Meeting Expectations?
Go to main Forum page »
Time for a pop quiz:
- For those still working, what do you imagine your retirement will be like?
- For those no longer employed, does your retirement match your earlier expectations?
Did you just log in? If you don't see the commenting form, please refresh the page.
I have a folder on my desktop named Retirement Fantasy..
Still working, had planned to retire end of this year at 65, delay SS until 70 so my wife gets the best possible survivor benefit.
my wife is younger, working another five years then take SS and retirement at 65.
I’d planned to sign up with IOCC rapid response disaster team, do trail maintenance for BWCA and locally in CO, and help with church work. Also take over most meal planning and cooking while my wife is working.
There are several backpacking/canoe trips I’ve never had time for while working, put those tentatively on the calendar for 2026.
Our younger son has had a number of health issues and will be living at home for the foreseeable future, which had not been part of the plan. So although we’d love to travel, that’s not an option for us.
However given the tariffs which will produce high inflation, and market declines, and the cuts to SS and Medicare that the administration is promising, it may not be possible for me to retire.
I can’t keep doing my current high stress fast response job and won’t be able to find another IT job, so looking into Costco and Ace Hardware. I’m sad for the retirement fantasy I’ll never get to..
I wouldn’t be so quick to ditch your current retirement plans. While today’s various economic and policy fears could be realized, I suspect the results — once the courts and a panicked Congress get involved, and as public opinion turns less favorable — will be far from dire.
we have had experience in down markets that last for decades, with double digit inflation and exchange rates tanking. That wiped out ten years of retirement savings in S. Africa. So I have somewhat catastrophic expectations, having lived through it once already..
One of us still working at 71, no end in sight by choice. Retirement will probably involve caring for our last remaining parent. Am worried about having to help more family in the future with funds as we start to see Medicare/Medicaid/NIH cuts go into effect.
Retiring in 2-4 months, feel like I have prepared pretty well, and am very aware that unexpected developments and surprises will be the norm. So I have only a gauzy image of what my life will be like. Not being beholden to another’s schedule is something I have never experienced as an adult, and I am very ready for. A big variable for my wife (already retired from what was only part time work) is the health of my in-laws, one age 91, the other younger but with Parkinsons. We are at the ready and glad to be able to help them, but know well we can’t predict exactly what that will look like Should we outlive them, we will be climate migrants to the north, prob PNW where I did we lived during my residency. Another retirement issue for us is that our primary interests, hobbies do not overlap much. With that all said, I am beyond excited to embark on this next phase. (fun fact: Senioritis is still a thing at age 63.)
I turn 69 in a few weeks and retired last May. Things are pretty much as I expected. I belong to an duffers exec golf course and i walk 18 holes when the weather is nice to and belong to a rex center so I can walk inside when the weather is bad, Next goal is to learn pickleball. I also take online courses some.
I also have the issue of converting from saving to spending mode no matter how much my advisor tries to convince me it is okay, and I need to so as to prepare for RMD’s and keep taxes lower in the future.
The one thing different is I thought we would travel more. We have 10 grandkids around the country, and I Love train trips.
My wife does not want to retire yet because she has no hobbies although she only works 20 – 25 hours a week. She just fears becoming too sedentary and going downhill. I am working on convincing her that she could volunteer at a pet rescue part Ime since that is her passion and between that and travelling, she will be fine.
I think the biggest “unknown” when I was deciding if I should retire was “At what rate would I be drawing down my nest egg and would I have to give up a lot of what I loved to do?” I just did not trust the literature. (I was also going through a divorce (friendly) and a move to another state. So I also knew I’d have some big expenses for buying, furnishing and repairing a new home, as well as all those other unpredictable costs associated with living in a new location.)
Happily, I found that once the initial surge of spending on my new home was over, my outflow became mostly predictable. That, along with the nice returns in the market over the past couple of years, have created a lot of daylight between my income and expenditures. I no longer have that “exhaust the nest egg” anxiety, I have not had to give up any of my loves, and I am really enjoying retirement.
I never thought about what exactly I would do when retired. I had no big plans or expectations. We vacationed every year from the beginning when the kids were little, so traveling is not a big part of what we do now in retirement. Retirement is great. Having no time constraints or requirements is fantastic, after so many years working. Being able to do what we want, when we want, is fantastic.
This is my first time posting, after years of reading, enjoying, and learning from others that post.
