Keep busy in retirement-Hypothetical

[HunterDave]

I retired from the Military at 46 after 27 years with a pension, now 62, and haven't had a real job since. When I retired I had no debt and a very small amount on my mortgage. My Wife had a decent job as well. Financially we had no worries.

I had no plan for working and occupied my time doing my own renovations and tinkering around the house. The following year we put a trailer out at an RV resort at the lake and when the owner saw that I was pretty handy he hired me on as a handyman. It was perfect, like tinkering around but getting paid for it. One day a resident asked me to build a deck for them. Apparently the job was too small for a contractor to travel the distance to do it. I had found a niche!

That one deck grew from building decks in the campground to cabins around the lake and then to residences at their homes in the city. As demand for decks, stairs, piers, etc started to grow, I had to quit as a handyman and became a full time carpenter. There was no shortage of work and initially I only took on what I could manage but finally I had to hire people to help me.

My initial niche evolved into other niches such as landscaping and laying sod on new lots in a campground, putting in and taking out piers and boat lifts......pretty much anything that people needed help with.

All the while I never passed on an opportunity to make a few bucks. One time I found a great deal on a boat lift that I knew that I could easily flip and make $500. I bought it one night and sold it the next day.

Those were my summers but I found winters very long and boring. I found another niche on ebay buying and selling collectibles but while it occupied my time, it didn't generate a lot of revenue. Finally, I took up trapping. I now trap full time October to May and absolutely love it.

Now a days I stopped doing landscaping and refer everyone to a young fella that I know. I also slowed down on building decks and going golfing is my priority now. Eventually I'll stop building decks, etc and trap full time in the winter and take the summers off to golf.

I think that I may have been somewhat lucky with everything somewhat falling into my lap but I did find those niches and took advantage of them.
Never pass an opportunity to make money is my motto.

Good luck......hypothetically speaking.

[liar]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

I retired from the Military at 46 after 27 years with a pension, now 62, and haven't had a real job since. When I retired I had no debt and a very small amount on my mortgage. My Wife had a decent job as well. Financially we had no worries.

I had no plan for working and occupied my time doing my own renovations and tinkering around the house. The following year we put a trailer out at an RV resort at the lake and when the owner saw that I was pretty handy he hired me on as a handyman. It was perfect, like tinkering around but getting paid for it. One day a resident asked me to build a deck for them. Apparently the job was too small for a contractor to travel the distance to do it. I had found a niche!

That one deck grew from building decks in the campground to cabins around the lake and then to residences at their homes in the city. As demand for decks, stairs, piers, etc started to grow, I had to quit as a handyman and became a full time carpenter. There was no shortage of work and initially I only took on what I could manage but finally I had to hire people to help me.

My initial niche evolved into other niches such as landscaping and laying sod on new lots in a campground, putting in and taking out piers and boat lifts......pretty much anything that people needed help with.

All the while I never passed on an opportunity to make a few bucks. One time I found a great deal on a boat lift that I knew that I could easily flip and make $500. I bought it one night and sold it the next day.

Those were my summers but I found winters very long and boring. I found another niche on ebay buying and selling collectibles but while it occupied my time, it didn't generate a lot of revenue. Finally, I took up trapping. I now trap full time October to May and absolutely love it.

Now a days I stopped doing landscaping and refer everyone to a young fella that I know. I also slowed down on building decks and going golfing is my priority now. Eventually I'll stop building decks, etc and trap full time in the winter and take the summers off to golf.

I think that I may have been somewhat lucky with everything somewhat falling into my lap but I did find those niches and took advantage of them.
Never pass an opportunity to make money is my motto.

Good luck......hypothetically speaking.

you've got life figured out . thanks for sharing and thank you for your service .

[3blade]

Originally Posted by crazy_davey

It took you ten years to get your first elk on the ground. I think your wife will have all the free time she wants.

Lol...it was 11.

