Thinking about retirement?

[Timcognito]

But how liquid are those bonds? I understand that a recent trend is sale of private equity and certain types of bonds to individuals and retirement funds, even though they may be relatively illiquid.

They mix of bonds and mostly bond funds, mostly in IRAs which can be traded without current tax consequences.

 

[raif71]

I'm sitting here at 2:23am on a Saturday morning, trying to reverse out of an IT change we started at 9pm on Friday night. I'd like to retire please.

 

[JeffS7444]

I'm sitting here at 2:23am on a Saturday morning, trying to reverse out of an IT change we started at 9pm on Friday night. I'd like to retire please.

Got Veeam? I came to freaking adore that thing.

 

[JeffS7444]

I don't know if it was a blessing or a curse that my EE curriculum -in the 1970s- did not impose too many liberal-arts or economics (financial) studies/credits to graduate.

In that era, we were too naive to realize that our schooling was turning us into engineering geeks, rather than responsible social-warriors or a market-marvels.
*You had to work grunt jobs to pay for your degree.
*Paying for your own education meant class-attendance and crunching for GPA.
*We just did not have the luxury of time to spend it boycotting or having intellectual discussions, in the courtyard.

I have great respect for those who became diversified enough to be able to reinvent themselves; mid-career.

But sparkies rule!

Schooling, family, and friends were mostly about "study hard, get good grades, get a good job". If they didn't teach me to think like the 1%, it's probably because they didn't know this stuff either. Perhaps the #1 most important tool in my education has been a desire to learn, plus a library card. I'm surrounded by people, many of whom are better-educated, and who may very well have a higher IQ than myself, but they cling to old habits.

 

[Ken1951]

Oh, that article is so much me. My FA keeps telling us we need to spend more.

We're trying - for our 40th we booked a hotel 3x the rate of anything we have ever stayed in before - but it is still a drop in the ocean.

On our trip to France next month we're treating ourselves. Not spending crazily, but flying first-class/business and staying in very nice hotels throughout our trip - not the Ritz, but very nice. Also have very nice guides to museums and on the last day going birding out of Arles to the Camargue. Not interested in Michelin eating. We'll enjoy the trip and aren't overly concerning ourselves with the cost. It's going to be a memorable trip.

 

[Berwhale]

Got Veeam? I came to freaking adore that thing.

Veeam wouldn't help with a complex load balancer migration.

 

[Haskil]

I retired 11 years ago, as soon as I could, no longer wanting to work, even though I was lucky enough to have a particularly successful professional career. But I continue to write a few articles on classical music for magazines and a British website that has a French edition.

I live in France, so my pension is good, commensurate with the 42 years during which I financed the monthly retirement of those who were just retired: it's the famous pay-as-you-go system, so different from the funded system.

I own my house. I don't pay off any mortgages. I have savings that allow me to travel as I please and indulge in my passions: music, reading, hi-fi, friends, fine wines, gardening... all while gazing with dismay at the state of the world and the intellectual and moral impoverishment of a few great heads of state from East to West and North to South. I have never regretted leaving my job to retire.

 

[rkbates]

There hasn't been a lot of discussion in this thread about the importance of mental stimulation - genuine mental challenges if possible. I am still consulting one day a week to continually push the grey matter. Sometimes it's hard to squeeze in a whole day in the mix of motorcycles, pushbikes, travelling and music. I am a big fan of Dan Pink's theory of mastery + autonomy + purpose. I believe this applies to both work and retirement.

 

[Todd k]

The answer to that is easy. Not retireing is worse.

Retirement is amazing. Getting up every morning - what shall I do today? Whatever the hell I want.

That’s exactly what I say every morning. Best job ever is not having one if u can swing it.

 

[Mart68]

Some Larkin is appropriate to this thread (I think)


'Toads'

Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life?
Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off?

Six days of the week it soils
With its sickening poison —
Just for paying a few bills!
That’s out of proportion.

Lots of folk live on their wits:
Lecturers, lispers,
Losels, loblolly-men, louts —
They don’t end as paupers;

Lots of folk live up lanes
With fires in a bucket,
Eat windfalls and tinned sardines —
they seem to like it.

Their nippers have got bare feet,
Their unspeakable wives
Are skinny as whippets — and yet
No one actually starves.

Ah, were I courageous enough
To shout Stuff your pension!
But I know, all too well, that’s the stuff
That dreams are made on:

For something sufficiently toad-like
Squats in me, too;
Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck,
And cold as snow,

And will never allow me to blarney
My way of getting
The fame and the girl and the money
All at one sitting.

I don’t say, one bodies the other
One’s spiritual truth;
But I do say it’s hard to lose either,
When you have both.

 

[TechLvr2]

I don't know what's worse - retiring or not. Both are not that exciting options.

I guess I am one of the people that really don't age well.

I retired at 57 and now I'm a US expat living in Portugal living the dream with no debt, low cost of living and very, very high quality of life. If you aren't excited about retiring, perhaps try flipping the table and moving abroad for a new life and a new perspective. No regrets.

 

[ahofer]

Oh, that article is so much me. My FA keeps telling us we need to spend more.

We're trying - for our 40th we booked a hotel 3x the rate of anything we have ever stayed in before - but it is still a drop in the ocean.

