i won't be retiring
― "oh no my cheds" man had dark to black packet (Noodle Vague), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:50 (six years ago) link
my retirement plan is death
― he facked his death (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:50 (six years ago) link
something to look forward to
― he facked his death (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:51 (six years ago) link
My current job has a pension scheme so I assume by now it's over $1000. Banking on an early death tbh
― Colonel Poo, Friday, 9 February 2018 11:52 (six years ago) link
a big tent and a one-way ticket to Uzbekistan should do me
― "oh no my cheds" man had dark to black packet (Noodle Vague), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:53 (six years ago) link
pretty sure all tickets to uzbekistan are one-way iirc
― he facked his death (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:54 (six years ago) link
Same as Ed, about 10% goes into a lol retiring fund. Thousands there I have a way better destination for rn tbh
― Le Bateau Ivre, Friday, 9 February 2018 11:55 (six years ago) link
Throughout the years of my working like I’ve done 10-12% or several years of nothing when I was too dumb to sign up for a 401k in my early jobs. For my new job I started last year I upped my savings per payday to 16%. 38 years old, seems prudent?
― Jeff, Friday, 9 February 2018 11:55 (six years ago) link
and get you showing off about buying a big tent, you’re clearly better-prepared for retirement than i am
― he facked his death (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 9 February 2018 11:56 (six years ago) link
I really need to get around to consolidating the last few retirement accounts from old jobs into my federal TSP
― El Tomboto, Friday, 9 February 2018 11:59 (six years ago) link
Defined benefit scheme so no cash value but it's a good un, presuming I don't get promoted and work til 66 I think it would be valued at that stage at something over a million
Actuarially speaking im quarter paid up so 250k I guess
I'm public sector btw but cant afford a house tbf
― Alderweireld Horses (darraghmac), Friday, 9 February 2018 12:03 (six years ago) link
Yeah, my retirement account is doing pretty well through no fault of my own. Paycheck to paycheck I'm tripping over my own dick.
― how's life, Friday, 9 February 2018 12:14 (six years ago) link
I’ve been contributing 10 to 15% of each paycheck for the last ten years to all stock funds. Company matches to a certain point and I’m full vested
― calstars, Friday, 9 February 2018 12:22 (six years ago) link
Much like deems, defined benefit, public sector, fully vested, etc. I’d hit 40 years service when I’m 63, another 16 years off, and if I fully cashed out then and there it would approach a million at current levels but that would also remove my medical insurance payments so no thanks — will stick with monthly payouts instead whenever I do retire.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 9 February 2018 12:47 (six years ago) link
I have no idea. Nowhere near enough. Will be very disappointed if my plan to die on the job falls through.
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 12:57 (six years ago) link
The last time I checked my account at Fidelity, it was gratifyingly robust. Then the market gyrations hit.
― Polly of the Pre-Codes (j.lu), Friday, 9 February 2018 13:27 (six years ago) link
I've been doing well with plugging 10% of my salary into a 401k for the past decade+. Don't yet know how any savings I've established is going to look once I send my son to college in a few years.
― Moodles, Friday, 9 February 2018 14:07 (six years ago) link
Fully vested public sector employee, bolstered by Roth IRAs and my own savings.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link
I've considered a Roth because why not. (Also suits my temper to just have the taxes paid already.) There's some supplementary money from the UC I have invested in a 401-ish setup that I treat rather casually; among other plans the UC offers a typical stocks/bonds mix that grows more conservative with time so it's sitting in that for the most part, and it'll tick over. My separate personal savings is for emergencies or some possible big purchase down the road, though with housing being what it is here, that's kinda unlikely.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 9 February 2018 14:33 (six years ago) link
suicide I guess?
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:35 (six years ago) link
I sure hope plasma clinics still exist by the time I'm in my sixties.
