How long do you plan to work?

[Mike]

When I first strarted sewing  about 30 the owner of a marina across the way told me about this old canvas guy who he always had around he was in his seventies still making canvas. HD also told me that walmart will nerver hurt my canvas buisness

[rustyeod]

I think I'll sew for the rest of my life but living on a boat named "Mile 0" we plan on moving the business to Key West Once our daughter who is in college moves out.  Once there we won't work as much.

[gene]

Hey rustyeod,

I have a customer who just built a house in Key Largo. $15,000 a year for house insurance and $15,000 a year for property taxes. Her and her husband are both retired. 1/2 the year up here and 1/2 the year down in Key Largo. He was NOT an upholsterer.

We love the Gulf side of Florida and I've thought of moving there when I get really really old and do upholstery part time. Maybe spend the hot afternoons sitting in an air conditioned shop sewing for a marine shop???

gene

[rustyeod]

Gene
Having a dream is important because without it we might not continue.  We even plan on taking a machine while cruising so that we can do repairs at anchor.  Just drop a banner over the railing.  Now if we could just get the kid on the dock long enough for us to untie thos lines holding us to the shore.

[Mike]

Rusty that was my plan move to Florida and work less I'm still working at that   At least I don't work 7 days a week all the time like I did from ice out to ice in up north
I agree with gene the west coat is much much  more affordable

[kodydog]

I will pass along your comment Dennis. I am sure she will appreciate it. Of course I wont tell her your old, a little senile and blind in one eye and cannot see out of the other. Kinda like Kody....lol.  :D

Chris.

The man is in total denial. Dosn't know a good thing when he has it. Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO6LF54ByhM

[kodydog]

Gene
Having a dream is important because without it we might not continue.  We even plan on taking a machine while cruising so that we can do repairs at anchor.  Just drop a banner over the railing.  Now if we could just get the kid on the dock long enough for us to untie thos lines holding us to the shore.

You said it Rusty. My grandfather retired at 65 after 20 years working as city manager of a small resort town in Michigan. One year later he had his first stroke. 3 years later dead from heart attack.

My dad retired at 65 from county engineer. They begged him to come back for consulting. But he refused. Wanted to see the world with my mom, and he did. But he also turned from a social drinker into an alcoholic. Often starting at 10:00 in the morning. His personality changed and depression took over. He would often remind us he didn't have much longer on this earth. He lived to the ripe old age of 79 which isn't bad but I often wonder how much longer he would have lived if his liver hadn't given out.

Setting goals is what keeps me going and I'll keep working as long as God is willing. Someday I will slow down a little but there will always be something to do. Think I'll go fishing.

[Mike]

Kody my
father had a problem with drinking his whole life but when he was 56 he had a accede t drinking and fell and was paralized one thing led
to another I I ended up sewing beacause of it.  He lived with me
but never Learned or didn't care to learn from his mistake.  He made it 20 more years but one day I came home to find he had another accedent and fell into my pool in his electric chair   What actually happened I have to guess  perhaps passed out them woke up and  leaned  on the forward switch.?

That was 3 years ago yesterday.
Anyway I've learned to enjoy what I'm doing. Don't know how long you got left.
I relized that a year ago.

[TimsTrim]

I turn 59 this Sunday next. This has been on my mind for some time.I have friends who have "retired" from their jobs already. BUT, have they really retired ? Most if not all of them "retired" from their job and after a while found out they really could not afford to retire and had to go back to work somewhere else. Hell if I had to work I would have stayed at the $20-30/hour job they "retired" from.My sister in law and her husband a couple years back were bragging at Thanksgiving that they were going to "retire". They quite frankly were rubbing the rest of our noses with the fact they were "retiring". Well, fast forward to today. Brother in law had to go back to work for his old employer. He says he's a "consultant".LOL. She went back to work in her field but at a different employer. And they still tell people they are retired. Really ?
  I don't believe I will make the mistake of telling people I'm going to retire. Think I'll just keep it to myself and maybe if my health holds out, cut down to 4 days /week and then sometime 3days/week.... and so on. I think 3 days a week would be about perfect. I can cut back to my best customers, the ones who don't bitch, pay on time and actually appreciate you.The other 4 days would be plenty for hunting and fishing. I mean, you really need a break from hunting and fishing now and then.

[kodydog]

My neighbor across the street retired in his late 50's. His wife divorced him and he moved up here from south Florida, with 4 horses. The guy is always pissed off about something so I and everyone else try to avoid him. He met a young lady from Brazil and flew her here. They were going to marry but three weeks later she was gone.

Totally different story with my next door neighbors. They both retired at 62 with good pensions. He a firefighter and her a nurse. You couldn't keep these two still if you tried. There always off doing something and loving life. Hes in Jackson Hole right now skiing.

Life is what you make of it.

[byhammerandhand]

My wife retired last year.  What really decided it for her was that her boss' boss was working into his early 70s.  Then he got sick, went to the hospital and six weeks later was dead.   A similar thing happened recently to another executive there.  There is one person at her company that is working well into her 80s and won't retire, even though she would make more being retired than coming to work every day at her more or less menial job that is being kept for her.

While I've never worked any place with a pension plan, I've always made it a priority to sock away as much as I can in a 401(k) or IRA.

Having a retired wife puts pressure on to take off more time for "trips"

In this town, there is a large employer known for hiring staff right out of college and keeping them forever.  They have a nice plan where the first year, they put 1% of your salary into company stock, the second year 2%, and so on.   There are many engineers and secretaries that retire at "golden nickels" (55) as multi-millionaires.

[bobbin]

My father died one day after his 69th. birthday.  He'd really cut back in the work, dep't. and was actually making the time to do "fun" things.  He and my mother did their share of drinking over the years, too.  My mother continued to work after she was widowed (she loved her job) until her career smoking habit finally caught up with her and knocked her down.  I watched how those two habits claimed year after year from them, sucking up money that could have been parlayed into trips or other fun things.  For frugal people they were really dumb about those things. 

Mike, I remember reading your post about your dad when I was really "new" here.  It must have haunted you for a long time and I bet it still does every now and then, the way any loss can.  Especially when the anniversary rolls around.  It's important to look at our parents with clear eyes and continue to love and revere them in spite of the things that we may not have liked so much, isn't it?

I am naturally a "busy" person.  And a home body; so it doesn't take much to keep me content... my gardens/landscaping, some artsy-fartsy projects, a couple of cats, a dog, and the old man.  As the husband says, "I aspire to work less, stay home, and do more "chores".".  I have enjoyed my few travels and know that more are easily attainable if I budget and plan, so I'm OK with things as they are. 

What an interesting thread this has been. 

[Darren Henry]

That was 3 years ago yesterday.

Those anniversaries bother me. I feel for you. Especially after hearing the way it happened. All I had ever heard was that he had drowned. December 18 1983 I got home from the unit's men's Christmas dinner to find a message from my "blood brother". A cop answered the phone and didn't want to talk to someone who had been drinking. My sister took the call from the family in the morning that he had hanged himself.That "what if ???" dogged me for years. You have to let that go,man. We don't drive this planet---we just dodge the curve balls it throws us.

[kodydog]

Today I stopped by a Fabric store/upholstery shop I worked for 12 years ago. I'm still good friends with the owners and always bring them my fabric tubes for recycle. When I went into the back room, Bob, their main upholsterer is still there. He was 63 when I left and every time I see him I ask, AREN"T YOU RETIRED YET. Today he told me at 75 years old, April he will lay down his staple gun for the last time.

I can only pray I'll last that long.