I am a teacher who started teaching when I was 38. I will be 65 this spring and eligible for full retirement, but not Social Security. SS is when I am 66. I work with severely behaviorally disordered students and I just cannot do another year. I am not as quick dodging thrown chairs and objects! We will see how it works out. Fingers crossed.

Can you get a transfer to easier duty?

Cyn, I sympathize with your situation. DH retired two years early and we paid to continue his work insurance until he could get SS and Medicare. Spendy but well worth the cost.

Rouge, we love the retired life. I am 67 and "retired" fifteen years ago. That is when I became a serious gardener. DH continued to work until 5 years ago which gave our weeks some structure. We find our now unstructured time great with the ability to make spur of the moment plans. I continue to garden and we both do volunteer work, me tutoring math and garden mentoring neighborhood kids; he individual counseling. He also participates in a Scrabble club and Scrabble tournaments. We both enjoy traveling.

You talked of perhaps moving. If you are still considering it I suggest sooner than later. We are in the process of downsizing and preparing the house for sale next spring. Health problems delayed our earlier plans and now I find I tire easier and body aches at the end of the day. So many decisions to make, finding a handyman and keeping on top of the work to be done. What to keep and what to discard? Where to get rid off things? Yard sales, Craig's List, donation sites, etc.

Had planned to retire at 62 but health made it necessary to do it early. I came out at 55. I started planning my retirement at 30. I started buying repo houses and renting them so I would have income that would meet my wants and the SS and pension would supply my needs.

Had to switch the plan and use the want plan (rent) for the needs until I was old enough to get SS and pension to cover the Needs.

I did a reverse living plan I did not downsize I up sized. I am a livid gardener and the small suburban property was not my dream to garden until I dropped I wanted acres of land. No less that 2 acres found 4 acres. Purchased the larger house rehabbed it so it would accommodate any handicap that might happen.

I am 60 and things are going good and I am living my dream and think coming out early was a better decision than waiting. To have as many years as possible to do what I want,,,,, when I want,,,,,,, as long as I want. Instead of working until I was ready to drop and only have the opportunity to enjoy life for a few years I get to enjoy it now and hope for many years to come.

I have to add anyone thinking they need to work longer because of money. I have discovered you need so much less when you are no longer working.. I had no idea how much I was spending to work.

We found the very same thing, working was expensive, I didn't realize how expensive until DH retired.

Thanks all of you for your thoughtful replies. As is usually the case I have learned lots.

You guys and gals are more experienced in such matters but I would have thought that being home all the time would lead to more expenditures. (For example one can't travel if one is also at work ;)).

No gas to work though. No office uniform to keep up... I don't know what I talk about there since I work in really stained closes covered in glue and finish. No office suit and stockings for me. No fancy shoes unless they are hiking boots. I find that I save in many areas and I have weened myself from needless consumerism.

Maybe depends on where you live. Working here does get one's mind off the winter, but going south is a great alternative. Still it's not cheap, especially when we have to pay in US dollars.

Everyone is different. My job was travel vacation for me was not getting on a plane to go anywhere was a treat. I was away from home 3 weeks a month sometime it was all month. I vacationed early in life and saw all the island and countries I wanted to visit. Some I visited twice. I was ready to hang up the traveling shoes. I enjoy sitting in front of the fireplace in the winter and reading a good book and planning my summer gardens.

It was interesting reading all the different versions of retirement. As for me I am ambivalent about my retirement. I was always career oriented and derived great satisfaction from my work. I switched careers at 48 and now at 68 recently changed companies. At the two day company orientation I was 45 years older than 90% of my classmates; reminded me of Robert DiNero in 'The Intern'. I will be 70 in 2018 and had in the back of my mind to retire in December 2018 but now because this new job has re-energized me I am thinking of working another year or two. So much of 'who I am' is tied up in my work that it scares me to not have it anymore. I am an avid gardener and would love to spend more time working in my garden. But is that enough? My husband, who is semi-retired, is tired of our long, cold winters and wants to go south for the winter. Money is also a worry. We don't have pensions but lived frugally (no credit card debt, paid off mortgage), been good savers and invested wisely, so we now have a very nice nest egg. But will it be enough? It is my worst nightmare to be old, sick and out of money. I know we need a retirement game plan but have done nothing about it. I would be curious to know if there are others out there in similar situations.