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:36 (six years ago) link
I have low risk Roth IRAs (a redundant phrase, I guess), so the fluctuations of the market don't significantly affect it. Obviously it's done better in the last 15 months but not substantially so.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:38 (six years ago) link
I do think about it. Basically I have great credit, I really try to maintain that, I think when I get old I will apply for shit loads of credit cards....legally emancipate my daughter, then filter whatever I can give to her in cash form, then sell her the house for $1 while I continue to live there. Then just use one credit card to keep paying the other minimum payments and keep that shell game going for as long as possible, then whatever declare bankruptcy or die or whatever and hopefully leave the credit card companies eating it
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:40 (six years ago) link
Retirement in the 21st century is:
https://www.touchofart.eu/photos/Dariusz_Kaleta/big/Sokrates_i_Cykuta_dkal55.jpg
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:42 (six years ago) link
oh yeah and also I figure while running up the credit cards if there still is social security I'll take those payments, withdraw the cash and put those in an offshore account or even safety deposit box under a different name and just go grab cash for stuff after the credit card game is up
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:45 (six years ago) link
ums, how much do you charge for a retirement plan consultation, and can I pay you in pogs?
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 14:58 (six years ago) link
Step 1: storage unit full of Beanie BabiesStep 2: ???Step 3: retirement!
― I'm very active in the pegasus community (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 15:02 (six years ago) link
I really like UMS's plan - $1 sale of the house is clever, but I think you should also budget for a good lawyer for your daughter. Legally emancipating her doesn't mean your creditors won't still try to lean on her to settle your estate.
For extra righteousness I might also say that your orgy of credit-card-fueled spending should probably shift away from local small businesses.ethically sourced whatsits, and more toward eeevil megacorps, as you get closer to financial self-immolation. Make sure all the people who get screwed over are the ones who deserve it.
― I will finish what I (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 9 February 2018 15:16 (six years ago) link
considering how much you need to retire shouldn't there either be a few more options or consolidate a bunch of these into one? is there a practical difference between having saved $3,000 or $9,000 or $15,000 or $30,000? or is that the pt? that whatever we've most likely done so far is hopelessly inadequate?
― Mordy, Friday, 9 February 2018 15:17 (six years ago) link
does anyone else worry about putting money aside for the future when maybe there will be no gov backing the dollar in the future?
i'd love to visit bukhara one day
― Mordy, Friday, 9 February 2018 15:19 (six years ago) link
Ripple guys ripple
― Alderweireld Horses (darraghmac), Friday, 9 February 2018 15:20 (six years ago) link
i have a meager IRA from a previous job that matched contributions, however, as i'm under 30 i wonder if i should just take that $ and use it to travel and whatnot before we go full waterworld
― global tetrahedron, Friday, 9 February 2018 15:21 (six years ago) link
Invest in sunscreen and swimwear.
― I will finish what I (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 9 February 2018 15:25 (six years ago) link
i have quite a bit but not as much as i should have; I withdrew a lot to buy a house six years ago, which was actually a good investment (so far). my company doesn't match unfortunately.
― akm, Friday, 9 February 2018 15:29 (six years ago) link
"does anyone else worry about putting money aside for the future when maybe there will be no gov backing the dollar in the future?"
all the time
― akm, Friday, 9 February 2018 15:30 (six years ago) link
― I will finish what I (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, February 9, 2018 9:16 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Thanks, that's good advice and also good point on screwing the big companies.
Old Lunch - sign up for my webinar "Dirtbag Retirement Planning"
Trump has been sort of...inspirational is the wrong word...but eye opening, like reading about him, it's like rich people act like crooks all the time why should I approach things like ooh save my pennies one at a time like a good little boy
Also inspired a couple of things...a friend's brother was getting divorced and they were broke as hell but his soon to be ex stayed in the house and just kept bullshitting and making payment agreements and sending them payments here and there as much as she could and it was FOUR years before she was evicted
also, my cousin does crop insurance and one of his adjusters is this older guy who went down post-Katrina with his wife in an RV to do freelance adjusting (there was obviously just shit tons of work down there)...anyway, he goes to check out this trailer park that had been destroyed, gets there and there's NOTHING left, like maybe a piece of sheet metal here and there or piece of wood, but like the things was erased...like it never existed...so like good luck trying to assess anything, he was just gonna write it up as a total loss for every person that could be shown to own a trailer there...