I have the same chat with a college who is a lifelong workaholic. He’s in his 60s, “I don’t know what I’d do if I retire” seriously??? Man I’m 24 years away from retirement and I could fill up every day between now and then without thinking hard

[crazy_davey]

Originally Posted by 3blade

Lol...it was 11.

I have the same chat with a college who is a lifelong workaholic. He’s in his 60s, “I don’t know what I’d do if I retire” seriously??? Man I’m 24 years away from retirement and I could fill up every day between now and then without thinking hard

[waldedw]

Sometimes life dictates how you spend your retirement years.

I had my own retirement plans, in 1998 at age 44 I was debt free, working overseas, kids out of the house ( yes we had kids early in life ) 1 was still in U of A until 2001 so a dependant. Wife moved overseas with me and we lived in Kyrgyzstan for 5 years, moved back in 2004 but I kept working there on a rotational basis 28 / 28 until 2008.

In 2008 at age 55 I packed in the overseas gigs, started my own little consulting company worked about 100 - 125 days a year, had lot's projects to pick and choose from and lot's of contacts from my overseas days, life was really good.

We bought a house in Arizona in 2009 when their market was slumping and our $$ was strong, spent 5 months a year in the south, I worked from home anyway and had an airport 15 minutes away it worked great, nothing changed work wise for me and wifey was happy.

In 2015 at age 61 life was just rolling along, then bang the bomb shell hit. I had been feeling a little off, tired and draggy, didn't think much about it for a while, I was due for a medical so booked a complete physical, you know rubber glove, blood work etc. 2 days later doctors office is calling me, need to see me ASAP to redo some tests 10 days later diagnosed with CLL ( Chronic Lyphocritic leukemia ) The whole range of emotions, why me, no this can't be true, angry, sad... lasted about 2 days, I then thought hey bud get with the program this isn't helping you, hardest conversation I ever had with my kids.

Nothing really changed for a couple years, regular blood tests, meet with hematologist at the cross cancer institute every 3 months, winters in AZ but blood tests slowly getting worse, Dec 2018 flared up big time booked into the cross for Jan 7 / 2019 to start final baseline testing and set up treatment regime.

In the past year I have made 19 trips and logged 11,000 KM running back and forth to Edmonton, got set up on a treatment program, so far so good, side effects not bad and meds seem to be working, on a new target specific drug just approved in Canada in 2018.

I shut the company down a couple years ago and we just sold the house in Arizona about 8 months ago. Medical insurance for me in the US is non existent while I am being treated, and I am told i'll never get off the drugs completely.

My attitude has always been is that it is what it is, I don't want CLL and didn't choose CLL but it chose me, there is nothing I can do but listen to my doctors and hope they know what they are doing, take my meds and fight like hell, it is now a part of my every day retirement life.

I am not looking for sympathy and my point is i'm glad I didn't wait until I was 65 to start enjoying the fruits of my labor, we had 10 great winters in Arizona, I still spend 4 or 5 weeks in the fall hunting, shoot thousands of rounds in the gopher pastures as well as competitive trap shoot all summer.

Instead of golfing in AZ in the winter I reload shotgun shells, go for coffee, and chase the grandchildren around to hockey arenas and volleyball courts, and yes I still make trips to the Cross in Edmonton every 28 days so I never get bored.

Yes life is still good............it's just different, enjoy and cherish every day.

Sorry for being long winded, you guys take care and be safe.
Ed

[Homesteader]

You rock Ed. Giver hell buddy!!

[warriorboy10]

Originally Posted by Homesteader

You rock Ed. Giver hell buddy!!

No doubt!

We never know when our time becomes limited, doesn’t matter new born, 100 or in between..

[W921]

If you love what you do its not work.
There is so much that I love to do.
One of my biggest fears is not being physically able anymore to do what I love. Its just not an option.

About dept. I don't think its always bad as long as what you own could be liquidated or is worth more than what you owe on it. After awhile you just get used to it and you don't worry so much about it. Its just part of the game. You can't play without dept or most normal people can't.
I'm talking about business dept.