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Old 09-28-2015, 02:41 PM   #21
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I'm 61 now and I'm amazed at the number of responses from people younger that me that are retired or living the dream at a younger age. Good for you!!

From the last that I heard, the average of all 401K accounts is about $67,000 and that 75% of baby boomers still don't even have one!!! So most of the baby boomers I know are working until they are 66, the age to get full Social Security and Medicare at 65. Sad if you ask me.

But so glad there are those on this forum that are doing very well!!

Pirate
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Old 09-28-2015, 03:00 PM   #22
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I'm 61 now and I'm amazed at the number of responses from people younger that me that are retired or living the dream at a younger age. Good for you!!

From the last that I heard, the average of all 401K accounts is about $67,000 and that 75% of baby boomers still don't even have one!!! So most of the baby boomers I know are working until they are 66, the age to get full Social Security and Medicare at 65. Sad if you ask me.

But so glad there are those on this forum that are doing very well!!

Pirate
401k's are a crap shoot for us younger folks. I didn't get mine started until a bit later, so not as much time to get things built up. My lovely bride had one, but also had a defined benefit retirement plan. Both got kicked to the curb when her company went bankrupt, not once but twice in a 5 year period. She lost well over $100,000 in retirement benefits and savings. Illegal and immoral, but at least she kept her job.

For much of my early working life I was not making much over minimum wage and supporting a wife and two children. That one ended in divorce, which is hell on the financial statements.

We do well for ourselves now and have retirement plans, but it is hard to foresee things like bankruptcies, bank failures and stock market shenanigans.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men...

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Old 09-28-2015, 03:41 PM   #23
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Hey rcharrette, Do you have any problem renting your house for the short term? Ever have any tenant issues?
-Jeff
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Old 09-28-2015, 05:33 PM   #24
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I don't do a darn thing. I just RV to my heart's content and let the good people of the State of AZ pay for it all (I'm a retired LEO). Thank you AZ.
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Old 09-28-2015, 05:35 PM   #25
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We've had our house on VRBO and AirB&B for a few years now. We try to rent more long term now, 1 month or more simply because cleaning and getting out of our house is a bit of a chore! To answer your question though, no we have never had an issue with damage or neglect to our house. A lot of people ask us that very question and I always say if that is your first question then this life style may not be for you. Our house is simply a box to us, we have no emotional attachment to it and it serves as a great income source for us to travel.
Like WahooNC said, a 20 year job with a company and set retirement is a thing of the past. My wife was with IBM for 15 years then got laid off. Heck, even the military is not a guaranteed 20 year career anymore. Top that with my family history of folk dropping dead of heart attacks in their 60-70's and I'll enjoy my life now while I'm young healthy and ALIVE thank you!
Not to say we are not saving for the future, we are but not in the traditional way of working in the "cube" until 55 or 60 then "living".
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Old 09-28-2015, 05:37 PM   #26
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I don't do a darn thing. I just RV to my heart's content and let the good people of the State of AZ pay for it all (I'm a retired LEO). Thank you AZ.

Great retirement plan we have from PSPRS, even when the raises are held a year.
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Old 09-29-2015, 09:45 AM   #27
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[QUOTE=rcharrette;32522]...Heck, even the military is not a guaranteed 20 year career anymore.../QUOTE]

Very true...everything is about timing in the military now. I have plenty of friends that came in when I did and are now in the private sector, not by choice. The military has made it a game when looking at timing and career. While I have not made the best career moves, I have taken some non-ideal jobs that bridged the timing gap and has allowed me to stay in...while others have followed the "ideal path" and have found themselves out...

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Old 09-29-2015, 03:24 PM   #28
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Retirement Plan???

Yea, I've had a couple of those...
The first one sent 4 daughters to college, used the second one to buy my wife a business, they say the third time is a charm.
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Old 09-29-2015, 03:29 PM   #29
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Retirement Plan???
Wait a minute... there was supposed to be a plan??!!??
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Old 09-29-2015, 03:30 PM   #30
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- 24 years in the USN as a crew chief on H-53 helicopters. That retirement pays for our log home and 40 acres.
- 100% VA disability. That pays for 2011 F-350, the Voltage 3950 and diesel fuel for trips and camp grounds.
- Working full time since 1996 (when I retired from Navy) as an electronics contractor to the Navy. That, along with wife's bar tender job pays for everything else in life (adult beverages and toys!).
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Old 09-29-2015, 10:28 PM   #31
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I am a millwright for a large plywood factory. To give you an idea how much plywood we manufacture, we supply 75% of the plywood used in the RV and Marine industry. Chances are really good the plywood in your RV's came from my factory. As a millwright I'm pretty much a jack of all trades. Fabricate, install, maintain, repair anything that has anything to do with our facility. The only thing I don't do is electrical work. Other than that, mechanics, hydraulics, plumbing, welding, fabrication, construction, fire sprinkler system maint. I pretty much cover it all. I'm 36 years old, been doing this for 10 years. I work 12 hour night shifts, 3 days on and 3 days off. Before that I was a firefighter and auto-mechanic.
I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna do this for the next 30 years till I retire, but I'm not sure what else I want to do. I'm getting tired of crawling in the greasy, dusty, dirty, armpit of a sawmill for 12 hours a night. Considering buying my way into the local Snapon franchise because the guy that currently does it is looking to get out.

