Big BIG step

You make a lot of big decisions in your life.

Marriage.
Children.
Buying a house.

But I have come to believe one of the biggest is …

Retirement!

It's a lot like "testing" a parachute. It has to work the first time

After working for 35 years for the same company even though it has changed owners. Plus 4 years on layoff from the same company.

I started work at Hughes Aircraft Co following in my fathers footsteps.
Then GM bought Hughes.
Then GM sold off varies sections to different companies.
My division was Sold more/less to Raytheon.

Now there is a new merger in progress and I feel I need to leave for many reasons.

I am going to enjoy my time with my Fids and never tell Bella "have to go to work" again.
I am sure she is going to remind me "time to go to work" But I will enjoy responding "not today sweetheart"

Been there, done that. I retired for the first time after 40 years in December of 2011. Took 2 weeks of and went back to work as a consultant. Did that full time for 5 years and then decided I needed the summers off. I've been working from Nov1-Apr 1 for 3 years now and see myself doing it for a while longer. I love my job and I love my summers off where I'm constantly busy doing things I love but come fall, it gets cold and snows and I cant do what I love so I go back to work. I do miss my job and this winter schedule seems to fit right.

Retirement is all it's cracked up to be if you can maintain the lifestyle that you're used to. I can, I dont continue to work for the money.

If you find that you need to get a part time job to make ends meet or do the things you want then don't retire....bus driver is a lousy way to spend your days

Aaaah, Retirerment!

I have found much as my good friend has found; Being fully retired is (for me) boring and my need to do something more than the traditional 'Honey Do List," gets old fast! I also involve myself with Consulting and this last year 'Transiting Yachts of Size' an excellent alternative.

The important thing is keeping your mind and body busy with useful things that have meaning to you...

I have been considering what to do with my time and I do have one idea.

There is a Big Cat rehabilitation place not to far away.
I may check with them and see if they need any untrained volunteers.

I wish there was a bird rescue or rehab near me but I have not located one.

Many friends help out at local charities and their Churches...

I let my handyman skills be known and our Church made quick use of the skillsets, but the simple , low cost things ran-out quickly and the much needed larger things ran into money issues. And no, I'm not going to install and pay for a 480 Volt primary panel upgrade. Cherish them greatly, but that's money of size that our household doesn't have.

Regarding the Cat Rescue, as you so well know, you will start at the bottom and working up the leash, so to speak.

You could always do what I do and call it “semi-retirement”

I suspect The Big R is very different for men and women - personally I love it! After three redundancies over an almost 30 year span I figured I’d take a bit of a break from working, it’s yet to be determined if it’s a permanent one

The Big Cat rehab place sounds great, I say go for it!!

One thing I will never retire from..... playing music. My boys have let it be known they will wheel me onstage, put the fiddle into my hands and step back.

Congratulations Wes!! This June will mark my second year "living the dream" after the dream job!

Have a purpose to get out of bed every day, maintain some sort of flexible schedule, keep mentally active, volunteer, keep contact with the younger generation to remain "young at heart!"

I am 68, have been officially retired since October! But the transition to this was, well, unusual! My company, trying to make me quit, placed me on house arrest! Full pay! For 18 months! And they were surprised when I didn’t leave?? So they bought me out!
I still run, bike, etc!

As for working with big cats, in my distant past, I was an acrobat in the circus and made big money on the side working with CATS! Be very aware of them at all times!
FYI, they have the ability to spray straight backwards! This was one of our wait and see games with a novice prop hand!

I grew up with (small c) cats.
My parents raised Siamese cats.
For a short time we hosted a Margay or Ocelot (I never remember which one) and that is quit a story by itself.

In Oregon close to where my relatives live is a Cat place that use to have a male Lion that loved spraying the tourists.

I am sure as a volunteer I would not be having any hands on stuff.
I am thinking it's more preparing food and cleaning out there living area.

I retired twice. I ran my own business and it was my husband that thought I should retire and it had it's appeal. I lasted 3 weeks. I then reorganised myself and went part-time at maybe 1/3rd of the hours. I did that for another 5 years during which time he passed away. It kept me going mentally and physically and after a time I made the decision again. This time it took, but I moved and re-modelled a house which was a great project. My advice would be not to retire without a definite plan just in case.

T00tsyd said:

I retired twice. I ran my own business and it was my husband that thought I should retire and it had it's appeal. I lasted 3 weeks. I then reorganised myself and went part-time at maybe 1/3rd of the hours. I did that for another 5 years during which time he passed away. It kept me going mentally and physically and after a time I made the decision again. This time it took, but I moved and re-modelled a house which was a great project. My advice would be not to retire without a definite plan just in case.

Click to expand...

I do have options.
It's possible that the company I work for calls me back. There use to be a mandatory gap of 1 year but I have heard that can be reduced under pressure.
I don't think I would take this option unless I was desperate. I have a commute of 75 miles 1 way more that half on the legendary 405. That is just one of the reasons I wish to leave.

There are other defense/aerospace contractors local to me, I would give that a try first. There are Security reasons they would find me easy and quick to hire.

My Father wants me to move up to Oregon with him. I would like to do that but....
My father needs to set aside a portion of his 15 acers before I could put a house up there. The structures that can be legally put up there would not be livable for someone with 10 birds
Still this is not the end for that idea. Putting a 5th wheel trailer would be easy and set next to his 1200 sq foot garage would give us room to spread out.

So yes I do have options but my fingers are crossed because it's not a sure thing as I am already watching the value of my 401K go down as this covid 19 crisis plays out.

Remember SAR's and how quickly the market returned after that fall...

The heat of Spring gets closer everyday and that will define whether to dig deeper or watch the market return.