The Retiring Musician

[OldStrummer]

I started this thread to keep the Official OSA Jam - Lou's Cottage thread from getting completely derailed. Here we can discuss what considerations, worries and steps one takes when contemplating retirement. Not just from music (heck, I hope I never retire from playing music!) but from the work world in general.

So, to start with a brief recap: I announced my intention to retire from my employer a month ago. I gave them a long-term final date; six months from the date of the announcement. Now the clock is ticking. I have to arrange for health coverage once my employer-paid healthcare terminates. I also have to begin life without a regular paycheck. And then there's the subject of keeping active and busy.

I've received a lot of good feedback and advice already, so this is a place to continue and move forward. The OSA Jam can continue without our hijacking that thread.

[Bill Moore]

I'll tell you what my old friend Pete used to say, "William, those that retire, go home and sit on the couch, they don't get up!" I opened up a corner in my shop for him, so he had a place to work, or not, and he was still doing machine work 4 months before we lost him! (A month later and he would be 85!)
I'm not doing a lot myself, I still open the shop during the week, but don't do any heavy work. A few other shops in town send me driveability problems to diagnose and/or repair for them. I've got a pickup I've had an engine built for years that I need to get running. I currently have an 18W TMB project in my amp cradle, and several other amp projects I intend to build, I figure as long as I can stay off the couch, I ought to be good for at least another 10 years or so!

[jrgtr42]

When my great-uncle retired, a friend of his told him someothing similar.
So he found a local library to volunteer at, he eventually got involved in the board of that library. It wasn't terribly hard or time consuming, but it gave him a reason to get up.
BEtween that and golf, along with a few other things, it kept him busy for a long time.
So I'd say something like that. Some physical activity, some occupation that keeps the mind active, plus music (obviously...)
One of my other semi-hobbies is tropical fish. (I don't have a lot or huge tanks, but I enjoy keeping them.) The shop near me has been going for over 40 years. The guy who ran it wanted to retire, he was thinking about closing it down for good. One of his employees ended up buying the business, and he basically comes in to work when he feels like it. He still is there several days a week, but he looks better than he has in ages; it's the pressure of being the owner is off.
Obviously he still helps out with that end of things, but it's more for his expertise - the guy has a doctorate in icthyology, he's worked with several research labs around here and so on, but it's the love of the hobby that keeps him going.

[Offshore Angler]

OS,

It's really a question of where you are in life. If you're already at full retirement age you should be collecting Social Security regardless of whether you have retired or not.

If you're within a year or so it's iffy, since you'll only get something like 95% of your full benefits and that's if you go up to a very modest income limit after which they will only pay you $.50 on the dollar of your benefit. Still 50% on top of a salary is nothing to sneeze at.

Retirement really is more of a tax status than an employment status. The only place it gets a little busy is managing your 401K, especially if your account is pre-tax. You'll have to pay taxes on the money when you withdraw it - or have a good accountant and of course, offshore investments.

If you want to quit your job - that's something else completely and a different equation. That's a matter of how much you have as liquid assets and what your budget nut is.

Chuck

[Laker]

I’ll be 77 years old in a bit. I retired from my day gig at 66 1/2 years old and worked, collecting my full salary, while receiving my full social security. It made for a nice downpayment in a new Corvette. I didn’t really have to retire and the company owners would have liked me to stay on with the company. The hardest thing about retiring from the day job was that I enjoyed the people I worked with and losing that daily contact would eventually, disconnect me from those daily interactions. I have never retired from being a musician and hope that I will go to my grave still being considered an active player.

Incidentally, my wife and I have both commented that we seem to have more income from investments and Social Security than we did when we were both working.

[phantomman]

Incidentally, my wife and I have both commented that we seem to have more income from investments and Social Security than we did when we were both working.

I have that same 'problem'.

Ain't it great?

[photoweborama]

Medicare is the way to go! It's the cats meow!

[MacBayne]

I was a forcefully retired vet at 35. 41 ATM.

I had a common-law wife and never had kids. If she came after me when we separated at 34, she would be worse off, monetarily, as she was still a student and I was just getting started with the "American Dream." If she took half my money, she would take half my debt... Yes I am in Canada, but the 2 cars, house in the 'burbs, 1.7 kids, and a picket fence is the same dream.

I joke that I only ever did two things right in my life. Never had kids with her and broke up with her...

We were born the same year, BTW... fuck last I heard, she didn't finish school until last year.

As far as the common theme from some of these posts, I would totally agree. You gotta keep going after you stop (working).

Keeping going is not necessarily physical labour. It's not about "keeping busy." I remember, as a kid, watching something on TV that I didn't enjoy, because I only had two channels, but didn't know what else to do. It was raining and I was a bored child. I think that THAT is the retiree-killer. Allowing boredom to win.

In winter, I do not leave the house, much. It's often around 0 Fahrenheit in winter, where I live, but my mind is ALWAYS occupied. Documentaries, automotive build channels on Youtube, tinkering, and doing my best to learn new things.

In summer, I teach Motorcycle courses two and a half days a week, bicycle often (the Edmonton River Valley is the largest urban park in the world), a day-trip on my motorcycle once per week, and motorcycle race when I can. (real racing, not hooliganism)

My advice to retirees is to eat right, exercise, and move on from your job. When you stop entertaining your brain, it atrophies... and a weak brain is bad news.