My husband and I never made big money, but we were frugal, lived below our means, always with the goal of bailing on our ho-hum jobs and retiring early to ‘do our own thing’. So when early retirement (on a greatly reduced pension) was offered to my husband, I ran the numbers and thought we could manage it. The important factors for us were no debt and a continuation of health coverage. So we jumped; I had some nervous, sleepless nights, wondering if I had overlooked some aspect, but it has been grand! The one thing you can’t buy, at any price, is more time, so trading less $$$’s for more time has given us decades to enjoy things and each other. At first, we volunteered for lots of worthy things: Free Clinic, Museum of Fine Arts, tutoring at the adult learning center, volunteering at the senior center, Literacy Program, AARP Safe Driving Course, AARP Tax preparation, etc. Now that we are older (78 and 82) we do less of that, and a lot less travel now that we are part-time in Maine and remain residents of FL, so back and forth is about all the travel I’m interested in. We have the garden there, and plenty of the arts in both locations, museums, concerts, plays, the movies, lovely libraries, and friends. And best of all, we can walk to almost everything in both places!
I think it must be harder now to retire, especially with the high cost of housing, whether owning or renting, and medical and dental costs keep going up, as well as the price of groceries. We are entering worrisome times: our portfolio already has taken a hit with the current uncertainties that the markets hate, with more promised. We’ll just hang tight and hope for better days. Over the decades we have seen lots of market ups and downs and if you do nothing, eventually it all comes back.
Details, if anyone is interested: we converted our IRA’s to Roth, some each year before we retired, so not to be thrown in a higher tax bracket, and we bought Long-Term Care over 20 years ago, which has had steep increase in premiums over the years, but we will bite the bullet and keep them as we near the time that we may need them. We have not cashed in any of our Roth yet, but if the time comes we need money, we won’t have to take out extra to pay tax on the withdrawal, nor do we need to worry about taking minimum distributions every year.
I didn’t have an expectation. I enjoy working. When my wife got a diagnosis and surgery for cancer, I quit my F/T and started (after a while) to look at volunteer and P/T paid at age 61. Did both, and both were fun/interesting. Plus, you can quit easily if it doesn’t work out. I finally stopped all when covid hit. Now I am not going to be tied to a schedule outside of the home because I want to be free to pursue what comes to mind/heart. So, the answer is: all has worked out great. Caveat: I think I went thru a year or 2 of depression because work was me/I was work. Be forewarned.
I retired at 62 (not much choice) and got involved in working out at our local Senior Center which has a well equipped weight room. Then started volunteering at a local hospital and later began reading with boys at our local elementary program through Education Connection. Add in swim meets and plays with one granddaughter and baby sitting twin 4 year old granddaughters and it is a busy week.
I also prepare gallons of coffee at church on the first and fifth Sundays of the month, plus a Bible study there. My wife and I have visited Italy, Spain and Portugal, and will be headed to Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary shortly. Glad we saved and invested over the years so we can do the things we want and stay busy in between all our activities.
I retired in June of 2021. For the most part, retirement has met my expectations. The part that does not meet my expectations is how difficult it is to spend money. While I have “enough,” I saved and invested for so long that spending seems wrong.
Been working from home since 1994, even before it was a thing. Had my own hours and vacationed any time we wanted, and took long vacations and up to 80 days a year in the early 2000’s. I started to retire in 2016 and finally made it official on 12-31-2024 at age 78. I would say I eased into it, so it was gradual. Now living since 2022 at Aberdeen Heights in Kirkwood MO a CCRC in Independent Living. This is like being on a cruise ship but no waves. The sunsets here are fabulous, the dinners great, and the activities unlimited. Making all kinds of new friends and enjoying every minute. Every day a new experience and no more chores! This is easy living and recommend it to the many.
I’m retiring in 3 months and 22 days. 😀
I’ve been on sabbatical during this winter quarter, and my husband commented that he thinks I’m “pre-gaming” retirement. He has a point. Though I have done some work—you’re required to propose a sabbatical project and file a report, and I have a spring quarter class I’m prepping for—I’ve spent most of the past two months as follows:
This is pretty much how I think retirement is going to look for me, including a bit of work—I’ll be writing a third edition of one of my books over the next year, some journal articles, and finishing up with a couple of PhD students. If my husband were also retiring when I do, it might look a bit different, but this is how I see it at this point. And I’m liking what I see.
