Retiree Corner....

[Murphy Slaw]

I also build my own scaffolding

Sherpa, you’re a genius.

I’ve rented scaffolding and tried to buy used scaffolding without luck and I have no place to store it anyhow.

As much crap as I’ve built in my life, it never occurred to me to build it And just re-purpose the lumber.

My hat is off to you.

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[YGBSM392]

I retired this year at age 65, after 45 years that included education and a career as an internal medicine physician and hospitalist. It was an interesting and rewarding career, but I certainly don't miss all of the middle of the night phone calls, and having to go in to the ICU, then working the next day in clinic.

So far I have been dividing my time between Jeeping, UTVing, RVing, and doing work on my property. My driveways are ~200 yards of asphalt. After paying a company to repair and resurface the asphalt, and seeing what a half-assed job they did, I spent a few weeks doing a better job of filling and repairing all of the cracks myself. I also just completed a mission to get rid of ants on my property. I treated 27 different ant hills with poison, and after as many as 4 treatments on some of the ant hills, the ants are finally gone.

My wife of 38 years just retired 11 days ago, and we plan on doing some travelling. The northern lights on Alaska's north shore, and then New Zealand are on the short list.

That's awesome! Congratulations on your career and enjoy retirement.

 

[3TV]

That's awesome! Congratulations on your career and enjoy retirement.

Thank you.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

There is an encampment at the State park this weekend. I enjoy seeing the home made goods, throwback clothes from the revolution and campfires and food options.

Not a fan of the large crowds.

 

[wibornz]

I retired this year at age 65, after 45 years that included education and a career as an internal medicine physician and hospitalist. It was an interesting and rewarding career, but I certainly don't miss all of the middle of the night phone calls, and having to go in to the ICU, then working the next day in clinic.

So far I have been dividing my time between Jeeping, UTVing, RVing, and doing work on my property. My driveways are ~200 yards of asphalt. After paying a company to repair and resurface the asphalt, and seeing what a half-assed job they did, I spent a few weeks doing a better job of filling and repairing all of the cracks myself. I also just completed a mission to get rid of ants on my property. I treated 27 different ant hills with poison, and after as many as 4 treatments on some of the ant hills, the ants are finally gone.

My wife of 38 years just retired 11 days ago, and we plan on doing some travelling. The northern lights on Alaska's north shore, and then New Zealand are on the short list.

We'll get after the traveling. Just know that Northern Lights on Alaska's north shore is not a summer time thing. I have had my sun visor down at 1:00 am because the sun was so bright.

This is phot was taken at 10:53 PM

This was about 1:00 am in our tent while camping

This would be 4 am on the cruise ship.

Like 12:09 am.

So maybe see them in February but fuck is it cold on the northern slope in February. Dead Horse has an average temperature of -17.

 

[wibornz]

I retired on my 51st birthday. I worked 1 hour and 14 minutes before retiring on my first day of being eligible for retirement. I put in 29 years 6 months and 14 days. I told people for about 4 years that I was retiring on my first day and very few believed me. I only worked the 1 hour and 14 minutes so I could say good by to my shift and the shift that was leaving.

I retired from the Michigan Department of Corrections. To retire, an employee would have to have at least 25 years in and be 51. Otherwise I would have retired sooner. I had to meet the minimum age requirement. I loved my job as a Captain/Shift Commander. I had over 200 people come to my retirement party. I mentored 147 people into supervisory positions.

At the age of 22 I had a great mentor. He told me how to invest, and helped me set up my 401k, 457 and some other investments. I stacked money away for years and so did my wife. She retired as soon as she had 25 years in to. She had to meet the minimum amount of time in service. She was 54.

We always prioritized travel. After we were both retired, we traveled a lot. Think like this.

The map would have more pins in it, but sometime in the summer of 2024, google stoped keeping a history of locations on a map for an extended time. We have been in 20 states this year. Leave for Thailand on the 27th of this month with a few weeks in Vietnam. We will be gone until Feb 20th of 2026. Home for about a week before leaving for a cruise out of Flordia. Then home for about a day in the middle of March before we head west to south west with the Jeep and camper to wheel, camp and hike all over the southwest. Then try and be home by the end of June.

Between our two pensions and investments, we can easily live within our means. Then in a few years, about 4. We will both be eligible for social security.

We have travel planned all the way out to the fall of 2027. When we go to the southwest in 2026, we will shop for property or a house during our travels. It looks like 2026 with be a huge housing price adjustment and should benefit the buyers market.

I usually do a wheeling travel thread on this forum. So if you see that I am going to be in your area, hit me up to wheel, camp or hang out around a fire with a beer or some good bourbon.

 

[3TV]

We'll get after the traveling. Just know that Northern Lights on Alaska's north shore is not a summer time thing. I have had my sun visor down at 1:00 am because the sun was so bright.

This is phot was taken at 10:53 PM

This was about 1:00 am in our tent while camping

This would be 4 am on the cruise ship.

Like 12:09 am.

So maybe see them in February but fuck is it cold on the northern slope in February. Dead Horse has an average temperature of -17.

See, that right there is what I want to experience, the midnight sun. I heard the northern lights are actually best in September.

 

[wibornz]

See, that right there is what I want to experience, the midnight sun. I heard the northern lights are actually best in September.

Well we are spending the summer of 2027 in Alaska and we will boondock camp 99% of it. If you are heading that way hit us up. there will be three Jeeps and campers heading to Alaska on May 7th or about that day. We have two that are retiring in 2027. it will be their retirement trip with Carla and me.

