what would you do if you retired?
 

i've been thinking about what id like to do if i was to one day give it all up and decide to retire/semi retire within the next ten years.

yes i do plan on retiring or semi retiring by the age of 40. i may stretch it to 45. but for me, id rather enjoy the rest of the ride instead of working my butt off till the end. so ive decided that 50 is too old to retire.

so basically this leaves me between 10 and 15 years to achieve my goals. it would mean that id retire when my kids are still in school and i can dedicate my time for them. ive always liked the idea of a stay at home dad, but i loathe the idea of sitting idle at home and doing nothing. theres only so much cleaning and cooking that you can do.

some days i want to just sell sea shells on the sea shore to gullible tourists. othertimes i just want to consult part time, other times, i want nothing to do with construction. sometimes i wake up and wish i could just do what i like doing most, travelling. though this won't work out if theres kids around with the whole idea of quality time with them.

just wanted to see other members' ideas on what they'd like to do and why they'd like to retire. if you have retired or about to retire, how old were you, why and what do you do now to fill the void?

my worst nightmare would be twiddling my thumbs watching TV as the clock ticked by

Travel and volunteer.

That was too easy.

I would give anything to be retired (note: retired!! NOT out of work lol) so that I could do all the genealogy research I need to do that has to be done during hours Im normally working. I have a BIG project I want to do for my county, and not being retired its going to require me to actually use vacation days to pursue it

I've already waited too long, I shoulda retired 15 years ago...so by now I'm not likely to retire within the next 5 years since I'm not wealthy enough and still have two boys at home (12 & 13yo).

When I do retire, I like to travel, explore, go fishing, play with cars, racing...interspersed with silly fun like building a tree house, and a large pond...I'll think of more. TV?...what's that? I doubt on average I watch more than a half hour of TV a week...though I do like to twiddle my thumbs real fast...here--I'm doing it right now, real fast...it feels like it might be good for maintaining manual dexterity. I can do it with my eyes closed...watch:

Since I just turned 56, this is question is quite relevant. What will I do? Who knows? I'll do what I want. I've always been one to take advantage of the moment. I'll probably continue to do that. What ever happens, happens. I'd like to retire at 62 and I still may. However, I'm not sure what my financial position will be in 6 years. Hopefully the 'correction' we're having now, will be behind us. Having no children at home, I'll probably still stay close to them, wherever they are. But also I realize that as a child of aging parents my duties will be to care for them, if they need it. I never realized how much of an issue that could be until that last few years. And our parents are not necessarily in poor health. But everyone ages, and with that process the inevitable occurs. So while I would love to travel the world, I also know that even in retirement I'll have family responsibilities that come first. So, I'm not making many plans for retirement. As John Lennon said "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. "

Live for today. Tomorrow is too far away.

ride my motorcycle through all 48 contiguous states and meet as many people as I could. then run for president.

I retired when I was 38 or so. I planned on just riding my bike and hanging out and travelling. Now I`m travvelling. Its weird, once you retire, you almost have "too much" time, and can drive you a bit nuts. I can now understand why old guys keep working.

Travel. With my camera. Write. Read. Sleep.

I'm with skizziks, though I retired last year at 44. I find myself looking for things to occupy my time. Travels good, though it would be nice if the econ turned around a little as I'd have more $ for more treks. An odd job and volunteering keeps me from going to far off the grid.

If you need a VP, I volunteer. :thumbsup: Willravel: better than Palin!

I'd like to teach when I retire.

Back to building racecars, one car at a time. I'd take on only the jobs I wanted, and tell them they're not getting it back until I say its done, however long that may be. It'd give me some supplemental income, I'd be doing what I love, and everything would leave perfect.

Don't think you're not on the list bud.

Write freely; not on deadline. I'd probably see more plays, read more, drink more, discuss more.

Life is tiresome and often exhausting. Retirement would leave me time to enjoy the things I love now, but are forced to forget about.

golf...

Read
Volunteer a little
Travel
Catch up on things I've been meaning to do
Learn how to be a better friend, have more friendships.
Party/drink a little at bars
Go to the beach
Forget about time
Ride bikes, kayak, run, hike, exercise
Relax

Putter around the house. Yell at kids to get off of my lawn. Collect bolts and keep them in containers according to size. Have lengthy discussions with telemarketers. Torment my wife.