I have been retired for 7 years. I had plans when I retired to do some long overdue home projects, play more golf, spend more time out on my boat and to do some volunteering, likely at an animal shelter. Some of those things are happening, but not as I envisioned. I now watch, with my wife, our 3 grandsons 3 x week. I do volunteer tax work with AARP in the winter. And I am helping my son with projects in his home. I have a very active social life regularly getting together with my circle of friends for meals, concerts and outdoor activities. All in all, I am pleased with my retirement and how I spend my time. Before pulling the ripcord on work, it is important to know how you will replace that 40-60 hours spent at work.
I wound up having a phased retirement transition, although it wasn’t planned. I went from full-time to part-time when my wife retired (three years before me), which allowed us to travel more while I was still working. When I did retire (at age 63 in 2013), I was offered a “too good to refuse” part-time job (working one day a week from home) that was supposed to last six months but lasted five years. We had traveled to over 20 countries before I retired, not wanting to “wait for retirement.” This was based on my experience of seeing my parents die early and never experiencing retiring together. In retirement, we have enjoyed traveling the world, having visited an additional 30 countries (not visited previously). This year, we spent five weeks in Hawaii, have plans for a four-week road trip to Orlando next month (where we are taking our grandchildren to Disney World for a week), and a four-week trip to the Azores and Portugal with friends in Sept.
We planned and executed our safety-first retirement income strategy (in 2013) and have guaranteed lifetime income that still covers our essential expenses today. We partially annuitized our portfolio (1/3rd) to create a self-funded (joint survivor) pension since my company only had 401k plans and no corporate pension plans.
The outcome of our retirement financial plan has matched or exceeded my expectations (partly due to a reasonable sequence of return since 2013). We also completed our travel bucket list and have started a new one. Next year, we are focusing on S. America and the Far East. I volunteer at Care Givers to give rides to those that are homebound and stay active at home maintaining a 1+ acre Japanese garden (with a 5,000-gal koi pond). We live in a three-generation household, where our upstairs is an independent apartment, which was not planned. Socially, things are hectic (two granddaughters age 6 and 9) but it keeps us active and engaged. We custom designed our “last” house (our 7th house) for senior living and energy efficiency. Eleven years later, we are very satisfied with our choices. I don’t think I had much expectations for our non-financial retirement activities other than travel but so far, so good.
Wow, that’s amazing! #goals
It took me awhile to respond this. Why? Because the phrase “pop quiz” prompted flashbacks to the terror of either being unprepared or just simply performance anxiety. There have been some pleasant surprises. I didn’t plan on giving consulting a try after retirement but have been fortunate to do so part time for over 6 years which, along with fulfilment, has allowed several great side trips with work travel, has secured our future and allowed a small, but cherished house addition-a sunroom-and a new car. Another huge, and wonderful surprise, coincident with retirement is the discovery of both close and extended biological family through technology (DNA testing) and modernization of adoption laws-and getting to know all of them-life does go on, sometimes in amazing ways.
I am 80 years old and my 14 year retirement has somewhat matched my expectations. I had hoped to do a lot of volunteer work for a global Christian ministry, and I met with their IT Director several times before starting to work for them. That worked for a few years, but several management changes changed that. My role as a management consultant was not understood or appreciated by later managers so I finally stopped.
I still do some volunteer work at our church, but not as much as I would like to do. Conversely, I have served on the board of two retirement associations, one of which has 50K members. I feel that I have made significant contributions to each association, and it keeps the brain cells working.
DW and I planned to do a lot of traveling in retirement. We did a lot of traveling my first few years of retirement, but that has slowed in recent years, mainly because of my wife’s health and mobility.
Managing my health has become a bigger deal, but I am healthy for my age (I hate that qualifier!). I feel blessed to do all that I do.
My recommendation to prospective retirees is to plan your retirement, including those things you want to do, stay in good health, make sure you have friends and good relationships, and be flexible. Retirement does not always go the way you planned. Best wishes.
If you would like to do more volunteer work, surely there must be plenty of opportunities, unless perhaps you live out in the country. Meals on Wheels, your local food bank, Covenant House, suicide hot lines, outfits like Lions and Rotary, Big Brothers etc.
As I’ve written here before, I retired in 2000 at age 53 so I could travel. I didn’t go full nomad, like Michael and Cecilia, but I was usually gone for three to six months. And there was the ten month trip that featured Scotland to Saigon by rail. It was 2017 before I was grounded by rheumatoid arthritis and then by Covid, so I managed a lot of travel, some to places like Angkor Wat before they got crowded, but I no longer feel the same urge to get out there.
