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Old 04-10-2009, 06:34 AM   #1
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I know some of you are anxiously waiting for the day you can "RETIRE"!!
It's a much anticipated time for all of us. I would like to share some thoughts with you on the subject.
First off, I have been retired for 5 years now. Before that, my wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to take the winter off for 5 years before retiring. We went to AZ. every winter and just couldn't hardly wait for the "day". Well the year we retired we were planning to head out in Nov. for Big Bend in TX. Spend Thanksgiving there and then head for AZ.
Well my wife's eye sight was getting so bad I told her "it doesn't make any sense to go some place when you can't see any of it. So we stayed home that winter and Barb had cataract surgery on both eyes. She can now see!!
We went to Big Bend the next year. In the mean time I sold our new HH 5er and purchased a Lance over the cab, which we took to TX.
After sitting home that first winter waiting for Barb's eyes to heal, we realized that maybe this wasn't so bad as we had thought. Ya know, when you're not working any more, there really isn't any thing to run away from. (THE JOB)
We, like a lot of others had planned to sell the house and full time it. That winter woke us up to the fact that just maybe we were making a mistake.
We've seen a lot of people who have done just that and then one of them got sick and couldn't travel any more. I have also seen people well into their 80s still going strong.
Point is----make SURE, before you sell the house and put the furniture in storage that this is what you want to do. Because once the house is gone and you have traveled for what ever time you do, more then likely the money will be gone also. Plus the personal belongings in storage will more then likely be garbage. By that time the MH or 5er and truck won't be worth much either. So unless you have more money then you will ever spend, stop and think about it!!
I'm not trying to throw water on any one's dreams. Just trying to give you another way to look at it. So, please don't take offense. Just take it with a grain of salt an go on.
I could add more but this getting pretty wordy the way it is.
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Old 04-10-2009, 06:57 AM   #2
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Lloyd, thanks for your post. We are both 44 month's from being eligible to retire and have been giving a lot of thought and discussion as to what we want to do. Neither of us want to keep our current house, we have been here to long and want a change of scenery. It is just the two of us and at this point we plan on trying to find some acreage in Northeast Texas and maybe putting a park model or small DW mobile home on it and use it as a home base to travel from. Neither of us wants to continue working one day longer than what we have to because we want to enjoy what time we have left.



I always enjoy talking to different people at RV parks that are retired and hear what they have to say about their experience. I feel like you can always learn by talking to people. I will be following this post to see what other folks that are retired do and how they like their different lifestyles.
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Old 04-10-2009, 08:21 AM   #3
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Well I think I will chime in a bit... Lloyd I hear what you say. We full timed while working to see if we could survive. We can and we love it. Since that time we have moved into a town house due to a job change and we just can't wait to get back to our "home". You have to be able to live in a small space and enjoy it, some can't, we can.
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Old 04-10-2009, 10:05 AM   #4
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Great post Lloyd! Â*I'm a few years away from that decision but appreciate your first hand experiences. Â*Cautions noted. Â*Thanks for letting us know!
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Old 04-10-2009, 10:21 AM   #5
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All Good Point Lloyd, We will be Retiring in 9-12 Months. Our thought are to keep the stick home & travel..... lets see.. I guess 1/2 to 3/4 time is how you would say it. Spend 2-4 months on the road, come home for a while, then go back out. South in the Winter months (not in one spot) & North in the Summer months (same as above)with a break at home in between. So much of the USA to see & SOooooo little time!

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Old 04-10-2009, 10:49 AM   #6
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I offically retired at 56, 5 yrs ago, took 8 months and really did nothing, I am not pursing a new career in mortuary science, I started it 30 plus years ago, I ow work in a field that I enjoy, and I work when and if I want to, no schedule, no stress and when I want to take time off I do...doing something you really want to do is way different than doing a job you know you have to do, my stick house has no mortage and we intend to keep it, sooner or later the novelty of travel will wear off and we all need someplace to come back too....
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Old 04-10-2009, 11:28 AM   #7
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i'll add my two cents...in about 20 years from now
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Old 04-10-2009, 10:17 PM   #8
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As much as we like the retired life we would never leave home it's just to nice on our lake to leave. We do like to winter in the warmth of the south and do a few trips during the warm seasons. As you can see cold and snow don't mix with us.
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Old 04-11-2009, 08:05 AM   #9
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As Hunter11 knows, I retired 6 yrs ago as soon as I reached 55. Our house is a DW on 1.5 acres of beautiful Texas hill country land with tons of Live Oak trees. Other than mowing the property a couple times each year, the place can sit idle for months at a time, landscaping is by God. Taxes are minimal and with 2x6 walls, utilities are low as well. The Cruiser sits under an RV port and with a circular driveway, getting in and out is ez. Monthly expenses are no worse than what some RV owners pay for RV storage.



We are on the road about 50% of the year and most of that time is spend doing volunteer construction with the Texas Baptist Men organization. The group has 9 tool trailers, 35ft triple axle gooseneck units and we can set up a temp RV park for 15-20 units just about any place. We experience the people and places in this great country in a way different than most RVers or retirees. There is no commitment to show up at any job or stay a specific length of time, but anywhere we work, we will already know the majority of the other team members. With utilities and many meals provided, our biggest travel expense is fuel. I'm one of the youngest at 61, most of the men are in the 70's and some in their 80's. Most jobs are in Texas, but there are plenty in the surrounding states and elsewhere. We have out-of-state members that are like snowbirds, escaping Northern winters. One significant trip was 3 months, 6 weeks vacation thru Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and 6 weeks working at a 4-H camp in upstate NY. Also worked in England and Romania, just had to leave the Cruiser home.