I retired at just shy of age 60 after working full-time since the age of 19. And I would have continued in the same job (after 31+ years) if my boss had retired first. As it was, I just couldn't outlast him and finally hung up the towel. I still work at the same place, in a different role, about 40 hours a month.

DH's employer (where he has worked 40+ years) has had a change in upper management and he is now struggling with the same issues I faced in my job. Unpleasant people sure can make life difficult. Even though DH loves his job, I think he will probably retire in the next year.

I have several hobbies in addition to gardening, but I still sometimes feel that I retired too soon and have nothing meaningful to fill my days. Especially now as we head into winter. No gardening in north Missouri in December and January! This past gardening season I immersed myself in gardening, building new beds and laying the groundwork for more next spring. But I've got to be careful not to plant too much - how many years will I be able to take care of all this? I'm almost 62 and hopefully will have another 20 years of good health to garden, but I might not.

We've got some confidence from having our investment/financial advisor, Felisar.

Have a longer stretch of no gardening here, Littlebug, but it can be a very welcome rest from the physical side of gardening. I like your wisdom about not committing oneself to too much future garden maintenance. With shrubs and trees (especially the wrong kinds for the site) there can also be sizeable costs.

I had to google this essay that was posted on gardenweb many years
ago. It is a good blueprint for those looking for ideas of how to start
planting now for old age.

http://faq.gardenweb.com/discussions/2766806/how-do-i-create-a-low-maintenance-winter-garden-in-colder-zones
It
is being suggested to start making your home old age accessible before
you need the adjustments. something I focused on because if possible I
want to be able to stay in my home until death.

interesting article, Marquest.

I certainly agree with trying to prepare for one's future, but, personally, I don't expect to die in situ, so to speak; though with my boots would be nice.

We've had a condo before and don't mind that sort of living. Currently looking into condo retirement living with gardening opportunities on common property. Find many folk like gardens (and are positive to gardeners) even though gardening is not their own thing.

Thank you, Marquest, for that article. I had not seen it before. It is
full of sage advice that I am going to follow. Copied, pasted in a
Word document, and printed off to put in my garden notebook.

Sunnyborder, I have only lived in an apartment once in my life and hate to share. My garden is my refuge. I love being in my garden alone. It is so peaceful especially now that I no longer have any close neighbors with the acres of land. I am good being a loner and enjoy my company.

I will just let everything go wild since my garden is carved out of the wilderness anyway. No mowing, let the Oak trees mulch the garden. I pick plants for survivability. That's the theory anyway.

Retirement? HAHA! That's probably not going to happen in my lifetime... I'll be 50 next year, DH will be 55. I always half-seriously joke we'll be working until we're 90. I doubt SS will be around then, and pensions are pretty much non-existent nowadays; I have a small one from my current employer, a relic from pre-403b days, certainly nothing I can live on. I have some money in retirement, but not nearly enough. I'm terrible with money - I admit it, and I haven't done well in terms of putting enough into 403b. DH is a saver, I'm a spender, at least he's got something socked away... We like to spend money, though. I suppose if we cut back to essentials and put everything else into saving we'd be fine - but we're just not that kind of people, y'know? We could do it in an emergency, though (say if one of us lost our job), and realistically I know as we age we're going to have cut back and start saving more.

Anyway, I like to work; like a poster above, my identity, at least in part, is wrapped up in my work, and I can't imagine not working anymore, at least to some degree. I don't have a physical job, though - so as long as I'm sharp-minded and they are willing to have me, it shouldn't be a problem to keep working into my 70s or 80s. DH has a physical job and works a lot of hours (a little over 30 hours in the last 2 days alone!), that's going to be a problem in the coming decade, he's already weary many days after work.

"My garden is my refuge. I love being in my garden alone. It is so
peaceful especially now that I no longer have any close neighbors with
the acres of land. I am good being a loner and enjoy my company."