I suppose I am now in the slow-go years. I’ve moved to a retirement community, but am still busy. I exercise (tai chi, weight machines, dance), I volunteer (gift shop, library, putting puzzles together for a local thrift shop), I represent my floor on the Residents Council, I attend seminars and lectures, and I spend time with friends.
I enjoyed my career, but I have never missed it.
The trip from Scotland to Saigon by rail sounds like an amazing adventure!
It was a great experience, and surprisingly short on glitches, even though it was 2004 and I was using paper timetables! I chose a meandering path, seven months and 17,000 miles total to Saigon, including four weeks in Russia following the Trans Mongolian route. Right before Covid you could do it in two weeks, if you timed it right, and spent nearly every night on a train. Of course, today you wouldn’t want to cross Russia. There are now high speed trains in Central Asia, but there is no through route I know of.
Thanks for asking, Jonathan. Retirement (three years ago, age 63) has exceeded my expectations and I am grateful for the means and health to enjoy it. Being retired is simply the best gift ever! Establishing a routine without work stress or crises has been wonderful. Hobbies, reading, exercise, volunteer work, and a few hours of paid work each week fill my days. Socializing with a close friend and an online artist’s community round out the days. Though I never really wanted to leave my former field behind, I now feel fulfilled by the many online opportunities to attend the occasional scientific talk or read a journal article.
I had no specific expectations. I worked with so many retirees for so many years I learned retirement was many different things, but I never talked with a retiree who was disappointed with their retirement.
I do know if I had expectations they would all have been greatly surpassed.
Travel, family activities, 11 grandchildren no more than a hour away, summer where I want to be, no money concerns, health issues managed, activity or not as I choose, new friends, no debt. And I get to write for HD.
We are extremely fortunate.
I thought you get to RANT for Humble Dollar? 🙂
Ah, Jonathan coined that word for me. After a few uses I looked it up and found this
“The transitive definition of “rant” on Merriam-Webster is “to utter in a bombastic declamatory fashion.” Bombastic—in other words, loudly, but without meaning.”
Not sure I find that too appealing especially the without meaning part.
I got this via google; speak or shout at length in a wild, impassioned way.
I’d go with the “impassioned” part. Saying it like it is isn’t the worst thing in the world even if some people passionately disagree with you.
Ha! Retirement is even better than I thought! I have tons to do, but unlike when I was working and had tons to do, I don’t feel stress about it. Our expenses are less than our incomes and our financial plans are on track.
We’re healthy. Our kids are happy & succeeding with life. My youngest son and his family recently relocated and are a 30-minute drive away. We now have four grandkids.
There are many issues going on in our world that I wish were more peaceful and stable. Political discussions are largely avoided outside our home, but the current environment (both nationally and worldwide) is not something I envisioned when we retired.
Retirement is a nebulous concept for me — in retrospect I may have retired 15 years ago, or I may never retire. Freelancing as a PR consultant is pretty much the same now at 68 as it was at 53, just fewer hours and a bit less urgency, and Social Security (claimed at 66) is a nice bonus. I like the work, the clients and the money, and I have no intention of quitting.
The biggest alteration in my retirement plans has been travel. I thought we would do a ton of it. We were previously doing China or Hawaii almost every year plus a bunch of West Coast camper van travel.
Now we haven’t taken a major trip together in ten years, for multiple reasons — our “retirement” beach house didn’t prove permanent, she became deeply immersed in online Buddhism study, I had a cancer fight, she got trapped in China for six months by the pandemic, and her mom came to live with us. I sold the van.
Our only current travel is separate — I cruised the San Juans last fall, and she’s setting up a girls’ road trip with Mama and Sis to a Buddhist conference in Arizona. I go to England every few years to watch soccer games. But it’s nothing like what I expected. We’re homebodies. A 15-minute drive to a local park to walk with Mama and the dog is a big decision now.
We’re trying to get the old pattern back. I’ve booked us a two-week cruise around New Zealand starting a year from today (Sis will fly in to stay with Mama), and Mama’s never been to Hawaii, so we want to make that happen soon too. But it’ll be different. More logistics and less flexibility than I would ever have expected.
Mike, I’m struck by the “curve balls” that life has thrown your way and impressed with how you and your wife are being so good-natured (what I’m reading between the lines in this post and others you have written) when adjusting to them!
Thank you, Jan. We’ve had to absorb big hits and recover our balance a couple of times, but a general optimism about life is a powerful thing.