 

[3TV]

Well we are spending the summer of 2027 in Alaska and we will boondock camp 99% of it. If you are heading that way hit us up. there will be three Jeeps and campers heading to Alaska on May 7th or about that day. We have two that are retiring in 2027. it will be their retirement trip with Carla and me.

Awesome. Thanks. I will keep that in mind.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

I’m thinking about a run to show my wife the Superstitions. She’s never been out there, and I left the valley in 1982.

Nothing else will be the same, but that mountain and Canyon Lake are still there I bet.

 

[donmontalvo]

My original plan was to retire at 50, but the minimum age for Social Security is 62. My next plan was to retire at 62, but I wasn't ready. So I retired on my 63rd birthday in October 2024. I paid off my JLUR, bought a new camping trailer (paid cash), got good vehicle and camper insurance (senior rate), zeroed out my credit cards, and cancelled all unnecessary bills. I bought a Starlink Mini, upgraded my cell phone plan to include unlimited internet (as a backup). I purged my blog page to get a fresh start as a retired boondocker (didn't need all the expensive space). Sold most of my belongings, gave away some stuff, and hobbled into the sunset.

I signed up with EscapeesRV to handle my mail, and so I can have my domicile in TX. I get my mail sent to wherever I am every couple weeks. I spent a couple months boondocking locally, in the Plano, TX area, to get up to speed on boondocking. Found out quickly how I needed to double off grid power and also buy a generator. I practiced winterizing the camper, even though my goal is to avoid extreme cold/hot weather. I purged my address book of all contacts that I haven't been in touch with in years, and came close to changing my phone number (family talked me out of it).

By mid December Koda and I headed to Quartzsite, AZ, where I began my retirement as a snowbird, at the BLM Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA). Season pass is $180, lasts September 15 to April 15 , and covers full dump services (sewer, potable water, and trash dumpsters). Seven months of beautiful weather, with tons of sunlight, and 11,400 acres of desert. The number of RVs ballons up to over a million during the RV show. I get up when I want, do what I want, when I want to do it, with no stress whatsoever. Koda loves being with me all the time, and I love how he makes me walk every day, longer distances over time.

Once the LTVA season is over, I'll head North...

If you're thinking of retiring to the boondocking life, but never heard of Quartzsite, or snowbirds, might want to watch Nomadland. The movie won three oscars, and who doesn't love Frances McDormand (who herself ALSO won three oscars too!).

 

[donmontalvo]

Nice photo! Hope you have the Mopar tow package. #tongueincheek

 

[3TV]

My original plan was to retire at 50, but the minimum age for Social Security is 62. My next plan was to retire at 62, but I wasn't ready. So I retired on my 63rd birthday in October 2024. I paid off my JLUR, bought a new camping trailer (paid cash), got good vehicle and camper insurance (senior rate), zeroed out my credit cards, and cancelled all unnecessary bills. I bought a Starlink Mini, upgraded my cell phone plan to include unlimited internet (as a backup). I purged my blog page to get a fresh start as a retired boondocker (didn't need all the expensive space). Sold most of my belongings, gave away some stuff, and hobbled into the sunset.

I signed up with ExcapeesRV to handle my mail, and so I can have my domicile in TX. I get my mail sent to wherever I am every couple weeks. I spent a couple months boondocking locally, in the Plano, TX area, to get up to speed on boondocking. Found out quickly how I needed to double off grid power and also buy a generator. I practiced winterizing the camper, even though my goal is to avoid extreme cold/hot weather. I purged my address book of all contacts that I haven't been in touch with in years, and came close to changing my phone number (family talked me out of it).

By mid December Koda and I wobbled into the sunset...headed to Quartzsite, AZ, where I began my retirement as a snowbird, at the BLM Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA). Season pass is $180 and covers April 15 to September 15, and covers full dump services (sewer, potable water, and trash dumpsters). 7 months of beautiful weather, with tons of sunlight, and 11,400 acres of managed desert. The number of RVs ballons up to over a million during the RV show. I get up when I want, do what I want, when I want to do it, with no stress whatsoever. Koda loves being with me all the time, and I love how he makes me walk every day, longer distances over time.

Once the LTVA season is over, I'll head North...

If you're thinking of retiring to the RV life, but never heard of Quartzsite, or snowbirds, might want to watch Nomadland. Three oscars, and who doesn't love Frances McDormand!

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Sounds like a great plan donmontalvo. We're doing something similar with our pickup camper and Jeep on a trailer. We've already got the generator in the camper and solar panels on the roof of the camper. I'm still in the process of figuring out the capabilities of my set up. I just learned that the camper can go at least 6 nights on propane when using the furnace all night for temps in the 20s. And I've got the time needed to complete winterizing down to just 15 minutes. Have fun RVing. Thanks for the links, I'm going to check them out.

 

[donmontalvo]

...pickup camper and Jeep on a trailer...

Got pic?

 

[GinaC]

Fibromyalgia caused me to "retire" about 20 years ago, but I'm 62 now. (And I no longer have fibromyalgia symptoms thanks to a ketovore diet.)

I'm working on remodeling/restoring my 1939 house. Right now I'm fighting with restoring some stuck door hinges, and the next project is building some built in cabinets in the knee walls of my 1.5 storey.

After that I need to demo a small 2 foot wall and add a support beam in there in order to combine 2 closets into a powder room.

And those are just a fraction of the projects I've got lined up!

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