anyway, he's walking along the beach and he sees this sock...picks it up and it's full of cash. a lot. so he's like how the fuck would I ever trace who's money this was? so he takes it back, and him and his wife hang it up to dry like in a fuckin movie..anyway, it turns out to be more than $50,000....so he's real careful about it but it like fuck it, it's just gonna sit in some government office or something and they'll never get it to whose it was anyway...so they just keep the cash, don't buy anything crazy but just say hey this is food, groceries and clothing money...he got more than a decade out of it, just using it for those basics and paying in cash keeping the money in a safe
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 February 2018 16:02 (six years ago) link
but eye opening, like reading about him, it's like rich people act like crooks all the time why should I approach things like ooh save my pennies one at a time like a good little boy
on one hand yeah but otoh you want to be a better human than djt. not saying you can't bend the rules and be a good person (and sometimes maybe bending the rules is required to be a good person) but the way djt acts like a crook he leaves a lot of damage in his wake.
― Mordy, Friday, 9 February 2018 16:03 (six years ago) link
who am i damaging in my scenarios? (if you say banks or credit card companies i don't give a shit)
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 9 February 2018 16:36 (six years ago) link
back when i had a steady job i put 5% of every paycheck into retirement, which was matched by my employer. it is weird, now, outside of that job, to have ~$0 in my bank account but to have a decent amount stored away for "retirement" 35 years from now. hopefully i won't have to withdraw it early in order to make it through the next few decades
― Karl Malone, Friday, 9 February 2018 16:50 (six years ago) link
one of the many reasons I left the usa was that here I'm a civil servant with a nice pension plan. since I came here late it'll only be like 80% of my highest salary but that'll be plenty, especially since there'll be no health care costs. no college costs either (my older daughter will start higher ed this fall, if we were still in the usa I have no idea how we'd have handled that, I guess the usual loan thing)
― droit au butt (Euler), Friday, 9 February 2018 16:56 (six years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/kV3v7oZ.png
this is good presumably. anyway, i play along to an extent with the conceit that in 30y time the world financial markets will still be intact. but i am p close to converting my retirement plan contribution into a canned goods and ammunition stockpile fund
― Roberto Spiralli, Friday, 9 February 2018 16:58 (six years ago) link
considering how much you need to retire shouldn't there either be a few more options or consolidate a bunch of these into one?
I worry that my savings are inadequate and I'm in the highest category (albeit barely)
― sarahell, Friday, 9 February 2018 17:02 (six years ago) link
I have a 401k, but have not been able to contribute more than a couple % of my income to it for many years. I've also borrowed from it twice, once to buy a home (stupid, I know) so I'm paying that back rather than accumulating new retirement savings. The recent fluctuations didn't hit me too badly because with the help of our company's advisor my portfolio is VERY conservative.
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 9 February 2018 17:11 (six years ago) link
Although last year I was getting like an 11-12% return, now I'm getting 2.66% YTD. Thanks, Trump!
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 9 February 2018 17:12 (six years ago) link
I am retired now. My answer will no doubt ruin the curve.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 9 February 2018 19:01 (six years ago) link
I contribute the max 18,500 every year and currently have $140K total. At 36 with a good twenty years to go I think I’m sitting pretty. Thank you Thrift Savings Plan. And I guess thank you Ohio for having such a low cost-of-living.
― Mr. Snrub, Friday, 9 February 2018 19:20 (six years ago) link
i have $1000 saved dollars and i am so fucked forever.
― ian, Friday, 9 February 2018 19:35 (six years ago) link
You have saved dollars?! So jealous right now.
P.S. I am powerfucked times infinity.
― Bittersweet Meh (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 19:46 (six years ago) link
I do have a change jar at home that's like a quarter full atm, so it isn't technically true to say I have NO savings.