I retired eight years ago and have discovered that retirement is underrated! We have moved to a nearby city and are energized by all the changes this has brought. My husband and I both have sustained our curiosity for learning new things and meeting new people. We both volunteer, mostly with individual people who need care or companionship. We are serious readers, an interest I give thanks for every day. We have less interest in traveling now, given health limitations and that we traveled extensively when we were younger. Instead we are traveling at home and finding endless cultural opportunities to appreciate nearby.
I sold my tax practice 3 years ago, but my transition to retirement actually happened over the 15 years leading up to the sale. Preparing individual tax returns is a 3 month per year full time, 9 month part time gig. During those part time periods Chris and I enjoyed dozens of vacations, many fulfilling projects around the house, and a satisfying social life. The sale of the business has not had a very dramatic impact on my life. I suppose that I had no significant expectations for retirement.
Turned 80 today and in my 15th year of retirement. Because of various long-term volunteer commitments, I don’t have nearly as much free time as I thought I would have. (Maybe a good thing:). Normally start the day with replying and sending out emails, then read Humble Dollar, the WSJ, and my local paper. We have 6 of 8 granchildren living in the area, so that’s awesome. I’d have to say the best part is being with my wife of 57 years almost all day every day. Living the dream, for sure.
Mazel tov, Bob. What a great reflection on a great milestone.
Happy birthday, Bob. What a happy post!
Happy Birthday. Today is one of my grandson’s 5th birthday. I hope yours provides as much joy to you as his does to him.
We are starting the second year of retirement. My earlier expectations were that we would have more freedom than we do. We are finding we are part of the sandwich generation. We are very involved with our grandchildren and are at the stage where we watch them regularly and are back to keeping to a school calendar again. I know this will change through the years as they get older. We have elderly parents who are needing help. Things have been hard to balance. Spouse decided to completely retire. We will be ok, they didn’t have to work. Chris
Chris, we have all the grandkid’s school holidays on our personal calendar and plan our weeks with them in mind. We are fortunate that we are all respectful of each other’s lives. We just scheduled a week in NYC to watch our older grandsons.
I’m not sure that I had solid expectations for retirement. Regardless, I doubt I would have imagined many of the things that have happened in the 8 years since I stopped working full time. I stopped working full-time earlier than I expected, but I was able to move to a part-time consulting gig for a few years that I enjoyed. We’ve sold 2 houses, bought 2 houses, and moved twice since 2019. I certainly didn’t expect a global pandemic that would have a material effect on our lives.
We expected to travel, and we have taken a number of great trips, and have more booked. I have been able to find a fulfilling volunteer opportunity that uses my skills and experience. The most important expectation has been met – we have been able to be a meaningful part of our children’s and grandchildren’s lives.
Hey Rick, you said it very well and although I’m only into the 2nd year of my retirement, I can echo most of the things you summarized in your last paragraph. I will also add, taking college classes (in person on campus) under the NJ Senior Citizen Learning program, just for the enjoyment of the subjects (taking “Intro to Jazz” this semester).
I’m off to take my grandson to Kindergarten this AM as his mom just left for a business trip today and dad is home with Little Sister getting her ready for school. Retirement is …going very well for me and better than expected!
I’m 55 and still working, but expect to pull the pull and retire in the next couple of years. Our plan is to pack a few changes of clothes into our small backpacks and slow-travel our way around the world. We’ve been trying it out for the past few years with 10-week trips to Europe, in which our only luggage is a 20L day pack. It’s been amazing and I looking forward to the day when we can do it full time! I have friends and family who can’t quite get their heads around it…”What will you do with your things?!”. We’ve already downsized and everything we own in the world easily fits in a 5×5 storage unit. The more I get rid of things the lighter and freer I feel.
Love the idea, I believe people pack way to much stuff when traveling anyway. I too have already bought my backpack in anticipation of DW and I beginning our travels. We are 54 and about 2.5 years for really diving into the travel. Our daughter will be a senior in high school starting next year and then college. That should free us up travel outside the traditional summer months which is the most expensive time anyways… We won’t downsize or anything right now, but rest assured, I have my Briggs and Riley backpack and ready to see the world.
