Calling Net54 Retirees....tell us how Retirement has influenced your hobby activities

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Yeah...try putting a kid through an Ivy grad school while paying for your own health insurance and working no-benefit jobs, then tell me about nickel and dime savings again.

Is the Ivy grad school going to pay off? If so that money isn't lost. Tell your kid it's a zero interest loan that he can pay back, over time, when he's on his feet. If it isn't going to pay off (like, if he/she is a philosophy major) then why are you wasting your money? Let him/her put himself/herself through a cheaper school.

When I was in my mid 30s in 1994, my baseball card business died with the player strike. The only job I could find was making plastic bags for $6.00 an hour in a small factory in my rural area. I spent almost 4 years there, eventually moving into the office, but never making more than $9.85 an hour.

As soon as I took that job, I enrolled in the local community college and took computer classes. I knew nothing about computers before that. I spent 8 hours a day on my feet, pulling bags of that screaming, antiquated machine, fanning them so the melted seals didn't stick together, boxing them, over and over, and then went to class smelling of plastic. I took school more seriously than anybody; I bought the compiler (Pascal) for $50 (more than a full day's pay) and worked with it almost every minute I wasn't at work, in school, or asleep. After acing several classes I got into a grad program in computer science, worked and studied my tail off, and got a job with a Fortune 200 company 2 weeks after my 40th birthday. Salaried at $45,000, it was the first decent "real" job I ever had.

Just saying, you can be positive about your future and life in general, or you can be pessimistic. If you are pessimistic, you will not likely be successful because in your mind, failure is your expectation and that's what your outcome will be.

You control your life. People come to this country with nothing and succeed every day.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Is the Ivy grad school going to pay off? If so that money isn't lost. Tell your kid it's a zero interest loan that he can pay back, over time, when he's on his feet. If it isn't going to pay off (like, if he/she is a philosophy major) then why are you wasting your money? Let him/her put himself/herself through a cheaper school.

When I was in my mid 30s in 1994, my baseball card business died with the player strike. The only job I could find was making plastic bags for $6.00 an hour in a small factory in my rural area. I spent almost 4 years there, eventually moving into the office, but never making more than $9.85 an hour.

As soon as I took that job, I enrolled in the local community college and took computer classes. I knew nothing about computers before that. I spent 8 hours a day on my feet, pulling bags of that screaming, antiquated machine, fanning them so the melted seals didn't stick together, boxing them, over and over, and then went to class smelling of plastic. I took school more seriously than anybody; I bought the compiler (Pascal) for $50 (more than a full day's pay) and worked with it almost every minute I wasn't at work, in school, or asleep. After acing several classes I got into a grad program in computer science, worked and studied my tail off, and got a job with a Fortune 200 company 2 weeks after my 40th birthday. Salaried at $45,000, it was the first decent "real" job I ever had.

Just saying, you can be positive about your future and life in general, or you can be pessimistic. If you are pessimistic, you will not likely be successful because in your mind, failure is your expectation and that's what your outcome will be.

You control your life. People come to this country with nothing and succeed every day.

+1, that is the right attitude to have. When we fail it is our fault. When we succeed it is our fault. I have found that even when I am failing, if I am trying to get better, I still feel pretty good. It's not doing anything that is paralyzing and makes me feel bad
.. ...
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[Exhibitman]

Oh, I do not discount one's own role in both failures and successes, and I am not sitting still despairing over my circumstances, but regardless of what I plan to do, the universe may have other plans. My mother has dementia. No one planned on that. All you can do is plan mitigating moves for that as best as you can.

[tlhss]

It will be a year this month in retirement, at age 61. I worked 39 years in IT. From punched cards to working in the cloud.

Went thru multiple ups and downs in the market to fund retirement, a home, 3 undergrad degrees and 2 graduate degrees for my wife and kids. It wasn't easy, but it's possible with planning, a little luck, and lots of blessings.

I never was a big spender on cards ... it's always been a hobby, and I've always bought low grade raw cards. But I'm finding that even that is a challenge in today's market. So I've spent more time building a small website to show what I've bought over the years. It's low cost (only my time) and fun to do.

And what Adam states about senior care is something to understand while you are young. My mom was in assisted living for a few years. Very expensive and kind of poop theater (I wasn't sure if I could say sh*t show on the forum). Make sure you have this covered thru savings and insurance. And do things in your life that helps prevent / slow down dementia. Read. Continue to learn (I'm currently taking classes on iOS development). Play a musical instrument (I learned to play mandolin and tenor guitar at 58). Stay active and social.

Thanks ... Tim

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by butchie_t

Ted,

Gonna have to wait a bit longer for me to give you an answer. I am targeting Jan 2023 to retire. 6 years in the A.F. And 36+ years as a contractor for the A.F.

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A bit further north for me. Why not, Minot AFB. I worked on the comm equipment in the launch control facilities from 81 - 86.

B. T.

Butch T.

Just 7 1/2 months to go for your retirement.

Thank you for your Service for our Country.

Minot AFB..... is a huge Base. And one of the last ones still flying B52 Bombers. I used to love to watch the B52's take off, or arrive when I was
stationed at Dow AFB, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base in Bangor, Maine. We had only 13 Bombers, but a lot of F102 Fighter planes. About
200 miles north of us in Maine, was Loring AFB which was one of the largest SAC bases in the U.S. Loring AFB had 52 (or more) B52 Bombers.

Take care,

TED Z
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