― Bittersweet Meh (Old Lunch), Friday, 9 February 2018 19:47 (six years ago) link
$0 but the only person in my family who's ever "retired" was my grandmother who worked for the post office and even then she worked 30 hours a week as a Wal-Mart greeter until she died, so the concept is fundamentally foreign to me.
― louise ck (milo z), Friday, 9 February 2018 19:52 (six years ago) link
holy shit this poll
― budo jeru, Thursday, 9 May 2024 22:26 (one month ago) link
This was the 2022 tax bill … I thought there was something new … or do i need to read more than the first few paragraphs? (Will read the whole thing later just… on phone rn)
― sarahell, Friday, 10 May 2024 00:18 (one month ago) link
Who is the richest ilxor
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 00:25 (one month ago) link
Me
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 10 May 2024 00:29 (one month ago) link
I have a 403(b) - the nonprofit equivalent of a 401(k) - and I'm always slightly afraid when the quarterly statement arrives in the mailSometimes it's good, often it's bad
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 10 May 2024 00:30 (one month ago) link
I have been the beneficiary of savings plans since the 90s (social security, 401k and a small pension). I think I'm wealthy enough to survive as a senior, but as someone with MS I will need nursing care in the future. I just don't want to go to a depressing nursing home, I want to live in an assisted living facility where there is a chance for some independence and camaraderie with others my age
― Dan S, Friday, 10 May 2024 01:25 (one month ago) link
I don't have any heirs that are important to me in my family - they all have enough money - but there are some other people that I want to help or at least acknowledge as ones I've loved.
The whole idea of a living will is so fraught, and my ideas about it change from day to day
― Dan S, Friday, 10 May 2024 01:40 (one month ago) link
I’m not that old (I’m just 68) and am not near to being incapacitated but, as a single person, advanced aging concerns me. My friends and I are discussing these issues. Many of you will too in coming years
― Dan S, Friday, 10 May 2024 01:53 (one month ago) link
68!
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 02:00 (one month ago) link
Old bro itt
:) it's not that old, really, you guys will be there soon
― Dan S, Friday, 10 May 2024 02:01 (one month ago) link
Respect
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 02:02 (one month ago) link
I got $10 set aside for some sleeping pills and a plastic bag. Retiring Heaven’s Gate style.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 10 May 2024 02:31 (one month ago) link
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 02:39 (one month ago) link
I got $10 set aside for some sleeping pills and a plastic bag. Retiring Heaven’s Gate style.― papal hotwife (milo z)
― papal hotwife (milo z)
damn that's bleak
that used to be my retirement plan but as i get older, that just doesn't seem practical. getting old and dying doesn't seem like a binary now, it doesn't feel like "well i can't work any more, guess i'll kill myself". in large part i guess because i... kind of can't work anymore? like i'm kind of legit "disabled" at this point. not permanently or whatever, it's just that the conditions i'm under right now make it really difficult for me to fulfill the expectations placed on me by capitalism. i'm basically faking it for the health insurance. there's a possibility that at some point somebody decides to switch me on the balance sheet from "asset" to "liability", which will make things harder in some ways but easier in others. it's not the end of my life. working isn't my life. getting paid makes my life a hell of a lot easier, but if i'm not getting paid, it doesn't mean i'm gonna kill myself.
transition increased the precarity of my financial situation by orders of magnitude. my ex-wife and i both worked, we owned a house, no kids. we were going to grow old and die together, except that i kind of wanted to skip the "growing old" part. the irony of it is that now that i've transitioned, i no longer want to kill myself, but in other respects it's made life so much more difficult for me - single income, no house, a job that's no longer suited to the person i am now. the trans people i know, lots of us are trying to survive without being able to work, and it's hard. most of us aren't killing ourselves, which is good. some of us are, and that makes me sad.
so here's bleak: my mom's in assisted living, which is good for her but sucks for me... like i hate that this is a calculation, but a lot of my being able to do the things i've done is that my dad died when i was 40 and left me a substantial inheritance. i don't know how long she's going to make it. she was and is an extremely emotionally abusive parent so we don't really talk. (so even if she dies with money, i might not get any of it lol).
