Lets talk about early retirement...shall we ?

[tpodwdog]

Hi guys
im sitting here thinking about retiring. although im only 49, according to the powers that be....i cant retire when they say i can without a bagazillion dollars in the bank to live on.

i have been working since i was 11 years old. i love to work and keep busy....but as i go on my 8th month of un-enjoy-ment....im learning that i kind of like not having anyone to answer to. i know times are tough all around and the union really isnt doing anything for me. i do things here and there to keep my mind occupied, like helping Spank 66 with his car, and doing things for my friends...( contrary to popular belief, i do have friends ). but why do i have to retire when they say i can to collect retirement benefits and pull my annuity from the union that has been building. if i pull anything out of that annuity before im 65...i get a major penalty. why is this ? i worked for that money....its mine and why cant i get it when i want it without paying a penalty.???

and heres a thought. in my business ya gotta be good and fast. when im near 65...im not gonna be the guy that i once was. i can see and feel things in my work ability declining fast....for the simple fact...IM NOT 23 YEARS OLD ANYMORE....and who wants a slow moving old master carpenter ? nobody will hire me. i thought about doing something else, but they aint gonna pay me what i feel im worth or what im used to making . so im stuck....and im not alone. im sure alot of you guys feel the same way as i do. im getting older fast.....i dont move or CANT move like i did when i was young. so what happens now? i want to retire for a number of reasons..

im older and cant perform like i did
the union guys that are working in these trying times are either related to the boss... or a major *** kisser...(definitely not my style). work is getting scarce....the morons running this country aint helping matters much...so what happens to us that have been in the trenches and paid our dues ??? im too old to get a new career....anyone else feel this way or am i alone in my convictions ?

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Quoting......anyone else feel this way or am i alone in my convictions ?

NO you are not alone.....I also wonder what my path & my family future will be.....

 

[snakeyes]

alot of us have been thinking about it ,alot would like to ,but most won't be able for one reason or another, me I'm alot older and I don't see it happening very soon ,and yes it's a bitch getting older,but it is always nice to dream about it.:headbang:

 

[roadrunnerman]

I'm with ya dog. Heck, by the time we are ready to retire, there probably won't be any pension. So we will have to live on the goodness of our government (yes, we're screwed). The money they said I would get only be enuf to pay the rent, bills, and maybe go splurge at McDonalds once.

 

[lewtot184]

i quit working at 55 1/2 and don't regret it. i was a sheet metal worker and i know, as you do, when you get older you don't have the strength or speed. i liked what i was doing but worked in an impossible work climate with people i just couldn't stand. i did earn some retirement benefits but that alone is never enough. what made it for me was socking money in a 401k. the 401k plus pension got be in a livable state. i did take a big gross income cut, but i don't pay social security, 401k payments, and the cost of going to work. a financial adviser helped a lot. debt's a killer. resolve as much debt as possible. i think the only real reason to keep people working until 65 or older is to keep them paying into the social security rat hole. if social security was done away with and you could take that 7.5% and invest it everybody would be millionaires when they reached 60.

 

[tpodwdog]

i worked myself to death. 16 hour days sometimes....worked like a non-stop locomotive for yearssssssssss. i had an old timer tell me " you better slow down boy...youll work yourself right out of a job and into an early grave "....he was right. im tired of having to work for dudes that know alot less about my profession than i do. thats an issue also. the people that are incharge of my destiny....know less than i do , but i have to do what they tell me . my last union job, i worked for 2 days...TWO DAYS...and got laid off again. WHY YOU ASK ?... coz their superintendents had no place to go , and i was the "new hire ". buncha bull crap if ya ask me. i gave that superintendant a good piece of my mind right there...( no...i dont hold back ). my work should speak for itself....but in this case...the upper brass took my job and i had no say in the matter. i had enough of this nepitism going on and i just want out without having to sell every worldly posession i own just to pay the bills and stay alive.!

 

[glassman]

You like your trade, it seems---but you don't like working for "THE MAN" ! Open up your own little business and go after your old boss's clients and assure them the same quality of work for a lot less price. That's what I did 20 years ago and never looked back. I too was on a lay off. While you are on lay off you have plenty of time to get your act together. I am a carpenter by trade .