My wife is a Radiology Technician and has been for about 12 years. She does general X-ray and sometimes mammography when they are short handed.
She is also 36.
We live in northwestern Montana and are very lucky to have the jobs we have. The average household income here is only 35-40K per year and it is very expensive to live here. Between my wife and I we are lucky to more than double the average household income but we still aren't living high on the hog by any means. We have two sons, a 5 year old and an 8 year old.
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Old 09-29-2015, 11:06 PM   #32
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- 24 years in the USN as a crew chief on H-53 helicopters. That retirement pays for our log home and 40 acres.
- 100% VA disability. That pays for 2011 F-350, the Voltage 3950 and diesel fuel for trips and camp grounds.
- Working full time since 1996 (when I retired from Navy) as an electronics contractor to the Navy. That, along with wife's bar tender job pays for everything else in life (adult beverages and toys!).
I don't want to start nothing but you're 100% disabled AND working full time? I thought 100% disabled means a person is unable to work or do much else for that matter. I'd say it's none of my business but since you went public, and I'm a taxpayer, it got my attention.
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Old 09-29-2015, 11:45 PM   #33
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I don't want to start nothing but you're 100% disabled AND working full time? I thought 100% disabled means a person is unable to work or do much else for that matter. I'd say it's none of my business but since you went public, and I'm a taxpayer, it got my attention.
Yes, as a taxpayer, I would have hoped that it should have got your attention. But in order to not hijack this thread, I will send you a PM to explain it. For those that I don't PM, there is two kinds of 100% disabled under the U.S. VA rules, I am in no way defrauding the U.S. taxpayers (and no, I do not think that is at all what was implied).
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Old 09-30-2015, 03:23 AM   #34
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- 24 years in the USN as a crew chief on H-53 helicopters. That retirement pays for our log home and 40 acres.
- 100% VA disability. That pays for 2011 F-350, the Voltage 3950 and diesel fuel for trips and camp grounds.
- Working full time since 1996 (when I retired from Navy) as an electronics contractor to the Navy. That, along with wife's bar tender job pays for everything else in life (adult beverages and toys!).
Thom, HH-60 Flight Engineer... Been to all the deserts and crazy places this world can offer... Glad my wife was able to "retire" me early. I understand the disability... LOL
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Old 09-30-2015, 03:33 AM   #35
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Well, I'm inactive USAF for a few more years, left Active duty after 10 did active reserves for 2 and tried the oil industry for a couple more before my wife had enough of my schedule and "retired" me. Fortunately she's got the real brains and is an exec at a large bank here in San Antonio. Long story short I homeschool our kindergartener, drive our RV around to new places and pretty much act as Mr. Mom with everything else. We love to travel (she's military brat, and well I already said what I did) so we have the itch. Our long term goal is to live on a 45-55' sailboat so we thought this might be a good start (we are taking sailing classes and also sail several times a year). Went from truck camper to this beast in June and have almost lived in it full-time... just signed 1 yr lease on our house (we're committed now) and are really full-time now. Had been doing AbNB as well this summer to see what we wanted to do, it was really too much house and property for the three of us, especially since we travel so much here and internationally so the year lease is great. Life is good!
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Old 09-30-2015, 03:48 AM   #36
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It appears that a lot of us were civil servants (either military, law enforcement, or other state/federal service)... and then out of that, many of us aviation related.

For me it was 8 years USMC, and then 23 more in the FAA... which allowed me to retire & draw a pretty good pension at age 50. Now that I've had a few years off, I've been thinking of looking into going back to the academy as an instructor... or maybe trying to find some part-time ATC work in a contract tower, but those positions in a nice location are rare.

Until then, I guess I'll just keep relaxing and having fun on my own time.
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Old 09-30-2015, 09:51 AM   #37
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I was USN... for two weeks.

I signed up, they sent me to San Diego. They pulled me out of morning formation and told me that a medical waiver had been turned over and I as going home.

So I have spent the rest of my working life in construction, someone has to build the stuff.

Aaron
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Old 09-30-2015, 10:43 AM   #38
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I started early in life, I am 44 and have been working for 28 years. I am a Carpenter by trade and I have built everything you can imagine in a home. I started as a laborer and have worked my way up through the fields. Now I am a VP of a restoration company, managing a 10+ million dollar division restoring homes after chaos. Now I enjoy working with steel and fiberglass, customizing cars and motorcycles when I do get free time (not often any more). Only to satisfy my need to create (or as the wife would say, I'm just never satisfied!). Started painting cars and bikes as well. We have 5 kids between the two of us and we are now empty nesters. My wife just stopped working a few months ago and she takes care of the house and me when she gets time . When not working or playing with our toys, we try to chase the NHRA up and down the east coast, otherwise camp when we can't get to a race.

Hoping to retire within the next 15 years, we will see where life takes us!
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Old 10-05-2015, 06:25 PM   #39
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I cover two of the popular employment areas...LOL
I work in international heavy construction and between those assignments I am a commercial pilot.
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Old 10-06-2015, 01:58 AM   #40
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Sit back and collect my pension after 31 1/2 years in the shipping industry, dividends from investments and my geezers pension from the feds.

I have two goals in life, 1 - spend my kids inheritance. 2 - have the last check I write bounce.
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