So I'm thinking about retiring....

[Telstra]

No it will mean more time to harass you and me.

Harassing other people gives pleasure to sanctimonious old men who think they're superior to everyone else.

I have the old man on ignore. You can do the same.

How come he didn't "harass" me?
It depends how you post things.

 

[Alistair]

Retire. Stay home and enjoy your kitties while you have a chance. Write a book, troll zombie and Pat. Do whatever makes you happy.

 

[Pianist]

Personally, I think you'd look rather silly with only one ear.

Agreed. Remove both for a nice balanced, symmetrical look.

 

[zoltanspawn]

So if financially you are secure enough to retire allowing you to spend freely on what you wish to do I would advise you to retire now.

I've been thinking along these lines.

I don't have the money to retire, but as long as I'm still young enough to wring a little more pleasure out of life, I've been thinking of taking a year off to travel.

I'll call it a sabbatical, as I will have to return to work for a couple more decades.

 

[pat grimshaw]

...I'll call it a sabbatical...

I reckon that rich old man should subsidise your sabbatical. You're intelligent and sensible with a lot to share about ecology.

It's better than rich old men bequeath their riches to sensible projects rather than weepy things like Harambe or Afghani children or ratbag ranters like Kris Klewie.

 

[NotHardUp1]

RB, what I hear missing from your litany of choices is motivation.

WHO about you needs them? Also, you didn't mention you mate. Is he not a consideration or a help in choosing a path?

My recommendation is to first travel. Figure out how to have the cats entertained, and break up your travel enough that you don't feel guilty for leaving them for too long.

Then, come back home after you globe trotting and settle down to some hobby as you have described AND commit to helping in the first person someone in your sphere. Teach English as a second language, adopt a poorer neighbor and work on his/her home, volunteer as a guide in a museum or park.

In other words, commit to something. Don't leave your time totally open. It will serve nicely as a backstop against that slide into Hemingway's dissipation.

But, listen to the voices. Retire now. Make the most of your time.

For my own part, I have so many things I want to do, I can't even be bothered to name them here, but I fear I won't make it the dozen years I need before retiring, so I am living my life now as large as I can. When I do shuffle off this mortal coil, I intend to have no regrets if I can help it.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

I've thought about it. But I think I have like 15 more years.

I'd like to buy a piece of land in the woods maybe by a lake in OR or WA. Near the coast so it's foggy and rainy. That's what I'd like to do anyway.

 

[Rickrock]

If your current career doesn't interest you anymore, then retire or switch careers, but do plan on some activity to keep you involved, but it doesn't have to be at a hectic pace. Some travel while you are healthy enough is a good suggestion. Also, as someone else suggested, how does your partner fit into this?

 

[Daximus]

I'll have to work till I die at around age 67.

 

[Alistair]

Over the last few months I've started thinking about shutting down my firm and retiring 'early'.

There are a lot of reasons, from disgust at the Walmartization of everything, and the aggregation of clients and firms into ever larger corporate bundles...to increasing problems with health that I think are hinting that I won't make the 100 year mark.

My great uncle retired at the age of 40, and a number of other people in our family have retired at 55 years of age.

But I always thought I would work up until the last.

So now I have a huge dilemma.

I've done my time on a few non-profit boards and organizations over the last few years in a kind of semi-retirement...and I've done everything I wanted to with them. There aren't any others that catch my attention or interest. I can't even be bothered to work within or on behalf of professional bodies because they've been so useless for the last 35 years of my career that it is too late to fix anything.

We live on a farm, but it doesn't need my full time attention and as of the last few months, I am learning that physically I'm not able to do a number of things that I took for granted, because of an IVC filter perforation.

I am actually in fear that with chronic pain that I will end up taking opiates or not waiting until after the sun is over the yardarm before pouring the first cocktail.

These are some of the options that I'm weighing:

- Tackle graduate studies in archaeology or classical history....except we aren't in the city now so I'd have to either get an apartment again or do them as distance courses.

- Take up painting again. I stopped when I was 20 and burned all the paintings that I could get my hands on. I could develop the room over the garage as a studio. But I would still likely end up as a drunkard.

- Start writing. Again, I could turn the garage and room above into an office and just build another garage...but I probably would start pouring scotch in the grand tradition of ageing males who write. I have an historical novel that bounces around in my head.

- Travel...like really travel. The problem is, my life now weighs too much and I couldn't imagine daily life without my cats around.

Do you need a rent boy to take care of the farm, do research or care for the cats? I need a change of scenery

 

[mikey3000]

Well that answers that.