 

[tpodwdog]

You like your trade, it seems---but you don't like working for "THE MAN" ! Open up your own little business and go after your old boss's clients and assure them the same quality of work for a lot less price. That's what I did 20 years ago and never looked back. I too was on a lay off. While you are on lay off you have plenty of time to get your act together. I am a carpenter by trade .

i had my own business in 2003. i had a thief for a partner and that left a bad taste in my mouth. im looking to retire...not work harder....lol...thanx!

 

[dgraver]

Hey lurch, you do know this is the business I am in?

 

[lewtot184]

i worked myself to death. 16 hour days sometimes....worked like a non-stop locomotive for yearssssssssss. i had an old timer tell me " you better slow down boy...youll work yourself right out of a job and into an early grave "....he was right. im tired of having to work for dudes that know alot less about my profession than i do. thats an issue also. the people that are incharge of my destiny....know less than i do , but i have to do what they tell me . my last union job, i worked for 2 days...TWO DAYS...and got laid off again. WHY YOU ASK ?... coz their superintendents had no place to go , and i was the "new hire ". buncha bull crap if ya ask me. i gave that superintendant a good piece of my mind right there...( no...i dont hold back ). my work should speak for itself....but in this case...the upper brass took my job and i had no say in the matter. i had enough of this nepitism going on and i just want out without having to sell every worldly posession i own just to pay the bills and stay alive.!

i started in the sheet metal workers union. maybe the only intelligent thing i did in my life was get out of the union and all it's nepotism and politics. i went to work for a pharmacuetical company. i had to work my way up in wages thru the years but i would never have achieved any financial independence if i stayed in the union.

 

[tpodwdog]

Hey lurch, you do know this is the business I am in?

well...as soon as i get my half million back...ill give it to you and you can set me up ! i thought you were a high priced insurance agent! lol

 

[hammond472]

Retrement... What is that? I will work till I die unless I win the lotto. Then I will work on the things I want to work on till I die. That is why I work on cars I like. It is probably the closest thing to retirement I will ever experience!

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Retrement... What is that? I will work till I die unless I win the lotto. Then I will work on the things I want to work on till I die. That is why I work on cars I like. It is probably the closest thing to retirement I will ever experience![/QUOTE


Well said, Thank You........

 

[Cranky]

I retired at 55 in April of 06 and was also tired of all the crap going on at work. Best move I ever made! The damn economic crash about broke my *** tho. Barring any major medical expenses, things will be ok.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Man,
Your 49, that IS young...by todays standards...
Go back to school...
You CAN do it!
By 52, with your new degree in hand...
Work up to 63....?

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i started in the sheet metal workers union. maybe the only intelligent thing i did in my life was get out of the union and all it's nepotism and politics. i went to work for a pharmacuetical company. i had to work my way up in wages thru the years but i would never have achieved any financial independence if i stayed in the union.

Sadly, here at Edewards AFB, our Lockheed-Martin Union members went on strike last March 2012.
Strike lasted 12 weeks...
The Company (Dallas Ft. Worth Lockheed-Martin) offered the Union a package 2nd week or 3rd week.
The Union heavily requested that Union Members dismiss the package.
They did.
9 to 10 weeks later the Union settled for LESS than the Companys original offer. The original signing BONUS was $4,000 and they finally settled for $3,000 plus a loss of some Health Care.
This IS fact.

Latley, I'm not too sure the Unions have their memmbers "best interest at heart"

PS: I'm Air Force, can not strike!

 

[daredevil]

Sometimes i feel like a moron. I have worked for the same company for 32 years and theirs no retirement program . Live well but dont save much. Just waiting on God to reach down and turn off my ticker. I will work till then.

 

[snakeyes]

:eusa_hand:he's not gonna come down and get you, your family is not going to let that happen ,he's gonna keep you here and punish you :alien_probe:

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

In the same boat as you Dawg, mentally anyway. I got laid off in late 2011. Then worked 5 months out of the last 14 full time as an independent engineering consultant and spent the other 9 months off and on looking for new work. I have found I don't really want to work for someone again either, but I also don't like the pressure of generating my own work. That's a full time job in itself! I just received a full time offer working 9-5 again and while I am not looking forward to a commute and boss once more, I guess it's a blessing and I should make the most of it. Many others want to work and can't find a job right now, so I am thankful.

