The retirement thread

[fredz43]

Good idea CW. Yes, retirement is great. It's the best job I ever had. I'm going on 3 years now, and can not believe how fast time flies. During the course of my career, I was fortunate to have several pretty good jobs. They don't compare to retirement. Funny thing about being retired, you no longer look forward to the weekends. You actually look forward to Mondays when everyone goes back to work. I usually do my yard work and home projects on the weekends and ride, fish or travel during the week. Good luck to all you guys who are contemplating retiring soon.

I was going to post in this thread, but you said everything that I was going to say it, except that it is 14 years for me. ::008::

 

[Z06]

Sold and closed on my business of the last 25 years this week. What am I going to do now?
At this point in my life what difference does it make anyway?
Start with riding more.

 

[snakebitten]

The unintended consequence of this thread:

So, what's the typical demographic of a Tenere Rider?

Ummmm. It's kind of hard to deny now.

 

[Gobear]

Thought I would chime in as retirement came along last May so I'm quite new to it..what a struggle to adapt for the first year. Forty years of always feeling I had a purpose and a direction ..then I left work with a migraine and woke up with one I'd finally had enough..gave my notice the following week..stayed on for three months to transistion the change.

During my very first complete summer I remember going down the highway on an amazing weekday and taking a deep breath for the first time in so many years that wasn't surrounded by stress.

Retirement is amazing once you settle into it !

The first summer was spent helping with my new grandson..and for the first time putting over ten thousand kilometers..not a lot of riding by some standards but I enjoyed every minute of it.

So 2017 we see a totally new ride ..its been ordered since December and I've started to fill a shelf with accessories, to say I'm excited with this purchase would be an understatement.

Canada is celebrating 150 years in 2017 .... I'm going west at the end of June to enjoy another of many summers off riding and exploring.

Awesome !

 

[Checkswrecks]

I'm a Gummint person and was eligible to retire a year ago, after nearly 30 years of doing mostly the same thing. Nobody wrecks airplanes near my office from 9-5 and I was an airplane manufacturer's tech rep before this, so spent my life on the road and can see the end coming for this chapter.
::017:: ::024::
When I started with the agency, one of the old guys said "Bob, there's no such thing as a new accident. They've all been done and you just have to figure out which one applies to whatever you are looking at." He was mostly right but it's been fun along the way to realize ways he wouldn't have thought of. Leaving will be a bit tight budget-wise due to having supported the ex with money I could have invested, but I felt it the right thing to do and I've been paying into FERS (our 401) so retirement is possible. I know that when the career here ends I'll need to stay active, so started a LLC and still need to see how it can make a profit. Maybe I'll start churning out Super Tenere dash shelves. oops - people are already doing that
:-\



While there's a lot of mundane documentation and editing for the job, I still like to see new places, meet people, occasionally teach a few classes, and this way somebody else is paying for it. The project I was working on the last couple of nights (yes - free OT for Uncle) combines stuff from a number of cases and will undoubtedly save some lives. Being the first to see or realize stuff is a really addicting feeling that's a lot like hunting. So I guess where I am going with this is that once upon a time, retirement seemed like it'd never come. Plus, Karen retired last June (yay) but then went back to college and an internship (boo). Some day I'll probably get pissed off at a boss or something else will make me pull the plug like with Gobear and others, but for now it's great to be able to realize that I've got a good balance, enjoy being productive, and am just not ready.
8)

 

[Gobear]

Just remember " you can't buy time "

Cheers,

Gobear

 

[BravoBravo]

Well, this is a timely thread. I just submitted my retirement notice this week. I will be "off the books" as of August 31, 2017, but out the door on August 10. I like my job, but am looking forward to having more free time to ride, work out, play my guitars, etc., etc. Also, we all have a limited shelf life, and I turn 65 this year, so I want to start my retirement while my health is still good. ::003::

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[AVGeek]

What is this "retirement" you speak of? I am facing the prospect of working until the day I keel over. And given that all of my grandparents lived well into their 80's (with my paternal grandfather living to 90), I hope they still have Walmart greeter jobs for when I'm too blind, deaf and feeble for my chosen field. But then again, I'm part of the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than that of my parents and grandparents...