^^ Me too. Probably because my job entails talking to people all day long, I just want to be left alone sometimes to enjoy some peace and quiet and get lost in my thoughts; I find it restorative.

I'm the opposite these days....:-). When I was younger, healthier, and still working (at jobs I enjoyed...), I would have liked a larger, rural property Ike the one I grew up on. Now I prefer the community of the nice piece of suburbia we Iive in. The original houses were built in the early 1960s on 1/4 acre lots. An increasing number of the original houses have been torn down to build much bigger ones, or have been updated and enlarged - which is what we did 17 years ago. So there is a mix of ages in both residents and residences! :-)

It's a very quiet and friendly neighbourhood with lots of casual socializing as people walk around the neighbourhood. Quite a few people are active gardeners or interested in gardens, so there is a fair bit of dropping in to see what's happening in a particular garden. When an elderly neighbour's wife was going through a long, slow dying from cancer, the neighbour across the street from them tore up her front lawn to make a garden for the dying lady to see from her bedroom window! This is the best neighbourhood we've lived in - the perfect mix of enough space so you're got privacy if you need it, but enough social interaction so you don't feel isolated.

woodyoak that sounds like my last house. My problem is when I am in my gardens I do not want visitors. It felt like an intrusion in my space. We were like family it was nice but still annoying. I just do not want visitors unless I invite them into my space.

Mxk3, I had a people job too and being a loner did not help my desperate need for alone time. I remember one time I did not want to order room service because the waiter always want to chit chat when they bring your food. I did not eat that night because I could not stand to see or talk to another person that night.

Marquest -- I can totally relate.

Thank you Texas some time I think I am strange. It is nice to know there are others out there that understand.

Most people read it wrong, I don't think you are strange at all. I don't know how it is with you but although I like people, a little socializing goes a long way, I get overloaded easily which causes nervousness & confusion then I need time to come down after talking in social situations before I can relax and concentrate normally. I enjoy solitude.

Yep I feel the same. I enjoy solitude so much I think I do not really like people. I have often said I must have a flashing sign that says "Hunt that one down she can fix it" I am not kidding in the grocery store people ask me what roast looks good, how do you make dressing etc. I have been walking to my car and stopped to ask for help with something. I do need to learn the word NO. Retirement has helped me avoid the stress of my blinking sign.

I have been told the reason people approach me is because I walk like I know where I am going and I always make eye contact, smile and say hello. I do not know what is wrong with that don't people know how to say hello and keep walking without asking for help? LOL

Marquest and TR, I am the same. Earlier this year I had climbed up into the linden tree in front to do some pruning and a gregarious neighbor figured I was fair game for a long chat about what all the other neighbors were up to. I really can't multitask like that, especially with a job like pruning where you need to make a series of irreversible decisions.

I just turned 50 this year. A few blocks down the street there's an old nursery, right in the middle of a residential block, that I always imagine buying and spending my retirement in.

I am far happier in my retirement life than I was in my pre-retirement life! Every morning I wake up with a sense of joy that my day is my own to do with as I wish :-) Part of it is a change of lifestyles - I became single, I moved from the big city to a much more rural area and I downsized from a large older home with all the challenges of upkeep and maintenance to a small rental. When something goes wrong, I just call my landlord!!

I enjoyed my pre-retirement corporate life, but it was just a job, not a career and never offered the passion or enthusiasm of my post-retirement self-employment. Actually, my self-employment preceded my "official" retirement by about 15 years simply because my corporate position vanished with the decline in the economy in the mid 90's and I needed an income. It's not huge but it is enough to adequately supplement my SS and small pensions and it is something I can do easily until I choose not to do it any longer!! I work as much or as little as I want - what could be better than that?

My days are as full as I want them to be. Some days I am out and about with client visits and lots of social interaction and other days I prefer to stay at home, either doing work-related paper/computer work or just what I feel like doing, aka loafing or puttering :-) Even with rentals I have always had at least a small garden to play with (much to my landlords' delight) and I garden a lot in containers which are portable and move with me when necessary.