HOWEVER - although I am never that bored and have lots of hobbies, I would have to say that not working at all makes me feel worse mentally and physically. I think I am in a lazy slump and have been soul searching at age 42 of what I should do. I gave a lot left in me, but with the wife bringing in a paycheck I haven't been worried - yet. The way I figure it, as long as my body is able, I should try to work in some capacity, cuz its not going to get any easier! If I don't, I think my brain will slowly go to mush. True retirement? Not for me ever really, at least i I don't think so. On the other hand, if I can only find something for work that I love a lot, but will still pay enough money. Some say, just do what you love and money will happen eventually.

Who really wants to work for someone else! Heck, why do you think lots of women even today seek a man who will work and tell them they don't have to? I want a gold toilet seat too, but it just ain't in the cards! Haha. My own wife wants to do that even though we don't have kids. Says she wants me to just spoil her and pay for everything. Guess what? Me too! Myself, I think a break or year sabbatical can be good, but not a permanent one...

 

[Richard Cranium]

I retired at 55 in April of 06 and was also tired of all the crap going on at work. Best move I ever made! The damn economic crash about broke my *** tho. Barring any major medical expenses, things will be ok.

I've often thought that retiring at age 55 would be the best time to retire. You are still young enough to do things & (hopefully) still have your health. I'll be 54 this year, but with 2 kids in college & one more in high school, my game plan (right now) is to sell my business at age 60. At that point, I will have had 41 years in the business & that's enough.

 

[Budnicks]

Quoting......anyone else feel this way or am i alone in my convictions ?

NO you are not alone.....I also wonder what my path & my family future will be.....

X3 I'm 53, my dollar is a quarter now...LOL... I know I won't be able to get my Social Security or dip into my retirement plan with out severe penalties, before age 62 at a minimum, I own my house outright & have no real bills except the typical monthly crap & freaken' taxes, thank goodness... But I've been self employed most all my adult life & the construction industry is all but dead right now & that was my major form on income for a large part of my life too.. Being an Engineer & Contractor, that has worked as a Master Carpenter & Finish Carpenter, a Plumber, a Welder, a Pipe Fitter, a Roofer, a Lather, a Hoddy, a Concrete finisher, a Fabricator etc.... I can relate to what your saying about your body & not being able to work as fast as you once did, but your older & smarter now {well older in your case anyway...LOL..}, you should be able to do a better job than them young bucks, spinning in circles all the time... When you get older you should be able work smarter, so it's an offset for the faster younger worker... Personally I rarely would hire really young guys, especially when I could hire, an experienced Carpenter in their 40's or 50's, not so much the job milkers in their 60's, too slow, too fragile, good Foreman's or project managers thou, I'm sure you already know, that's the way it is construction, especially if your the guy whom employs the Master Carpenters instead of just a regular Union Working Young Smuch... My dollar is seriously shrunk in the past few years some because of the stock market crashes several times now & some because there is no New Automotive Dealerships being built right now, no or very little custom homes or housing in general being built right now either... Construction is all but dead in Calif. except for a very select few, mostly because of too many regulations & all the BS Environmental Impact crap you have to jump thru hoops to get any building permit, then you have to pay some bogus high prices for them to now, or they make you add some damn sidewalk or some damn stop-lite to the plans, just to comply to some bogus regulation & your customer will back out because, they can't afford the extra unnecessary $100K to be added to the contract/job they wanted to do, because of said regulations.... It's allot harder being the employer, than being just an employee... I've pretty much been semi-retired since I was 38 y/o, I was trying to play Professional Golf, Teaching Golf, Selling Golf Equipment & do something that wasn't so damn hard on my body.... With our current Fed. Govt. Spending sprees/debt & serious lack of leadership to rein it in anytime soon, or the stupid excessive taxation &/or regulations, killing business & their ability to be hiring more people... I highly doubt that the current Social Security system will be much good for people, too much younger than I am, when we/they are of proper age to be able to get full benefits {withh out severe penalties}, that we all paid into {as long as you didn't work for cash all the time under the table crap}, it's used like a damn political slush fund now.... My savings is going fast, I hope my stocks, bonds & mutual funds will still continue to perform well or I'm screwed in my latter years....

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I retired at 55 in April of 06 and was also tired of all the crap going on at work. Best move I ever made! The damn economic crash about broke my *** tho. Barring any major medical expenses, things will be ok.

Amen to both those brother, me too....