How many of you old geezers are retired ?

[EVILDR235]

I was just wondering how many people on this forum are retired ? I was forced to retire after working for 32 years at the same place as a engine mechanic. I am now glad it happened. i now just play around at home and collect S.S.

EvilDr235

[john k]

I am thinking about doing that real soon.   Insurance is the hold up, Medicare coverage that is.   My SS would buy groceries, but no high living, like going to a movie.  2 more years for me as the wage slave.

[HeelSpur]

I'm to damn poor to retire, plus I'm still a youngster @ 53.

[Bill Houghton]

I prefer the term, "graduated from work."  "Retired" sounds like I'm not doing anything, which sure isn't true.

[Lostmind]

I've been " graduated from work " for 5 years. I like everything about it except the Pay!

[Twilight Fenrir]

Haha, wasn't aware this forum was so populated with old timers! :P I guess that stands to reason... I've still got 35 years before I get to graduate from working :P If all goes well... Or, unless I make it big with my blacksmithing :P

[jimwrench]

 Retired in 1992. You do the math;I don't like big numbers.

[Papaw]

I finally told the bosses that I an going to retire at the end of this year.
Short part of a long story is that the owners of this business hired me 12 years ago and I had worked for them before. I was 60 and told them I would give them 10 years. It will be 12 in September, and I am ready to stay home and fool with old tools and photography. Mama retired at the end of this school year.

[Nolatoolguy]

I am only 19, probably the youngest on the forum.

At this point I think I have more plans for a wife an kids then I do retirement.

[Aunt Phil]

Nola you're way too young to even be thinking wife. 
Tools first
Wife only after you have ALL the tools and have learned the craft, and then ONLY with a PreNup.
Wife rule is only subject to change if her dad has a ton of money & tools he will give you for removing the girl from his grocery bill.  10 years after the wedding you start thinking kids.

I'm ain't retired, I'm obsolete to efficient shop productivity.  Funny thing is the educated fool who told me that is on the Unemployment line, and I think the brilliant banker who financed buying the company is too.
Company closed down, 8 months after all us obsolete people went byeby.  I got the phone list and my motorhome and told the banker I didn't want the company back for 10¢ on the loan amount.

[bear_man]

     A friend once opined that the supposed lure of "retirement" was a shuck; that after "retirement" he worked harder than he ever did on a job.  After a brief stint as a "wage slave" for Western Auto I partnered with a fellow and we evolved through building "vacation cabins" to building high-end custom homes for about 30 years (with never a call-back), while I "wintered over" restoring antiques for dealers in Santa Fe, mostly. 
     Then came ~19 years believing I had Parkinson's Disease, about half-way through which I couldn't write legibly, use my cabinet-makers' chisels, guide a welding rod, etc., etc.  Turns out I had GMO (Genetically Modified Organism) poisoning and when I eliminated all GMOs from my diet, the physical Parkinson's-LIKE symptoms disappeared in something around 12 days.  (The mental "stuff" has taken awhile longer to reverse.)  That was a year ago and I recently turned 69.
     Currently I'm "fire mitigating" (thinning, pruning, etc.) 88 acres of forest in the panhandle of Idaho (~36 acres done so far) and adjusting to the idea that I can do anything I choose to do.  NOW, amongst other tom-foolery, I get to pass along — think: sell off — many of the tools I've "rescued" over the years and I just need to learn how to take GOOD photos to market them.  (I never caught the shutter-bug bug.)  My brother is gifting me with a tripod to help with the "GOOD" part, and ain't the sky the limit afterwards?  (I'm a huge fan of auctions, let it be said, particularly those with boxes of rusty, unidentified "stuff" that no one [but me] is willing to deal with.)
     "Retirement?"  What's that?  Feel free to color me strange, but be gentle because I'm ticklish.  I have a photo of my paternal g'father, taken in early-summer of 1962, wearing a jean-jacket(!) and about to apply a grub hoe to some stuff he wanted to eliminate on his 350 acres of Cossatot(sp?) River-bottom land in SW Arkansas.  He was 93 at the time and passed on at 97 after turning that land from jungle into parkland, by some folks' lights.  He wore out rather than rusted out, and since '62 I've taken that as my life-plan.  What am I gonna do otherwise, rock back and forth and keep tabs on the soaps?  Oh, and I'm also planning to renovate my "hunter's cabin" so my dog-friend and I can live on less than the 7 cords of heating/cooking fuel a year we use right now.  With some younger help on the driving-end of chainsaws, our (and their) wood-needs are happening.
     Mind you, I'm not the least bit judgmental over how others have arranged for their "retirement years."  I'm especially turned on by how so many in here have massaged their foci from "working for a living" into digging into the origins, manufacturers and so on of TOOLS.  I believe (and am thankful that) there's room enuf in life a'plenty for all of us.
     Lastly, I'll at least admit that tonight I'm tired (as usual) — but not REtired.   *he grins*

[jpaz]

I actually retired twice, first from the United States Air Force in 1972, then finally retired for good in 1989.

James

[DobroDan]

I retired 3 times.  First time to 1/2 time for 7 years: then again to 5% time for 2 years and finally fully retired 2 years ago. I really enjoyed not rushing into full retirement.

[Chillylulu]

Nola you're way too young to even be thinking wife. 
Tools first
Wife only after you have ALL the tools and have learned the craft, and then ONLY with a PreNup.
Wife rule is only subject to change if her dad has a ton of money & tools he will give you for removing the girl from his grocery bill.  10 years after the wedding you start thinking kids.

I'm ain't retired, I'm obsolete to efficient shop productivity.  Funny thing is the educated fool who told me that is on the Unemployment line, and I think the brilliant banker who financed buying the company is too.
Company closed down, 8 months after all us obsolete people went byeby.  I got the phone list and my motorhome and told the banker I didn't want the company back for 10¢ on the loan amount.

I agree with 99% of what Phil says, but if I had taken that advice I would have missed the greatest joys of my life. 

My family moved to a foreign land (Texas) when I was 17.  I moved there for 4 months or so until I turned 18 on Christmas Eve.  January 1st I was back in Colorado.

Mrs. Chilly wanted to wait until fall to get married, I didn't want to live in my Aunts (beloved Aunt) basement that long. I tricked her and we had a June wedding.  So far the honeymoon has lasted 33 yrs 1 month 17 days.

First child born later that year, next 4 came every 2 years or so.  We were living on a shoestring for years, but the kids always had food, clothes, and access to activities. Never went to Disneyland, but they all know how to camp. Money came later, more than most so Mom was always able to be with the  kids.

For me, I was ready at 18. But I didn't have to go to high school either. I went for a year and a half maybe.  Long enough to be assigned a chemistry partner that I've stuck with ever since. (BTW -I was a lousy chemistry partner, I only came to class once or twice a week, always on Friday to blow in and take the test though. I think I've been a better husband type partner.)

So Neal, 2 opinions, neither better than the other. You filter them through your brain sieve, make your best choices, live with them, and be happy.

Chilly

[amecks]

62 and can retire at partial benefits - but I don't think that's gonna work out.  I have to do some investigating.  For now still working 40 hrs a week as a mechanic/service manager for a small rental equipment company.  Been with them for four years now and still like it.

Not likin' it a whole lot today though!  It's hot, humid and the yard tractor won't start.  It's parked right out in the direct sunlight too.

Neal, you're a smart young man and anyone who can hold his own with this group will do well in life.