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 10 May 2024 13:08 (one month ago) link
No kids/heirs here either - I'm with milo on the Heaven's Gate exit. Bulldoze my stuff into a volcano when I'm gone...
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:12 (one month ago) link
Well this thread took a turn for the morbid
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:32 (one month ago) link
Retirement is as inconceivable as winning a $500mn jackpot and I just don't want to be one of those inspirational stories on the news about an 85 year old celebrating their birthday during a Wal-Mart shift. Even that fate is preferable to the old people prisons you get stuck in if Medicaid/Medicare have to foot the entire bill.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 10 May 2024 22:44 (one month ago) link
I think being a greeter is like the ideal post retirement gig. Love to say hi to strangers and to be paid to do it? Ffs
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:50 (one month ago) link
When the time comes Im going to rat out all you retirees’ hiding places to the liberators in exchange for food and shelter, gl
― brimstead, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:50 (one month ago) link
Fuck Walmart greeters and fuck Walmart.
― brimstead, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:51 (one month ago) link
Bro
― calstars, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:54 (one month ago) link
lol it’s like I remember someone made a post here recently about hating self-checkout at groceries stores because they like to talk to the staff or something.. like ok
― brimstead, Friday, 10 May 2024 22:59 (one month ago) link
I’m finding my current age (59) a bit agonising. I can see over the next few years the strong temptation will be for me to keep working to ensure I’m as financially comfortable as possible- but this will cut into precious uncertain remaining years of good health I could be using for an active retirement.
It’s tough trying to land a retirement in a cost of living crisis.
― Bob Six, Friday, 10 May 2024 23:01 (one month ago) link
we should form an ILE retirement center in the U.S. imo
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 10 May 2024 23:04 (one month ago) link
Wal-Mart eliminated the elderly greeters IIRC, they're all spry young loss prevention associates to keep you from shoplifting baby food and diapers.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 10 May 2024 23:09 (one month ago) link
^^Yesterday I was at my old local Walmart for the first time since I moved/the pandemic, and was kinda bleak. The whole beauty department and all the Legos were in glass display cases!
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 10 May 2024 23:15 (one month ago) link
Theft is reals
― calstars, Saturday, 11 May 2024 00:07 (one month ago) link
Target is the same way
Bought toothpaste yesterday and not only was it in a locked case, someone had to take it to the register for us
― default damager (lukas), Saturday, 11 May 2024 01:04 (one month ago) link
we had a BJs membership and i just ended up refusing to go there because they check your cart at the door after you have already paid. fuck that i hate them. plus it just has an apocalypse vibe in there. people stocking up for doomsday. the perfect place to take over in the event of a real doomsday though. so much food. so many socks.
― scott seward, Saturday, 11 May 2024 01:39 (one month ago) link
Walmart is super apocalyptic, so much stuff behind bars and glass. So much unfinished concrete. So cold.
― brimstead, Saturday, 11 May 2024 02:00 (one month ago) link
the concrete is a good call out, so many places are like this now. like they decided 'why spend money making this place look good, who cares'. apparently people don't either!
― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Saturday, 11 May 2024 02:02 (one month ago) link
lol they just did a full remodel of ours and the polished concrete floors are a vast improvement
― Ippei's on a bummer now (WmC), Saturday, 11 May 2024 02:27 (one month ago) link
I need 50 pounds of romaine where can I go yeah you know
― calstars, Saturday, 11 May 2024 02:35 (one month ago) link
green in judgment, cold in blood
― 145 feet up in a Jeffrey Pine (Sufjan Grafton), Saturday, 11 May 2024 05:16 (one month ago) link
Theft is realscitation needed
― bae (sic), Saturday, 11 May 2024 06:16 (one month ago) link
I just want to acknowledge that well-placed Shakefpeare ref
― epistantophus, Saturday, 11 May 2024 11:28 (one month ago) link
I'm somewhere in the middle here. I've put away enough that I'm not contemplating the plastic bag and sleeping pills option, but on the other hand I don't realistically have enough to retire on when I might want to. I'm guessing I'll have to sell my house and move to somewhere smaller and cheaper.