 

[snakebitten]

What is this "retirement" you speak of?

Blame your buddy! CrashCheck tee'd it up for us to swing. :

 

[HBLQRider]

All of this retirement talk is killing me! I have at least 7 years to go.

Ugh!

P.S. Congrats to you retired guys. I've had three longtime colleagues (older than me obviously) retire recently and they are so happy. Their biggest decision every morning is: Peet's Coffee or Starbucks.

 

[Defekticon]

Have the Tenere and just retired ::021::. I was not the age I thought I would be when I retired but I am bringing in about the same coin, thank you Lord!. Had to walk away from my position as a STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) teacher before I got canned for insubordination. Many straws on the camel but the straw that buckled the camel's knees was when one of my "administrators" directed me to call parents and tell then to stop helping their children at home with math because the adults were all "doing it wrong". Basic math concepts have not changed for centuries but the way those in charge make teachers present the subject matter sure has.

So far retirement has been great. Planning trips, riding mid-week ::001::, working on my marksmanship, wood working, & driving the Mrs. nuts. She says she's going to keep working so she's not trapped all day with me

Hope it remains this good.

As a parent who's four children (5, 12, 14 and, 16) all come to me for help with Math more than any other subject, Thank you sir for understanding.

 

[magic]

Just remember " you can't buy time "

Cheers,

Gobear

Very true statement. If you can swing it financially, by all means go for it. I have seen way too many guys keep saying "one more year". Some people are just afraid to retire. Their job has been their security blanket for all these years and some are afraid to lose it. I had some of these same feelings after I retired, they're gone now. Your stress level will be much lower and you will be able to relax and enjoy what you have worked for. There have been days that I have had to turn on my computer to see what day it was... and it's not Alzheimers.

 

[snakebitten]

Those around here that know me are already aware that I try not to be too serious about....well, almost anything.
And so this subject is not much different than any other, in that I will make lite if I can get away with it.

But, I'm willing to come clean on this subject in order to address a couple of the recent posts.

First, it is true that not ALL Tenere riders are old goats. It can't be true since there are some with young children.
5, 12, 14, 16? Retirement? Yea, I'd suspect it's a little early since you are still neck deep in the "provider" part of a typical mans life!
(A wonderful time, I might add. I LOVED it! That role defined why I am even on this planet!)

When our children were that age, I wouldn't likely even click this thread. :'( It was a pipe dream.
Honestly, even just a few short years ago I wouldn't spend nary a moment contemplating such a thing. Retirement? I didn't have a plan nor had I been one of those "planners" for such either.

But I'm not alone on this journey. I married about 35 years ago and my partner in crime was very different. (Thankfully!) Not so much in being focused on retirement, for we rarely even talked of it seriously, but she was the kind to work at the same place for 30 straight years, for example. As a result, she was the tortoise and I was the hare, economically speaking. I was mostly self employed (or contracted) and I brought it $ALL to the table for household living, while she was the one contributing to all those things that start with 4-0-this and 4-0-that. ::013::

So my good fortune to even participate in this thread as a potential "retired" ADV rider is no reflection on my wisdom or economic brilliance. I didn't out-smart anybody. I simply married an Angel.

The only advantage I might have over most is that I literally can live, to some extent, off the typical "American Grid" style of life. What I mean by that is I can enjoy life at a remarkable low $burn-rate compared to many.
(Others could do it too if they had the fortune, or misfortune, depending on how you view it one day to the next, of having no one to look out for but yourself)

When I lost Brenda, I quickly realized that I no longer cared about a lot of stuff that we cared about together. Admittedly I couldn't have predicted it, but I was just honest with myself and concluded I don't need ........um....."all this stuff".

Gave all the assets to our lunatic children. House to the one that had already started a family, and everything else to the others. Carved out a small patch on the back of the land, rented a ditch-witch and ran utilities into "the woods". Put in a sceptic and bought a little RV.
~160Sf of man-cave living. (Might build a tiny-house someday. But I ain't suffering, so no hurry)

So yea, I might retire this year. Or semi-retire. Or whatever. I really don't know for sure. What I do know is I no longer have many coals in the fire. No big burdens. No "stuff-load".
Just a couple of trucks, a few bikes, and the use of my brothers barn (on land adjacent) to keep some of it out of the weather.
And if I buy the groceries, there's always something cooking in one of the 2 kitchens that are just a short jaunt through the trees.