What we do, keeps us very busy in retirement and with low living expenses at home or on the road, we have not used any of our retirement assets over the past 6 yrs.
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Old 04-12-2009, 12:18 PM   #10
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I agree with Keith. Although retirement is years away for us, we plan on finding a smaller home after the girls are out of the house and traveling. We love the house we have now. But just as the people that lived here before us, for two people, it isto much house. At that time (retirement)we would sell this house, pay cash for another and hopefully have cash leftover. I wouldn't be comfortable not having a house with my belongings in storage. But on the other hand, since we have let the girls live off us for x-amount of years, maybe we could move in with them when we want to take some time off from traveling.... Edited by: dsaalease
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Old 04-12-2009, 01:56 PM   #11
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I have been retired since 2002 and DW has 57 working days until her retirement. Though we do plan to travel we will keep the stick house and use that as a home base during the summer. We will camp locally and also near our grandchildren. We are undecided as to whether we will pull the 5er to Texas or buy a park model. We do want to spend most of the winter months in warmer climate. I would like to find something to keep busy when in Texas and would volunteer my services though I'm not skilled in any trade. In my previous life I worked agricultural research. I can cut a board straight and drive a nail though I do have some physical limitations. I also cannot accept a paycheck or anything that will show up as income due to retirement restrictions.

We feel that it is important to not burn our bridges behind us. We will always want a home to come back to. We did purchase a smaller home 4 years ago that more fits our retired needs.






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Old 04-15-2009, 07:14 AM   #12
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Thought I would bump this back to the top since it is such a great thread. Seeing is i'm 43, havea 12 year son and 5 year old daughterI will not be retiring anytime soon. Unless one of these lottery tickets actually gets lucky. Anyway it's good to readthe stories from those who are experienced with retirement. It gives us longtimers food for thoughtwhen that day arrives.
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Old 04-15-2009, 09:05 AM   #13
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Scott - just keep paying into that Social Security, I'm counting on you!
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Old 04-16-2009, 02:52 AM   #14
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You can count on my payments Chris since retirement for me will be a long way off. I will be in my mid 60's before my youngestfinishes collage.





Great topic, I can say that Lloyd makes a great point.What he warns about is exactly what happened to my in-laws.I watched them repeat the process of selling the fully furnished house twice and full timed for several years between homes.They still have their RV but are now in a house with a mortgage. There are a lot of dynamics that caused this pattern but it shows that both parties must be able to live in a small area for a long periods of time.
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Old 04-16-2009, 03:27 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrisnan23
Scott - just keep paying into that Social Security, I'm counting on you!


Sorry, all the money I had set aside to pay into Social Security went to AIG so their big wigs could take a bonus.
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Old 04-16-2009, 03:34 AM   #16
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That is ok Scott take out a loan to pay for my socal security
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Old 04-16-2009, 05:41 AM   #17
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That is ok Scott take out a loan to pay for my socal security


I was actually thinking about applying for a government bailout. If it goes thru I might buy a new truck anddo some mods to the 5er. Using it to pay off bills or secure my future would be very irresponsible don't you think?
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Old 04-16-2009, 09:02 AM   #18
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Man Scott you are so cynical...



My bailout check is in the mail!
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Old 04-19-2009, 03:06 AM   #19
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Got a lot of good post back on this thread. Thank to all of you!!
I have one more story for you.
Back about oh, 15 years ago or so. While I was still working, I had a very good friend there,I'll call him Andy. He was 10 yrs. older then me and quite frugal. Andy and his wife used to take 2 weeks every summer and go west. (I think he used to be a cowboy in a previous lifetime)
He use to rant on me about spending money so frivolously. We had a MH at that time and used to take a couple weeks out west every year. We got to talking about retirement one day, and he asked what I was going to do. Well I had never confided in Andy up until that time that my dream was to full time it. I told him I wanted start in the south in the winter and gradually work my way north thru the R.M. as spring came. Eventually ending up in Alaska. There we would spend the summer fishing prospecting for gold and as fall came start working our way back south. Well Andy really went off on me then, told me I was nuts. (Maybe I am)
It would cost a fortune to do it. My patience was wearing thin. Andy, I said. if you don't spend some of your money and enjoy it, you'll leave a very rich widow!
And that is exactly what he did.
I still haven't fulfilled my dream or goal maybe never will. My wife seems to have lost a lot of her wanderlust. I haven't tho, so there is still hope.


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Old 04-19-2009, 04:11 AM   #20
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Best rememberance of all. It happened to my mom and dad to some degree. They got too old, in their opinion, to travel and so never did. My mom told me how disappointed she was that they didn't. They had wonderful lives by the time they died but still wanted to travel.



So far Nan and I still have our wanderlust and hope to keep it for a lot of years to come. Nan also wants to go to Alaska with pretty much your plan, at least for the start of it. The advice you gave in your first post is very sound. Each person or couple needs to make sure what they want to do and all the concequences of the choices.

That is why we do it now before we quit working and we have found we love it!Edited by: Chrisnan23
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