Well, better than the alternative.

 

[ahofer]

Really? Here's a partial list of threads I started in another forum that I enumerated here a little time back. Many hours spent on some of them (particularly demastering...well over 10K hours). I spend a bit more time enjoying the fruits of these labors nowadays (listening and home theater) than I did before getting all these subjects under my belt:

Survey results of forum member listening room sizes: https://community.klipsch.com/index...om-sizes/page/3/&tab=comments#comment-2038465

How to use Room EQ Wizard to set up DSP crossovers: https://community.klipsch.com/index...ew-to-find-parametric-equalizer-peq-settings/, and https://community.klipsch.com/index...rew-to-determine-time-delays-between-drivers/

DSP crossover FAQ: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?topic/117543-active-bi-ampingtri-amping-faq/

Corner Horn Imaging FAQ: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/131163-corner-horn-imaging-faq/

Why Horn-Loaded Sounds Better Than Direct Radiating: https://community.klipsch.com/index...aded-sounds-better-than-direct-radiating-faq/

K-402-based Multiple Entry Horn (MEH): https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/161404-a-k-402-based-full-range-multiple-entry-horn/

How to Demaster your Own Stereo Music Tracks Using Audacity: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/155096-the-missing-octaves-audacity-remastering-to-restore-tracks/

The Historical Loudness War Effects on CDs and LPs: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/143320-loudness-war-and-the-dynamic-range-dr-database-some-observations/

Subconscious Listening Effect of Linear Phase Loudspeakers Having Full Range Directivity (and How To Achieve Linear Phase Without FIR Filters): https://community.klipsch.com/index...y-effects-of-quasi-linear-phase-loudspeakers/

Understanding the effects of "minimum phase" loudspeakers in real listening rooms: https://community.klipsch.com/index...ld-you-explain-minimum-phase-analysis-please/

Review and Discussion of Floyd Toole's 3rd Ed. book: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/172272-review-and-discussion-of-tooles-book-third-ed/

Chris

I get it, but I spend a lot more time on the music than the tech. I’m not saying that the way subjectivists do, just an observation. My time on here is the entirety of my gear/audio science thoughts these days, and likely will be unless I need to replace something. But I listen to music constantly and go to concerts a couple of times a week.

 

[ahofer]

I retired at 57 and now I'm a US expat living in Portugal living the dream with no debt, low cost of living and very, very high quality of life. If you aren't excited about retiring, perhaps try flipping the table and moving abroad for a new life and a new perspective. No regrets.

My cousin did that. He loves it.

 

[Snarfie]

I retired at 57 and now I'm a US expat living in Portugal living the dream with no debt, low cost of living and very, very high quality of life. If you aren't excited about retiring, perhaps try flipping the table and moving abroad for a new life and a new perspective. No regrets.

Sounds awesome! I know some folks an family who did the same moved to Spain, Portugal, France. Most loved it, but most came back to Holland later on when health stuff got tricky or because they never really got the hang of the language. Definitely cool if it works out though!

 

[TechLvr2]

Sounds awesome! I know some folks an family who did the same moved to Spain, Portugal, France. Most loved it, but most came back to Holland later on when health stuff got tricky or because they never really got the hang of the language. Definitely cool if it works out though!

Yes, the language had been a challenge. 50%-ish also speak English but not knowing the language is no way to live. We have language classes starting next month. Hopefully we'll get the hang of hearing it better, if you know what I mean.

 

[xanalog]

Why would I remember this?

"I went to college,
Mastered Fortran Seven,
Now, I got a job that sucks,
Seventies sure seemed like heaven!"

I think it goes back to my first job, after college, written in some bathroom stall!

OT: per Gemini, the above is a 'rhythmic-quatrain poem, which supposed to be a 4-line stanza (bit comedic, w/a modern feel).'

 

[PristineSound]

I retired 11 years ago, as soon as I could, no longer wanting to work, even though I was lucky enough to have a particularly successful professional career. But I continue to write a few articles on classical music for magazines and a British website that has a French edition.

I live in France, so my pension is good, commensurate with the 42 years during which I financed the monthly retirement of those who were just retired: it's the famous pay-as-you-go system, so different from the funded system.

I own my house. I don't pay off any mortgages. I have savings that allow me to travel as I please and indulge in my passions: music, reading, hi-fi, friends, fine wines, gardening... all while gazing with dismay at the state of the world and the intellectual and moral impoverishment of a few great heads of state from East to West and North to South. I have never regretted leaving my job to retire.

Off topic, I am in Paris right now. I am loving the history of Paris. But the lack of widespread air conditioning, is killing me. I am suffering from heat exhaustion, headache, fatigue, light headedness and all that.

How do you French do it with no air conditioning!

 

[Salt]

Yes, the language had been a challenge. 50%-ish also speak English but not knowing the language is no way to live. We have language classes starting next month. Hopefully we'll get the hang of hearing it better, if you know what I mean.

Portuguese language sounds to our ears like Spanish mixed up with Netherland language ... @Snarfie should get along with it easily

 

[Chr1]

Trouble is that as we get older, it gets harder to learn new languages.

Swings and roundabouts, as to when/where best to retire, I reckon.

As early as possible.
Possible being super vague however.