Community Chat

[Financialgrl]

I took very early retirement 12 years ago. If you believe you are set financially, make sure you have enough to keep busy. If you need/want a little extra to travel or whatever, you can usually find a part time situation to cover that. I do a lot of travelling and the one thing I find - most older people have said that they wished they'd done more when younger. Sadly by the time we have money to do what we want, healthwise we may not be able.

[Group 5 minus 1]

Thank you all for your replies. We have NO desire to travel. We like to stay home w/ our pets. We do not even eat out. We do keep busy out here in the woods. We tend to be loners. We would not turn some one away if they came to our door, but we are loners.

NutMeg: DH has a few months before he is eligible for Medicar,but we are looking at Cobra for him.

[goodstuff]

DH just retired earlier this year, and so far, so good. It sounds like you and your husband are doing exactly the kind of financial review and planning that will help you get set. Go over your financial accounts, retirement programs from work, health insurance options -- and do your best to have your mortgage and other debts paid off when you retire. Cobra should bridge the gap in health insurance if Medicare is just a few months away, but you also need to look at specific plans Medigap or Medicare Advantage that are available to supplement Medicare A and B. Also think and talk about things you and DH want to do (hobbies, travel, volunteer work, learning opportunities, etc.) in retirement.

Good luck! I think you'll enjoy retirement!

[RedTop]

Using the option of COBRA for your husbands health insurance until he is eligible for Medicare is a good idea. When I retired, I was covered for health insurance under my husbands disability with the VA. I used COBRA for my dental and vision for the full 18 months. Within a month of my retirement, my employer changed providers for dental and vision, and left me out of the loop. When the company informed me I had let my coverage lapse, I was able to prove it was not my fault, and get my coverage reinstated. When my COBRA coverage expired, I chose to get away from anything connected to my employer, and find my own private coverage.

[Nuttmeg]

https://www.benefitscheckup.org/ You can qualify for things, because you are 55 and up.

[hckynut]

On 11/4/2014 Bungo said:

DH has decided he really wants to retire. He is so serious he has set up a card table in the living room w/ all accounts,etc. Is there anything you would have done differently?

I had lots of hobbies and lots of interests in other parts of life to keep me busy during what time I had been spending working.

Don't get the "card table in the living room bit", but to each their own. While I didn't mind having to work for a living, it did take up a lot of time I could spend doing things that I enjoyed much more. However! If I wanted a future, which I did, kept working for the company for 33 years.

Not sure what suggestions you want, but I can tell you from my experiences and seeing what some of my male co-workers decided to do after retirement? I would do everything(that includes having many things completely unrelated to my occupation, job,)which allowed me to not be bored or feel like I needed another job, part time, just to be around people.

Retired in 1991 and no 1 single day since then have I regretted my decision to do so. How I retired as done by the company? I would love to be able to change the way they escorted myself and over 100 other long term retirees out the door. There was a buyout and in lieu of individual consulting with "stocks/401k's/life insurance and medical insurance, they had a 2 hour session with over 100 employees, many with their spouses, and that was not near enough for anyone to understand what all of this meant.

Other than that? I wish you well dealing with a retired husband. Many ladies like having their husbands around a lot, while some others? Not so much.

[Group 5 minus 1]

Card Table Bit: He has all our investment info,etc. He spends about 1 hour a day going over this. It's kinda like an office for retirement.

Not too worried about what he or we will do. He is very busy now and likes to do things at home. In 2001 when we put in our addition and he did all the plumbing, electrical, and heating.

We also just had insulation blown in our garage ceiling. The family room sits over the garage and the insulation makes that room so much warmer.

[gazelle77]

I find it interesting people always say....Keep Busy when you retire....I say WHY? I retired to not stay busy. I enjoy doing nothing, or going on a walk....I waited on customers for 24 years....so love No PEOPLE! To each his own.

[chrystaltree]

I'm about 15 years away from retirement, hubby too. We're going to work until we are 70 so we can maximize or SSA benefit. I believe in long term planning. We aren't the type to just decide "this ist" "let's retire". I do have a couple of older friends who are retired; one retired at 62 about 5 years ago; the other retired at 70, two years ago. Both my friends were career women who had great salaries and busy, fulfilling lives. But their careers were a huge part of their lives. They took care of themselves financially, money was not a problem for either woman but they both had a hard time the first two years of retirement. They were healthy, vibrant, intelligent women who suddenly found themselves with nothing to fill up the hours. That's my worry. I'll end up watching daytime tv or wandering around malls all day. So, I'll have to find some worthwhile charities or organizations that need volunteers. I might even take some writing classes and try my hand a writing a novel. I only know I have to have a firm plan in place before I say good-bye to the working world. My husband already knows that he will spend more time working with a couple of ministries in our church...and he'll play a lot of golf in good weather and ski more in the winter.

[hckynut]

On 11/6/2014 gazelle77 said: I find it interesting people always say....Keep Busy when you retire....I say WHY? I retired to not stay busy. I enjoy doing nothing, or going on a walk....I waited on customers for 24 years....so love No PEOPLE! To each his own.

And my answer is? Because it is more likely to keep the mind and the body operating at a sustainable level for a longer period of time. By "busy", that meaning to me is doing things I enjoy, some even love, to be doing.

Since every job I worked, except my paper route when I was 8 years old, I have always been an hourly worker and thus required to punch a time clock when coming in and a time clock at the end of my working hours. Just being removed from that one thing meant a whole lot to me. Free to do things on my own time and at my own pace without being concerned about not being late. I am a person that has and will always be seen as punctilious, more times than not preferring to be early as a just in case.

Busy/busier/busiest to me are all very subjective words. One can be "busy" going on a walk or just sitting on their rear thinking good thoughts. While people were not a part of my jobs, at least not the one I worked for 33 years, some do miss being around others, but that would not be me. I've always had contact with more than enough people outside of those connected to my occupation. One thing this retiree is not, in a loner, and for many reason other than human people being present.

You say WHY? And I explained my WHY.