Might I suggest something from REI or EagleCreek rather than Briggs and Riley, if you’re actually taking a backpack? Briggs and Riley bags seem to be designed as carry ons for executives, not the main bag for a traveler. Hard to tell from the photos, but they appear to be lacking good hip belts, and you want to carry the weight on your hips, not your shoulders. I doubt you want to travel with both a lap top and a tablet, either. I traveled with a backpack for about a decade, but then switched to a 22 inch two-wheeler. The backpack is easier to stuff into a shared taxi, or carry upstairs, but I found I did OK with the wheelie and I was getting a bit too old for the backpack.
Thank you for the recommendation, guess what, I might just try both to see which I prefer. I am still working and the Briggs is being used now, the one I use is fairly innocuous and nothing about it screams executive!
Cool. Your local REI, if you have one, should let you (and your wife) “test drive” their backpacks in store – take something to approximate the weight. My first pack put too much weight on my shoulders and the EagleCreek that replaced it made a huge difference. I also used a day bag with side pockets for a water bottle and a folding umbrella. And I always took a money belt, worn under my clothes, although these days you may have to worry more about your phone.
Extraordinary plan C!
I admire your ability to have downsized your belongings to 5×5 space! Getting rid of stuff is my goal this year and I’m already feeling overwhelmed and anxious about the process – and have procrastinated these past two months. May I ask how you approached it?
It really was a multi-step process, that started as I was going through a few big life changes and reflecting on what was important to me and how I wanted to live. For me, traveling lightly through the world has always been a guiding principle and I discovered that, as happens when you have school-aged children, I’d moved away from that. But my son launched, and it was time to think about what I wanted to next phase to look like.
I was overwhelmed, too, and people may scoff (my friends and family did!), but the biggest help to me was reading Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magical Art of Tidying Up. I was skeptical, but the more I read, the more I realized that it’s about more than being tidy, or how to fold your socks (although she has opinions about that!). It prompted me to think about my relationship to things – why I hold on to stuff I don’t need or want, but feel guilty getting rid of. It helped me evaluate what I wanted to keep and what I’d been holding on to out of habit or guilt. It was a game-changer.
Practically, what worked for me, and what she recommended, was starting with easy categories – one day I would focus on just my clothes, or books, or kitchen things. Once I had all my clothes in a pile, rather than scattered in different drawers and closets, it was easy to decide what to keep. Trying to tackle everything at once would have been overwhelming.
It’s been 4 years since we winnowed things down to our small storage unit and there is not one thing I can think of that we got rid of that I wish we had back. I know it’s not right for everyone, but for me it’s been wonderful – my partner and I feel light and free and ready for whatever adventures come our way!
Thank you for the thoroughness of your reply, Cecelia. Very inspiring! I just ordered the book while smiling at the irony of bringing another thing into the home. But hopefully it will help me break through this inertia. Fingers crossed.
Good luck! I’m rooting for you!
I’m very near to part-time retirement. I’ll have a shorter work week, with fewer hours each day. This will probably last two to three years, maybe longer if the reduced load feels light enough. During that time, I have a number of larger home projects that will keep me busy. My wife and I also have some short travel planned. And we are planning to structure our days to spend more time together.
Whew! I’m glad I’ve kept up with my studies! This is a near-daily conversation in our household.
First reaction – Now in year four of retirement (!), and in the main, it’s nothing like I/we imagined it would be. Indeed I had been retired almost a year when the idea of being nomads came up and we decided to give it a go for “a while,” which now has no end in sight.
On the other hand, some things are as expected. We travel a lot (obviously), stay physically active (though not the way I had thought), and spend a lot of time together. Good times.
Being nomadic is our plan, too! I teach, so I have long breaks in between semesters, which has given us a chance to try it out. I expect that once I retire (my partner retired a few years ago), we will head out the door and explore the world until we can’t anymore. I love hearing about the experiences of people who are already doing it, so please share any tips or insights!
I was just reading your comment above to my wife. We’re happy for you. I’ve written a few articles that speak to our travels in some way and might have some useful tidbits for you. Here’s the latest one.
Retirement on the Road – HumbleDollar
A great thing is that you’re planning this lifestyle, so you’re already down to what will fit in a 5×5. We have a 20×10 that we haven’t seen in >2 years. The decision to keep what we did was right at the time as we didn’t know how long we’d be doing this, but we’re grudgingly making time this month to go back and downsize further. It’s an ongoing struggle to resist the temptation to just leave it…
Thanks for the link – I’m looking forward to checking it out over my second cup of coffee!
I’m glad to see your retirement from the humble dollar only lasted 2 days! 🙂 I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see “Author: Jonathan Clements” this morning on this forum!!