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I’ve been with my current firm for 17 years. I have massive flexibility and I make good quid. I could retire tomorrow, but I’m having too much fun and I enjoy the rush…plus the bank takes care of me. A lot of perks, great benefits, annual stock awards…

I’ll retire someday, but not anytime soon.

Spent the better part of the last 10 years attending ND games, watching my two grandsons play HS ball on Friday nights, watching my granddaughter cheerlead for her HS team, and just doing whatever I want to do. My wife is still working so I do the shopping and cooking which I thoroughly enjoy, plus running around on the hunt for vinyl record albums. I don't fly so driving is our getaway transpo. The TV is rarely if ever on during the day. God has blessed the both of us every minute of every day.

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Money = Freedom, but only if it is earned. I have mixed feelings about passing money onto my children. I think the bigger the sum, the worse the problem. For some people I know, inheritance is a curse.

So, a part of the mindset for me is that it won't at all bother me if the balance isn't growing or even going down.

In "retirement" I actually expect to work harder than I do now at least in the beginning, but it will be in pursuit of my own goals rather than my corporate overlords goals. I want to create an organic and mostly self-sustaining farm. My decades of experience in industrial automation would allow me to automate a lot of it.

Do you know how many rivers and trout streams there are on the planet? National Parks? My desire is to visit as much of the world as possible in my time here.

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After a dozen years as an engineer and another 30+ as a Constuction litigator I've gone in house so the hours and pressure are a lot less.

My kids and grandkids live far far away and I live alone... but have a gazillion fiends and am very happy.

My passion is completing a book I've been working on for decades about the evolution of the human psyche.

Best of all... my life feels profoundly meaningful.

I enjoy going to work each day and it has never occurred to me to retire.

Fully retired. Partially retired in 2020 - consulted 25% of the time for 3 years or so. My wife just fully retired last in June 2024. So it's just us now with no commitments to anyone or anything but each other.

We don't sweat the spending. We can't find enough ways to spend it faster than the balance grows - we aren't collecting social security yet and have deferred one pension. In a few years once those kick in there isn't any way we'll be able to spend what will be coming in. This part has been significantly easier than I thought. Our planning now revolves more around how much we want to leave to each of our kids vs. worrying about running out of $. We've never had expensive tastes in cars, or expensive hobbies. Generally take frugal vacations. Enjoy cooking ourselves so don't spend a fortune eating out. Cooking is a great hobby.

We hike/walk 3-5+ miles virtually every day. We do have 3 properties that we enjoy spending time at. One is 20 forested acres that keeps us busy making and keeping fire safe. The other is a recently purchased vacation home that is attractive to our kids and their families - much outdoor activity - biking, kayaking, hiking, skiing, etc. We spend a lot of time planning and doing updates on the place and have frequent gatherings there with family and friends. We both have hobbies we enjoy - for example, I spend many months building a wood fired pizza oven after I retired and now am trying to develop my skills cooking in it.

We spend as much time as possible with our grandson without being intrusive. He's a joy and we like to think we are helping his folks enjoy some time to themselves. We get to "watch" him for a day and occasionally a week at a time. Nothing better!

We aren't politically active - avoid it at most all costs. But do volunteer work with Habitat, the local food bank, and financially at risk families (keep them in their housing) several times a month.

We've found we really enjoy some of the TV shows that can be streamed - so 2 or 3 nights a week we'll have a glass of wine and watch an hour or two. There is some great stuff out there - especially international.

I retired just before I turned 60 and haven't regretted it even for a minute. Between old and new hobbies, family and friends I haven't found myself bored or lacking things to do in 5+ years. I have avoided taking up golf again - there are just too many other things I now enjoy more than golf.

My likely most controversial advice is to forego pets. Especially once you are retired to us anyway it is about minimizing constraints in your life that would interfere with you ability to do what you want, go where you want, when you want. Having to factor a pet into that equation would limit everything. We don't want to plan our retirement years around managing a pet. And I don't fancy spending my days walking with a green plastic baggy in my hands.

Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience. You sound very much at peace. It's nice to hear success stories like this.

The rest of your question I can completely understand, as those are common things that retirees grapple with.

But the part about "watching the balance shrink" is the part that I was curious about. Is most of your nest egg tied up more in Cash and more liquid types of assets as opposed to securities?

No, it's not that there is any fear of the funds running out, I think it's more about not seeing it growing at the same rate because the contribution side is removed. I'm more focussed on the mindset shift. From acquirer to spender. I've seen a couple of peers struggle with the transition.

There's another element to it, which is looking at the wealth balances and then measuring that against the proverbial "sand through the hourglass" of life, regularly reminding you of it.

But on becoming a spender vs. an acquirer, do you think it's more about not compiling more wealth on a monthly basis, or that your days won't consist of "going out to kill something" each day, and having that rewarding sense of accomplishment/contribution like you've done for decades now? My stepfather has struggled mightily with that concept.

I'd say when the time comes, give it a few months to sleep in and chill, then find something else that gets you going whenever you feel the urge. Teach a class, coach some kids, maybe get a certification in wealth planning or something to help others get after their goals.

You may recall I briefly retired 12 years ago (in hindsight, way too young) and after a short while I was pretty close to insane with boredom so I jumped back in. I love the rush of being relevant. In the flow. I can't imagine what it would feel like to not have the phone ringing and a steady stream of emails, all presenting problems to be solved. That's part of the transition fear I guess. I'll end up like The Shining.

Edit:
I should add, I really admire those in this thread have described their successful transitions into retirement. It's gratifying to see that it can be done.

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But I also own a boutique engineering firm and an investment property business.

to amass sufficient capital to retire on. It's only getting worse with Trump's...and the GOP's...Ayn Rand, "Objectivist" policies. You can help change this by voting Democrat in coming elections.

As for those who do retire there are innumerable ways of spending your time...Volunteering in secular or Church related projects, pursuing Art interests, Golfing, Gardening, Traveling, helping with grandchildren, getting involved in politics, etc. etc.

Not that you deserve any explanation from me, but I actually know Rooney, somewhat personally. My question to him was specific to his situation and my familiarity with it.

I'm also uninterested in your suggestions on how people might spend retirement.

This is a nice thread, let's stop the trolling (not talking to Jakers here).

I enjoy what I do and would like to continue on. Right now, I am not being aged out of my job. I am divorced. I am not collecting SS yet because I don't need it. If I were to pass away before taking it ....it wouldn't matter to me. There are things I like to do that I would have more time to do but I like getting a paycheck and keeping my investments for another day. I enjoy working and I am in no hurry to retire.

Too many financial planners try to figure out how to maximize the total dollars received, but this misses the mark. If you don't need it, don't take it -- defer it until age 70 if you can. The benefit amount will increase, and when you're 70 you might appreciate it.

Thank you for sharing.

actually doing it.

Some of it is potential boredom (I don’t do well with unstructured time), and I am making good money (and I have Stock RSUs that vest over 3 years, and I will likely be granted more next month that will also have a 3 year horizon.)

There is really no incentive to retire at this point.

Unstructured time is my kryptonite too. I lose my mind after an hour sitting beside the pool or at the beach.

"No incentive to retire" resonates. You're doing good work. It's satisfying. And you're getting well compensated for it. Why retire at all?

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