I have as much of a social life as I want but certainly don't mind being alone - in fact, I relish it. My income is perhaps less than half of what it was before retirement but I have tailored my lifestyle to accommodate it and I don't feel limited or deprived as a result. I don't travel much - been there, done that and what gardener or pet owner wants to be away from home for any extended period?? Fortunately I enjoy robust health but recognize my limitations as I age and my current retirement lifestyle addresses that nicely as well.

I realize everyone has a different situation and different requirements but for me, retirement has been one of the most satisfactory and enjoyable stages of my life. I recommend it highly!!

I should have added this to what I said above but when others have expressed about liking their solitude I thought I would add my two cents :).

My garden is my sanctuary, it is a place where I can be myself. I have been asked many times to open my garden, I never have. I have had neighbors and friends over, usually to dig a piece of this or that up for them and then we discuss the merits or not of certain plants but my garden is my refuge, my alone time, a place where I can relax and all the cares of the world seem to slip away. It might be selfish but I garden for myself not for others to ooh and awe over, or to pick apart for that matter.

This might seem silly but my garden seems to have a healing power for me, I can be feeling absolutely rotten and after an hour or two in the garden I come in feeling refreshed albeit a little sore, ready to take on the world.

Annette

Aftermignight it is not silly at all that is why gardens are so important to hospice and meditation facilities. Gardens are known to be healing. It is why I wanted seclusion. My garden is for me not the neighbors.

Two more sleeps and I will be in official retirement.

Congratulation. Welcome to the fun world.

Congrats, more time for gardening.

I hope you are still abed at noon today, Rouge (it is 10.30 am here and I have just emerged).

Fat chance me being able to sleep in. The cats badger me like clockwork around 5:15 am each day (bad). And my partner needs a lift to transit around 6:30 am each during the week (good ;)).

(I never took you for a sleeper inner Campanula ;). Think of all the weeding you could have done between say 7 and 10 ;)).

'Fraid so Rouge - I am more of a nocturnal type (would be lost without my headlamp for midnight gardening). Anything occurring between 7-10 has to be based on a pillow.

Enjoy, Rouge!

No longer needing to be up at 5:00 a.m. to face a long commute is one of the enduring pleasures of leaving the work world behind! What is your first retirement project going to be?

Kind of boring but just cleaned out my side of the clothes closet... lots of good items for donation.

Campanula. I had to laugh you must be my twin. I am known for washing windows at 3am.. I do not hit the pillow until I hear the birds singing. In the summer there is enough light to garden until 10 at night. After the sun goes down is the perfect time to garden.

I think I am a closet vampire. I have to lay down when the sun comes up.

I used to midnight garden till the night I was gardening in a huge fire ant pile and didn't know it. I swear that they swarm and then wait till all of them are on you , waiting for the stragglers to catch up before they bite all at the same time.

Rouge, I don't know about you but when DH retired we seemed to have less time to do all we wanted to do LOL. I'm another that has been known to garden after dark. I have to stay out of the sun for most of the day or risk a flair up. I also can't take the heat on hot summer days so I have pole light and a long extension cord :). I deadheaded most of the fuchsia baskets (60+) in my lathhouse after dark sitting on a chair, tarp on the ground, fuchsia basket hanging on a long chain in front of me, fan going to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

I've been a night owl all my life, in winter I've been known to bake, watch tv or read into the wee hours. I haven't cleaned windows at 3 a.m. but have been known to put on a wash at midnight when a stiff breeze is blowing, hanging the wash out on a line and bringing it back in an hour later. Towels are soft and fluffy and smell so fresh :).

Annette

Its 1 :25 am and I'm with the night owls.

I was laid off at 66 and was dispirited. Looked for jobs, not much luck. So I accepted that unemployment was actually early retirement. Less than a year later a friend called about an opening in her agency in my field. It is a great fit: about 10-15 hours a week. I only go into the office (which is 20 minutes away) 1 x 2weeks, nearly everything can be communicated and documented by secure email and text. I miss the chatting life of more collegial time in an office, but I treasure setting my own schedule. As long as my patients get seen on time and my documentation and time sheets are on time no one 'bothers' me. I'm still contributing to society and (modestly) to family income. I have lots of time and flexibility for those ever increasing doctors' and physical therapy appointments. Gotta keep the mojo working if I want to work.

