazy. Like most of us, you probably enjoy a little relaxation time. Nothing wrong with that. You can grasp technical concepts. You can manage people. There probably is very little you couldn't do if you are honest about it. 
I'll be retiring in about 6 years. Like you, I've worked since I was 14 and been a cop and a soldier since age 20. It'll feel different but I'm not dead or stupid. I might teach at a local college, maybe refurbish old motorcycles, write a book, improve my gardening. There are probably lots of things you've been interested in over the years but didn't have the time. You'll have some extra time. This could turn out to be the most interesting period of your life. Your wife might get to know aspects about you that she's never had a chance to see.


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

unbelievable said:


> Neither your job nor your wife's opinions defines who you are. You are retiring, not dying. You have five years to prepare and you have the intelligence and the work ethic to pursue other vocations or hobbies. If you've been working since age 13, you aren't lazy. Like most of us, you probably enjoy a little relaxation time. Nothing wrong with that. You can grasp technical concepts. You can manage people. There probably is very little you couldn't do if you are honest about it.
> I'll be retiring in about 6 years. Like you, I've worked since I was 14 and been a cop and a soldier since age 20. It'll feel different but I'm not dead or stupid. I might teach at a local college, maybe refurbish old motorcycles, write a book, improve my gardening. There are probably lots of things you've been interested in over the years but didn't have the time. You'll have some extra time. This could turn out to be the most interesting period of your life. Your wife might get to know aspects about you that she's never had a chance to see.


Thank you so much for your service. Both as a soldier and a police officer. I was about to join the Marines when I started dating my wife. I sometimes wished I did. Not that I regret marrying the love of my life, but I think if we would have married while in the service we would have moved from our small hometown and would have had to depend on each other more.
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## Wolf1974 (Feb 19, 2014)

This is something on my mind as well. While my pay is squat we have excellent retirements that can come as early as 50. I have made smart moves and didn't get taken to the cleaners in my divorce so right now my goal is to retire when my youngest graduates high school.. I will be 52.

I don't do well idol so after some world travel for a couple of years I plan to settle in and work part time for myself. I plan to do security consulting and maybe even go back to teaching women's self defense or personal security. I don't think that sitting around doing nothing is ever a healthy option.

Since I am single I don't have the wife worry that you do. If I were to marry again I would be sure she understands where I see my life heading.


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## NobodySpecial (Nov 22, 2013)

My FIL combated this problem by becoming a full time do gooder. All his time is spent on charities that are important to him. Would that work you?


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## askari (Jun 21, 2012)

Methuselah said:


> I retired almost 20 years ago. Now, at 83, I wake up every day and walk out to my woodworking shop, where I custom-build high-end furniture, cabinetry and virtually anything else that is fabricated from wood.
> 
> Retirement is merely a change in priorities. Today, rather than getting out of bed and going to work for someone else, I get out of bed and can choose to work on what is essentially a hobby, or spend time with my wife Edna.
> 
> ...


Methuselah - good for you! Fantastic that at 83 you are, and want to, keep your hand in as it were.

I can imagine lots of people who retire think of themselves as being 'on the shelf'. I'm a good few years off retirement yet - though if I could afford to I would retire now! 
However, I think its very important to make sure you have a hobby (as you do) that is stress free, that you really enjoy and thas also brings in some extra cash.

I've heard of a number of healthy people who simply give up and die afew years into retirement.

In the UK, you can join the police at 20, serve the full 30 years and retire at 50 with a $45,000 a year pension (index linked) for the rest of your life.
At fifty you can easily start another career! Even if its cabinet making, egg farming, being a part time lecturer etc! Something fun that you enjoy and get pleasure from.


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

Maybe if Texas legalizes pot I can become a farmer. 
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## EnjoliWoman (Jul 2, 2012)

My Dad retired at 55 and STILL keeps busy at 76. Same for my Mom. It's your time to do some things you've wanted to. Some of the things they've done:
- both obtained master gardener certification from local agricultural college
- Dad built a greenhouse; mom starts all of her flowers and veggies from seeds in it and winters over tropical plants
- they joined in with another retiree who had lots of acreage so Dad started a Christmas tree farm for a while and did that for 5 years til he was bored and sold the smaller trees for landscaping when he closed down.
- Dad formulated the perfect soil for leyland cypress in conjunction with the agricultural center
- Then they used a chunk of the land for a veggie garden and with just 5 total to feed, donated all of the extra food to the local soup kitchen and shelters, one year setting a record of 10K pounds of produce donated in one growing season (got written up in the paper)
- Mom took up machine embroidery then weaving, then rug hooking and goes to tai chi every week
- Dad worked in a friend's hardware store organizing all of his stock
- Mom makes blankets and pillow cases out of colorful fleece and cute prints for local children cancer patients in the hospital to make their rooms cheerful
- Dad taught gun safety to boyscouts
- Mom went to elementary schools for 4H to teach about veggie growing and let the kids sample some and surprisingly a lot of the kids liked some veggies they wouldn't try at home.

None of these things may appeal to you, but you can see all of the things they do to stay active AND independent. Start thinking about all of the possibilities!!!


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## chillymorn (Aug 11, 2010)

5 years to go awesome!!!!1

start making a bucket list. Start with small items like doing a bike trail or hike maybe start looking for the old car to fix up now. start reading up on investing and social security many people make the mistake of not knowing what's available to them and miss out on benefits that they have a right to. maybe some rental property to help supplement your retirement income.

fishing/hunting/shooting/golf/dance lessons/painting/carving/exercising/star gazing/boating/ and then there always Kilimanjaro! 

but as the others have said keeping busy is the goal and the key to a long healthy retirement.


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## Thound (Jan 20, 2013)

sargon said:


> Your children will NEVER be able to retire?
> 
> That's a rather pessimistic outlook.


The gubment will take care of them
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