It ain't how I envisioned things. It ain't even how I'd have preferred it. But you know that ole saying about playing the cards that are dealt........

 

[Defekticon]

Those around here that know me are already aware that I try not to be too serious about....well, almost anything.
And so this subject is not much different than any other, in that I will make lite if I can get away with it.

But, I'm willing to come clean on this subject in order to address a couple of the recent posts.

First, it is true that not ALL Tenere riders are old goats. It can't be true since there are some with young children.
5, 12, 14, 16? Retirement? Yea, I'd suspect it's a little early since you are still neck deep in the "provider" part of a typical mans life!
(A wonderful time, I might add. I LOVED it! That role defined why I am even on this planet!)

When our children were that age, I wouldn't likely even click this thread. :'( It was a pipe dream.
Honestly, even just a few short years ago I wouldn't spend nary a moment contemplating such a thing. Retirement? I didn't have a plan nor had I been one of those "planners" for such either.

I understand. I have an atypical family. I'm 33, when I'm 45 my last child will be off to college. My wife was 17 when she had her first child. We have a mixed family with a long story. Two of my four are step children that never had fathers that came around more than once or twice a year. But these are my boys at this point and that's all that matters. I'm stuck in this constantly planning for the future loop. My 16 year old will be off to the Marine Corps in 17 months. I'll consider myself "semi-retired" at 45 if the only thing I have to do is get up and go to work everyday.

There are a lot of things that my wife and I have not done yet simply because we don't have a family support structure that would allow us to leave. The boys don't have grandparents that live within 1000 miles of us, and we've never found a sitter we can trust. We've never taken a honeymoon either. I may be deep in the provider stage, but I'm dreaming of the day when I get to start planning for that AK or TAT trip. Maybe I'm just living vicariously through the other posts in this thread. Maybe I just need to find a way to make those long trips happen before I retire

 

[HeliMark]

First, it is true that not ALL Tenere riders are old goats.

Ummmmm, I am "distinguished" dang it!!!



Or according to my 20 something kids, "old fart"....


Mark

 

[Dirt_Dad]

This thread has been an interesting read. Snake, I so often feel I gain just a little more perspective on life when you share your experiences with us. Thanks for that.

I'm in that in-between space. My only child is through college and married off, but at 51 I still need to keep my head down and stockpiling as much cash as possible so I can join you retired guys someday. It all sounds great, but I'm still too many $$$ and years away to start thinking about it. Maybe someday.

 

[VRODE]

62. I never had a hi pay job so it's been work for me, but I'm in a better place than a lot of people. I spent time recovering from surgery last year (after a long trip out west) and figured some stuff out. I am less stressed at work these days and don't mind it so much. It's active and engaging and I'm usually able to deal with the aggravation. The wife has started her own business and doesn't bring in nearly enough to support us so I'll be at it for another 2-3 years if they don't lay me off. We have worked to simplify our lives somewhat and that has helped. We don't NEED so much stuff anymore it seems. Our daughter is making her way thru the world and that has helped the situation for sure. I bought my retirement bike last year (2016 ES). I'm not waiting till I fully retire to have my fun. I try to have it wherever and whenever I can. So far, it's working.

 

[hawk281]

retired at 60, three years ago. thirty years of law enforcement and four years of military service. It is a wonderful thing and the wife pushes me out the door to go ride (please). figure i got plenty of time to see our great county from the back of a tenere. we all work too hard eariy in life not enjoy retirement. Enjoy it! ::021::

 

[bigbob]

So retiring with a camper vehicle (with John and shower) pulling a trailer with a couple of bikes does not endanger a 65+ man card?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[snakebitten]

Depends on the card issuer, I guess.

But I call your strategy sheer genius!
(a self serving proclamation, some would say. 8) )