 

[Aron9000]

Life is short, if you are finacially secure and burned out, DO IT.

That being said, you say you live on a farm and aren't able to do some of the manual labor. Living on a piece of land, part of the fun in that is doing the chores, taking care of your goats(or horses, sheep, whatever sort of live stock), raising a vegetable garden, hunting, chopping wood, mowing grass, etc. If you can't find joy in doing those types of tasks, find the manual labor to be taxing with your current ailments(or it would become much harder as the years go on), then I think you should consider selling your property and changing your lifestyle.

 

[rareboy]

Some good advice and recommendations to consider.

 

[rareboy]

 

[JohnnyAnger]

Travel the world with your cats visiting us jubbers.

 

[medic1]

You have always struck me as one of those guys who thrive on deadlines and the challenge of schedules. However if you are finding that your health is starting to suffer because of the hours you put in, and not just at work but also at the farm.

Then perhaps it is time to have a serious talk with the hubby and explore the options that are available to you. I believe that boredom would drive you up the wall, so choose wisely and rely on good counsel. Good luck...

 

[rareboy]

^ It is very true.

My entire academic and work career has revolved around deadlines....sometimes up to several years or more out. Even my other work for organizations has always been focused on results within specific timelines...I can't even begin to imagine days where it wouldn't matter if a particular task was not completed. Deadlines don't even stress me out that much.

It isn't that the work is affecting health...more like health is starting to affect work. Yesterday was not a great day and by the time that the afternoon had finished I could hardly sit at my desk for more than a few minutes without having to get up and walk around.

My partner and I work together, but I suspect that we'd probably go nuts if we had no structure.

We are planning a trip and volunteer outreach project for next spring with one of the organizations we work with next spring though and I suspect that a lot of our time probably would go into things like this.

 

[Telstra]

^ It is very true.

My entire academic and work career has revolved around deadlines....sometimes up to several years or more out. Even my other work for organizations has always been focused on results within specific timelines...I can't even begin to imagine days where it wouldn't matter if a particular task was not completed. Deadlines don't even stress me out that much.

It isn't that the work is affecting health...more like health is starting to affect work. Yesterday was not a great day and by the time that the afternoon had finished I could hardly sit at my desk for more than a few minutes without having to get up and walk around.

My partner and I work together, but I suspect that we'd probably go nuts if we had no structure.

We are planning a trip and volunteer outreach project for next spring with one of the organizations we work with next spring though and I suspect that a lot of our time probably would go into things like this.

wow, deadlines and structure are the things i don't like and i failed lol
I suppose deadlines, structure and strict discipline are learned from childhood which i don't have any and would be very difficult to start now.

 

[Shelby29]

...Over the last few months I've started thinking about shutting down my firm and retiring 'early'.

I know that some here have wrestled with retirement and others are likely pondering what to do and when to do it.

What are you looking forward to doing when you shrug off the responsibilities of day to day work?

The only thing I ever wanted to do from the time I heard my first radio broadcast and then TV telecast was work in the media. I attended a major US university for communication arts (radio and TV) but dropped out after one year intent of getting a job in the industry which I did then for more than 40 years. I fully expected to work until the day I died... or as close to it as possible. That idea came to a crashing halt when the media became owned by just a few conglomerates. I was summarily dismissed with the entire staff basically told "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." So after working every day of my life since I was 16 (Holidays and vacations excepted...sometimes), losing my health insurance while simultaneously getting some bad health news, I was in a real bad place, I was at a loss as to what I was going to do next. I was lucky, however. A major movie star/producer/director came to our little town to film a motion picture. To fill some days I was hired to do background a/k/a "extra work". Not for everyone because it can be "hurry up and wait", some would say boring. But I had a notion early in my life, before going to work in media, that I'd like to be in show biz, an actor. So after working on set for weeks, more productions followed quickly. I loved the creative, cooperative process of shooting a film or TV show. I began taking attending acting classes and workshops. I soon had two agents who kept me busy with auditions in my part of the country, and getting work, enough to keep me busy. So I officially retired but kept up doing the background acting, working as a principal actor in small, independent films, TV and radio commercials, industrial films (training films for major companies that the general public will never see like introducing new products and government agencies such as the IRS, for one). I work when the opportunity arises and if I want to do it. So, now I've had two careers which have been exciting, interesting, and fulfilling, almost unexpectedly. Hope you find what it is you WANT to do. I wish you well.

 

[KaraBulut]

...- Tackle graduate studies in archaeology or classical history....except we aren't in the city now so I'd have to either get an apartment again or do them as distance courses.

Graduate education is moving to distance education and online courses. It's the way to go.