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Old Car Nut · 02-23-2015, 07:46 PM

Sorry for the loss of your friend Gary.

I have to agree retire as soon as you are able. I did at 54. DW had an issue two years ago that really put it all into perspective for us. It's corrected and shes fine now but it's a wakeup call.

I still find plenty to do and some of it's paid but it's on my terms and my schedule. We are going full time in a few months, just wrapping things with our S&B, selling off what can't go with us and GO!

Chase after your dreams
Leave no regrets
Reach for the brass ring
This life is NOT a test

Been my motto since I was 20.

slickest1 · 02-23-2015, 07:51 PM

Hey Gary sorry for your loss. It seems when you get this age the loss of a friend hits harder. I know the feeling.
I retired at 56, 10 years ago and we have done alot of things since then. I usually work part time but the winter is ours to travel. The summer is usually good for a trip as well.

My wife had a huge health scare and she was only 50 so it changed our way of thinking.

You offer great advice to all readers and I second that. Why wait for a health scare, you may not survive or if you do you may not be able to do the things you planned on.

Y Roadrunner · 02-23-2015, 08:01 PM

Sorry to hear about someone making their plans and not being able to live their dream.
Our children knew once they moved out, we were gone too. Sold our house and we were living in the RV at a local campground when my husband noticed chest pains walking the dog. He was 55. (Heart disease ran in the family) After by-pass surgery, we knew we had made the right decision. We have been workampers going on our second year now. Still too young for our retirement money or social security, so we work to pay for what we need. No, we are not wealthy but we get by and really enjoy our life. I will never own a house again!
Good luck to you and your future travels!

adamfolger · 02-23-2015, 08:03 PM

No amount of money can buy us time...We are all in a headlong rush to an appointed time and place. All of us have lost someone along the way and can empathize with Gary's loss. Some of us are on borrowed time and the only way to pay back, the debt of borrowed time, is to live every moment to the fullest...I have more friends and family who have passed on, than still living. When I see them again and they ask what took me so long...I hope to have many stories to tell!

LarrytheBear · 02-23-2015, 08:05 PM

I'm very sorry for the loss of your good friend. Thank you for sharing.

Dutch Star Don · 02-23-2015, 08:51 PM

Not everyone can afford to retire as young as they would like, but do it as soon as it's economically possible!

guardrail53 · 02-24-2015, 01:44 AM

Gary, sorry for your loss!
Your story really hit home! I too retired early, and am 61 now. I had planned to draw SS at 62, and continue living my dream! But I have had some second thought's about maybe waiting till 65, for the added money. And I even had thoughts about going back to work for a couple of years, to build the bank account back up where I like it to be!
But after hearing everyone's stories, and doing some hard thinking, screw it, 62 is it for me! I have already lived thru prostate cancer, and know one knows for sure when their time is up! I too had a buddy go way before his time, and his passing is one of the reason's I retired early! So, Everyone,, THANK YOU! Rail!

MSHappyCampers · 02-24-2015, 08:54 AM

Definitely something to think about! I sure wish I had retired many years earlier that I did! Nothing life-threatening right now, but I wasted a lot of years that we could have been enjoying the RV'ing lifestyle!

CampingCajun · 02-24-2015, 10:47 AM

Sorry for the loss of your friend. The reason we bought the MH 4 years ago was to get more use out of it before retirement. I had planned to work till about 63 or 64 yrs. old & then take several extended trips a year. The DW is 9 yrs younger than me but gets 6 weeks of vacation a year so that would have been perfect. As fate would have it I got laid off yesterday (oilfield related job plus the Company was purchased about a year ago & new owners are only concerned with the bottom line & have cut about 40% of the employees & still aren't done). I'll be 61 in Sept. but thankfully we have socked away as much as we could thru the years so everything should be fine with just the one income if I can't find work. Looks like we'll start the extended trips early. The only regret I have is putting off the things I/we wanted to do thinking we would do it later. Well, it's later now & there may not be enough time to do some of those things now. Time with family & friends is really priceless, enjoy while you can.

frankdamp · 02-24-2015, 11:33 AM

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I retired just before my 58th birthday, in 1998. It wasn't for medical reasons, though, I just got tired of the job and the company wouldn't find me an alternate. After 29 weeks out of the country in that final year, almost all the trips to, or in connection with, the Islamic world and none of them longer than 10 days, I'd had enough. I had over 600,000 frequent flier miles with 12 different airlines!

After about 5 years of not doing much, I went back to work for a couple of years as a bus driver for our county transit agency. That was different, but the early morning starts got to me.

Three years ago, on my regular morning walk with our two Labradors, I had to stop half way round my 30-minute loop to get my breath back. Back home, I made a doctor's appointment for the next morning and by 14:00 hrs that day I was on the operating table. An angioplasty with four stents fixed the problem and I've been fine since.

We've given up the RV life, though, due to the ever increasing costs. We sold the rig in early December last.

spsm · 02-24-2015, 11:53 AM

Are you serious,,,,,,,So sorry to hear something like that. We would like to think we have a lot of time, but one never knows. This is certainly a wake up call. Thanks for the reminder. Hit the road, we all need more fun. Money is nothing without health.

T Gibson · 02-24-2015, 11:59 AM

Gary sorry about your loss. I retired in Sept. 14' at 65. Its been quite an adjustment from the 14-15 hour days. I seem to have so much time to do things I could never have the time to do before! My DW will be retiring next June, teach me to rob the cradle. LOL. She is a school teacher and is off for the summer months, so our first trip is being planned right now for Alaska. Yahoo, one less thing on the bucket list. My Dad used to tell me "If you wake up on the right side of the grass its going to be a blessed day, make the most of it". Took me a while to understand what he meant but, I got it now.....

pop-sicle · 02-24-2015, 04:52 PM

Yup me and OP ( other person ) not ready to call her DW only been married 42 years come July will both retire in six weeks both same day, we will both be 62 both work for university of fl.
Read stories like this before and I have told people the most valuable possession you have is time.
We won't have a extravagant amount but my though is if you have enough why do you need more, so we bought our well used 2000 Mirada last Nov. going to Savannah first week off and just made reservations today for Balloon Fiesta in NM.

Wish good health, happiness to all and make sure you make good use of that valuable time.

TnT612 · 02-24-2015, 05:10 PM

Our deepest sympathy.
This thread has awakened many and help many to realize they made the right decision to grab life while we can. I too had a wake up call and decided to pull the trigger earlier than I thought I would.
I've always told some of my closest friends that we can always sit back and say "remember when" instead of sitting back and saying "I wish I would have done", whether it's due to finances or health. We only get one turn around the merry-go-round of life...enjoy the ride!
Continued good health to all and travel on