― Zelda Zonk, Saturday, 11 May 2024 13:18 (one month ago) link
Our retirements plans are in good part not-spending: staying in an affordable town, not moving into a bigger apartment, bringing lunch to work, buying only what we need and when we can, day-to-day discipline.
We are well covered and put aside regular amounts on the equivalent of a 401k, but we have only just started. My partner took a one-way ticket here and brought 10K in savings when I had just enough left from a 10K student loan to buy a bed and couch. That was five years ago. Now we're in our late 30s, dual income, one kid. We probably both have a shot at making good salaries one day, if that's what we want.
The dream would be to make a lot, buy a house, retire early. The reality is that less and less people can do that.
― Nabozo, Saturday, 11 May 2024 14:49 (one month ago) link
I'm privileged in my bachelorhood: good job, state benefits, a Roth IRA, some savings. I often ask myself if I should be abstemious for the sake of old age because I've no illusions about who will help care for me, but then I stop and wonder, why not have fun now?
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 11 May 2024 14:55 (one month ago) link
gaudeamus igitur
― Kate (rushomancy), Saturday, 11 May 2024 17:47 (one month ago) link
I will most likely work until I die, then I guess i'll wake up again the next day and go back to work again like nothing ever happened
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Saturday, 11 May 2024 18:07 (one month ago) link
i have a retirement date and will be comfortable after it as far as whats in my control goes, the focus is to bring that forward from here if i can
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Saturday, 11 May 2024 18:18 (one month ago) link
In 2020, I took an early retirement package that paid out more than if I was laid off. I was able to be in husband's health insurance for a reasonable cost and thought I might actually retire, just work part-time low stress until I could take early social security. But I got bored after 3 weeks and started consulting which was really lucrative but super high stress and basically 24/7. I bought outright an inhabitable doublewide in a 55+ park in 2021 with some of the proceeds, thinking I'd definitely get out of consulting when I hit 62. We'd get by okay on SS and my okay level of savings. I'd cashed out all my previous 401ks a dozen years before to fund a solo venture (not recommended if you have to pay penalties). Suddenly found a job I really really wanted to do, for 1/4 of what I was making consulting. It's a different kind of stress, a better kind. I got a wild hair to buy unimproved land in 2023 and cashed out another chunk of 401k for that. So now I've got low/moderate savings, a place to live I can afford that's okay, 20 acres to do something with eventually. Whatever gets thrown at us, I figure we'll adapt.
― Jaq, Saturday, 11 May 2024 18:38 (one month ago) link
Folks at current job keep panicking all the time about when I'll retire, which earliest would be in 3 years but if I'm healthy and still enjoying it I'll be glad to continue. The healthy&happy equation is the important calculus though vs. can I afford to survive without.
― Jaq, Saturday, 11 May 2024 18:43 (one month ago) link
I took voluntary redundancy from my office job during the pandemic and used the money to set myself up as a gardener. I don't earn very much now and my wife doesn't work due to her MS but we just about scrape by. I'm doing a job that I enjoy, i listen to music or birdsong all day long, I'm my own boss, and i spend most of the day away from a desk. i feel like i'm mostly having a positive effect on the environment (i'm steathily turning all my clients' gardens into mini nature reserves, just sneaking in little things here and there; i did get stung by bumblebees today though when i strimmed the grass too close to their nest, i tried to be their ally but they've turned against me). I don't have any real savings but as long as I can hang on to my health and don't injure myself falling off a ladder or something daft, then once I reach a certain age and our kids have moved on, I hope I'll end up just working mornings, pottering around people's gardens as a doddery old man, trying to be useful. At least it'll get me out of the house and keep me active. Things that might scupper this plan: my wife's health significantly declining so that she needs caring for; also the cost of running a crappy old van is killing me at the moment, and any surplus I currently make is used to keep that heap of shit going :(
― Bernard Quidbins (NickB), Saturday, 11 May 2024 19:25 (one month ago) link