I'm 56, and in 6 years when I retire I should make about $8000 a month in retirement, if I can't live off of that then I doubt I would be able to live off of any amount. Looking forward to retirement.

and with SS you will be most likely be around 10,000$ a month and be living any way you want at that point. Outstanding!

I retired at 50.
Owned a business and sold it.
I had enough, between demanding customers and mediocre employees it was getting to me.
It was only about 20% of them but they demanded 120% of my time.
I had customers calling me at home on X-Mas eve wondering why I wasn't at work.
I had employees that I had caught stealing from me.
It was very stressful and I know my wife suffered along with me.

At first when I retired I still woke up before the sunrise just like when I was working.
Now I sleep till 7-8 in the morning without waking. I get up before the sunrise for fishing but thats about it.

When I was working I always had one more thing to do before the day was done.
Now it'll wait till tomorrow.

Before I retired I never realized how busy the stores are on the weekends.
Now I stay out of the stores on the weekends.

Before I retired I rarely took a vacation and when I did it was always with the family, I never took time off just for myself.
Now my kids are all gone and moved away and my wife is busy with her hobbies so I spend about 90% of my time doing what I want.

There are 2 extremes when it comes to retiring.
The first one you work till you can't take it then hopefully you'll have enough fortune saved you can retire,
Or if you are fortunate enough to have a job you love and you'll want to work till you can't

Worked inside for 41yrs till I was 58yrs old. Will b 63 this yr. Goal was to spend every day in the woods hunting, trapping, fishing, camping, hiking, shed hunting, etc. when I retired. Pretty much what happened so far. Been to MS, WY, MT, NM, NY, CO hunting or trapping. Started IRA first yr they were offered, put as much as I could afford in it., Rolled 401k's into it over the years, never borrowed against it. This is a hot tip for u young guys!! Never made big bucks just worked in a non-union production facility (factory)!

I will be out in 3 weeks. And will not regret a darn thing. Like said I should have done it years ago. Any of you ever lived off grid like I did years ago? I enjoy it to much but the old guy passed and the kids sold it all. sad. I got to much to do than work 10 to 12 hours a day for the man . THANKS SNOWY

kenny k >>> GREAT! I wish you well in retirement and live each day like it is your last.

1 year from today, I will have 35 years with the USDA and be 56+, I plan to farm, fish, hunt and trap and may do some odd and ends of work if it doesn't interfere with the preceding. The Mrs. has 4 or 5 years so I should have some peaceful winters, she teaches so summers may have other stuff.

44 days and a wake up call. Relocating then. Not looking back much. Once the house is sold I break ground on the Eastern Shore. It will be a crazy hectic year for sure.

I will work. Hopefully part time and a few other things in mind once we get set up. Cant come soon enough.

I have so many friends that retire and take other jobs to stay busy... To each their own. I’ll be busy in the outdoors when I’m retired.. Saving like crazy to get there, but enjoying family and life as well.. After a few years of serious medical issues, I have a much different outlook on life. I’m a happier man for sure.

I retired last fall at 57 from a 32 year career. The job had changed over time from alot of field work that I really enjoyed to almost exclusively office/computer work. The last 10 years were not much fun and I could not stand the thought of going there for one more day. We are not at a point financially where I could, nor would I want to just stop working. So I am working part time doing some of the enjoyable part of my old job and I also have a reclaimed wood business going with one of my sons, so we get to be together 2 to 3 days a week. I also have a small hay/cattle operation that I can now spend more time on.

Between all of this and my pension (which is about half of what my salary was) I have about as much disposable income as I did when I worked full time. During part of the year I will be working about as many, or more, hours as when I went to the office, but I now mostly make my own schedule and I enjoy what I am doing again. The best part is these things will leave my fall and winter mostly wide open. I trapped full time this year. I know that the high prices for coyotes and cats will not last forever, but for as long as they last I can make some extra cash in the winter.

My wife is still working full time at a really good job that she enjoys. We are still putting money away for the future.

We had to take a little out of our retirement savings to make this happen, but according to our retirement adviser and our accountant when my wife retires in a few years we will still have enough to live comfortably for 30+ years.

The uncertainty not having that full steady income is still there. But if I had kept going to the office I am CERTAIN that I would not have lived 30 more years. I still may not, but my blood pressure has dropped 70 points since I retired.

Do you know where you are breaking ground?

I just retired 3 weeks ago and am loving it, turkey hunting, fishing etc. I make a little money on the side, I get a Pension check from work plus ss. I’m living comfortably can’t complain, plus I have my 401 that I haven’t touched yet. Undecided what I want to do with it.

This thread was the source of an interesting discussion at the defense plant last night, and the night before... as many are not liking the idea of me leaving once I hit 55, and move on to greener pastures.
It's so sad how people here in CT are wired to work, and do nothing else.
Work, sock all that money away in the 401k, but don't retire until you are close to death - which is insane.
So many people out here have no life, no hobbies... they just complain about everything, their health etc - but they have that $700,000 McMansion that's empty inside and requires an 80 hour work week just to keep up with the payments....
No thanks, I'll take my simple way of living and retire early.......................

I turn 55 on June 13 and will be retiring on June 28 with 31 years

Just outside Public Landing. Renting a bit further North for the next 10 months or so.

How do you pay your bills on 2-3 days a week or do you work 12-16 hrs/day ?

"Eagle" country. Very good, lots of trapping grounds and marsh close by.

Maybe he doesn't live beyond his means.

My father told me once never exceed your unemployment check.

Interesting story's and wish all of you the best in retirement and life. Like I said in an earlier post I logged to be exact 328 days trapping, fishing, hunting and hiking last year and have done that for the last 3 years now. Never get tired of it and never bored to much to do in the outdoors to get bored.

I be 59 in 1 month, an in 3 more years at ,62 if alive, retire an work pt, hopefully be able to trap, I work at job 30 yrs an they went out bussiness, crap jobs ever since, I have had it with problems with jobs an hate employers, mangement