My house is still a mess because neither dh nor I are neatniks and actually don't care a lot about "everything in its place". I mean, it would be nice, but it takes so much valuable time!

Rouge, your days and nights will take on a shape of their own. You can nudge things however you want. Eventually a routine might emerge. My thoughts are: make new friends, keep up with old ones and participate in some sort of group activity: exercise class, bridge, book group, civic organizations. For me, they are a welcome change from being at home.

I came across the seeds you sent months ago. Still in their little envelope, waiting for spring, like me.Marie

Its 1 :25 am and I'm with the night owls.

Wow.

Maybe my routine will change now that I am no longer working (for money)(an afternoon nap? ;)), but up till now it would be odd not to find me in bed by...9:00 pm (at the latest) but then up at 5:00 am the next morning.

I came across the seeds you sent months ago.

I have my fingers crossed that those seeds, taken from plants in an untended section of the garden, do amount to something for you Marie!

Even though the scientific evidence disputes it, I still hold to the belief that as we age we need less sleep :-) I am almost always awake and moving somewhere around 5 am and seldom retire before midnight. I don't feel sleep deprived although the science says I should be!!

Personally, I love those early morning hours before the rest of my world starts moving. That's when I do most of my work - writing, designing/drafting, on the computer. And thinking/planning and drinking coffee - very important!! Once the rest of the world is up and about, I set out on any appointments I may have scheduled, trying to get to them in the earlier part of the day (doesn't always work with other folk's work schedules). Afternoons and evenings are MY time - this is when I garden, socialize, cook, read (if a rainy day or nothing else pressing) or sometimes sneak a nap. The joys of an afternoon nap cannot be overstated!

Late evening, if not out with family and friends, I am back at work. Not gardening - but planning someone else's garden. For some strange reason, I cannot seem to focus properly on landscape design or drafting during broad daylight and accomplish those tasks best very early in the day or very late. My days are long and usually quite full - no time to get bored.

How would I know if I was sleep-deprived? Are there obvious signs?

"How would I know if I was sleep-deprived? Are there obvious signs?"

When I was teaching, I sometimes fell asleep in an armchair after supper - definitely sleep deprived since I haven't done it since I stopped teaching. Now my job has no regular hours so I can go to sleep when I am tired and sleep until I am ready to wake up, though almost always before 7 AM. I love the flexibility.

Yes I think you would know if you were sleep deprived because your body would let you know. I have been a night owl since conception my mother told me so she knew because I kicked her all night,

I have a great group of friends we get together often. I absolutely have no desire to go back to work. I make the extra money being a landlord now. I will sell these properties soon because I am getting to old and my patience is getting thin. I will end up going to prison for the remainder of my retirement once they find the bodies buried in the back yard on the properties. The last one did not like the brand new cream carpet in the master bed room so she spray painted it red.

'scuse me?? They spray painted a white carpet red?? Who in their right mind would do that?!! In my book, that would be a perfect case of justifiable homicide - contact me if you need to weight the jury in your favor :-)) Hope you had a big damage deposit!!

As to the sleep deprivation thing, I don't feel overly tired during the day and I don't think I have any of the other common symptoms - not depressed, not eating randomly, fairly even tempered, not overly klutzy ( I have always been semi-klutzy :-)), pretty decent memory considering advancing age. I can and often do doze off a bit watching TV at night but only if I stretch out - if I sit up, not an issue. And the afternoon naps are very random and occur more often at this time of year when I can't be outside.

I think I just don't need as much sleep as is suggested I should be getting!

Yes gardengal spray painted. That is just one of many things renters do. I have been doing this for over 20 years and I am finding society is changing so much than years ago. People respected that it was not their property. I charge an extra month security but it is getting so bad half the time it is not enough to cover the damage. I am not a slum landlord these are middle class suburban houses.

I no longer do carpet the floors are now all. hardwood. Think that would not be a problem. WRONG. Stupid people decided they wanted dark wood floors and put white area rugs.

I have wage attachments on these "I want to change rental property" they learn with me you will pay for your wants but as I said I am tired of it now.