Extreme early retirement thrills and spills |
|
|
|
No one to play with
I retired at 39, five years ago. I was a contractor on industrial
government contracts; I just jumped in after finishing college as
a geophysicist and was unable to get a job. No one would hire me,
so I started as a partner with a contractor who didn't want payroll
cost. It worked out well, and I bought him out after six years,
and continued for another 12 years. I didn't have large overhead,
but stumbled through the minefields to retirement, surviving a divorce
(which meant going back to work for two years to recoup).
Retirement has been different than I believed, in
that I enjoyed the tussle of working more than I thought. I did
a lot of adventurous things when I was younger and don't get a thrill
from traveling now, so finding something fun to do is a struggle
at times. My friends are still working, so I can't play with them!
I'm not ready to play with 60-year-olds yet. Also, the reward of
getting well compensated for working smart and figuring out a plan
that works well is quite a rush.
I could see when I started that working for myself
was the only way to make serious money, and working for someone
else didn't pay well. I concentrated on staying out of debt, paying
my homes off, looking for deals on everything. I saved a lot of
what I made.
I enjoyed working too much and will try something
new. What it will be I can't say, but it's sure nice having the
choice.
-- Rick, Arlington, Wash.
Luck in the real-estate boom
I retired at age 49 and am now 72. I grew up in a non-English-speaking immigrant family and started work for a large corporation right out of high school. My dad shined shoes for a living. Over the years, while working an evening shift and thanks to lots of help and encouragement from my wife, who is now deceased, I went to a local college and progressed to a middle management position with my employer.
In the meantime, we had five kids who are all well
educated, married and doing very well. My wife and I managed to
purchase a small number of rental houses that did very well during
the California real estate boom.
One of my last assignments while working was in an
accounting job. During those years, I volunteered for a program
that helped low income and elderly people prepare their income tax
returns for no cost. When my employer had a major force reduction
in 1983, I opted to take the incentive and retired from full-time
work. I was 49, obtained a state license and entered the field of
income-tax preparation, working seasonally for a nearby firm. I
eventually became an enrolled agent with a small private practice.
It was seasonal and part time and didn't produce much income, but
was good cover for someone who had no visible means of support.
I quit doing that at about age 61 or so.
|