We were lucky enough to retire at 42 (now 48). We worked far too hard in the 1980s and stress took it's toll in the 90's but we managed to put enough in the pension pot to escape the rat race early. Not easy though. Anyone who wants to retire early needs to start saving and investing when they are 20. It's surprising how much you need.

So what do we do? Well we have two kids under seven years old and they keep us pretty busy. Never seems to be enough time. You've heard the expression "work expands to fill the time available", well it's the same with "life". Some weeks I don't know how we ever found time to got to work. Travel? Yes we do that but we're limited to school holidays mostly. We built our own house and there's still plenty of work to to to finish that.

I retired at the ripe old age of 26.
Did the travel thing. Mexico, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Philippines, Florida, Bahamas.
Got sick of sitting around on the beach doing nothing.

Went back home - re-opened up new office, had first kid.
Now I teach others how to retire earlier, and help others to build their businesses.
I also am just sitting by my computer watching my 4 month old son sleep peacefully away.
Life is good.

I've noticed quite a few other TFP'ers retired early as well. What was your secret?
I made my first million at 26, marketing and teaching financial structures. Now I just teach for free since I've got no other skills and have enough money :P

I will probably retire from this career within 10 years. The idea (which will probably happen) is that I will have enough saved to never work again, but I know myself well enough to know that won't happen. I'll either consult in the industry (doubtful) or do something completely different. But if I don't have a job, I'll drive myself nuts.

I would take up Skydiving!!! And BASE jumping... Possibly get into wood working and crafting. And do a sort of build my own furniture type thing.

I'd join the Peace Corps.

my plans would be similar, but I'd skip the presidential run and would try to visit every country on earth

merlocke - maybe you should give us all a few lessons! i know a lot of people would benefit from what you have to say. pro bono is always good!

The title of this thread seems to assume that I could possibly never retire. Scary.

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I'd do the motorcycle tour of the US thing. With DKSuddeth. It'd totally be a modern sitcom. The gun-toting stereotype and the gun-toting "liberal."

Get into metal sculpture. I'd love to put together big monsters out of scrap metal with welding equipment.

Gunsmithing. I've got some easy-to-do designs I'd like to try out.

Do some of the crazy man-against-wild stuff I've dreamed up.

Get a greenhouse and figure out how the food chain really work.

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Retirement day plan?

Fill the bathtub up with chocolate pudding and dive in naked... only to be discovered by my shocked partner.

When asked what the hell I am doing, I will reply with a sultry: "I'm your snack pack."
-----Added 6/11/2008 at 07 : 20 : 21-----
Do you already engage in said activity?

Have you achieved retirement?

You have?

You're a success story!

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I wanna be like Uncle Phil when I retire.

i don't quite know how to respond to this...

thanks, cromp...

move to vegas and just loiter!!!!

I would probably read a lot. I wish that spring or early fall could last year round in NYC, because there are few things that I find more relaxing and enjoyable than reading while sitting on a park bench in NYC. I like those chess tables a few strides from the Brooklyn Bridge/city hall 4,5,6 station. Heh, maybe I'd learn to play chess and challenge the youngsters.

I would travel and do a lot of reading. Once I got the travel bug out of me I would buy a small farm to keep busy. I've always wanted to have a farm-produce only, animals require too much work! The idea of getting back in synch with nature and the seasons after living and working in the city for so long appeals to me. I would try and specialize in some type of organic crop and it would be more of a hobby than a way of paying the bills.

I would do a lot of reading. I'd also like to open a small cafe on a quiet street. I'd bake excellent pastries and serve the best coffee ever.

I'd love to teach, I already do it now for free anyway - when money doesn't matter anymore you stop getting biased answers from planners who are forced to sell product where they hang their license.

I'll setup a "Million Dollar Gameplan" and go step by step to show people methods to get out of the rat race, but there's a LOT of reading involved. First Step: Reading Rich Dad Poor Dad - by Robert Kiyosaki.

ive read rich dad poor dad many years ago now (maybe 8 or 9 years?). i thought it was a sound book.

how LOT is a LOT?