^^^
Some excellent suggestions there - a couple I hadn't thought of, but will give more thought to as I start to get a bit more serious about planning my retirement. Cheers.
I retired on a Friday after 42 years. Treated myself to an early knock-off at 3:00pm. Got on a plane at 6:00am the next day and flew to India and rode a motorcycle around the Himalayas for a couple of weeks. Now that was a change of perspective. Also I think it was good because I didn't wake up the next day thinking, "Now I'm retired, what should I do now".There was a young couple on their honeymoon with us. Two years later the wife send us a message that her husband had died of a brain tumour.
Photo for effect....
And that's the thing - you never know when your time is up. I had a major health scare a couple of years back and although I had no symptoms whatsoever, following a proactive mid 50's health check where I pushed for a more comprehensive heart health check, I got booked in for cardiac surgery and had to sign a form for open heart surgery. Ended up with (only) two stents in the Widow Maker artery - which was 95% blocked followed by a 75% blockage. Every medico telling me how lucky I was not to have dropped dead from a heart attack. Again, no symptoms whatsoever other than a long history of (medicated) high blood pressure. Was swimming, cycling and surfing and regularly getting my heart rate up in the mid 150's bpm.
So my perspective on work/life balance and what is important has changed quite a bit. It's taken me a while, but I've since dropped 12kg and got my BP down by 25 points.
during COVID i worked with a specialist surgeon who dealt with strokes. (dunno what that is called)
he said a good portion of his week was seeing people who had spent their life working hard to retire and do all the things they had planned and then had a stroke and were stuck in a wheelchair or similar.
his advice was whatever you want to do in life, don't save it up for retirement.
Select to expand quotemyusernam said..
wow. I wouldnt have thought a seabreezer would post this. after all we are all currently or ex watersports enthusiasts and work always seems to be around the best wind or conditions etc.
i have read a little in the past about the psycology of reitirement and specifically going cruising (sailing) and casting off the trappings of society. Much like the old timer in shawshank redemption we work for so long and live in the 5/7 9 to 5 cycle that we become institutionalised. Once we get freedom we dont know what to do with it and we are so conditioned to our shackles we continue.
With respect to others in this thread who may have done I don't think theres anything sadder than this. Than not having the self awareness, or drive, or appreciation of how finite your time really is, that going back to work is the best solution. Ask yourself on your deathbed if you wish you worked a few more years. Or if you had a terminal diagnosis, would u still work? I guess if you enjoy your work that much good on you but most of us don't. Not all recreational pursuits require a lot of money. If you are that skint there's the option travelling permanently. (as in selling or renting out house or not having a lease)
I also don't believe that organised volunteering or charity is a bit like this. U can't think of or dont know friends, extended family etc that could do with some extra time or attention?
Random retirement ideas
I want to go cruising. Depends on boat size or type. But you don't need to spend a fortune. If you don't have much you can always move onto the boat or sell or rent the house. But you could even do something like buy a cheap arse small boat and sail around australia. (I saw one today for 13k)
This does require some skill. There are also people delivering boats all around the world who want unskilled crew to help. You might need to chip in for food. Help deliver a boat for a few months to another country.
buy an old boat in america and do the great loop (inland canal and river system lnking the gulf of america to the great lakes and back)
or buy an old van and hit the road
Restore an old boat, car or motorbike.
Renovate a house or your kids house. Or buy one to flip. Build an extension
Go camping lots. Fish. Explore. Do tassie in summer. Darwin in the winter. Chase mud crabs, crayfish. oysters. Fish the run off for barra or the whiting run in SA. Make it a yearly thing Dont know how to fish? learn! join a club even.
In fact if you join a fishing or sailing club or any sort of club you can get into the activity without paying lots of money.
You can yacht race for free. literally. Just be willing to help and pass beers.
Walk the birrabumb track. (months long walk from perth to albany) Even in stages. Plenty of hikes around the place.
Do watersports. Chase the seasons and conditions. I dont surf but fancy id like to spend a couple of months somewhere teaching myself. Maybe indo.
Go caravanning. Farmsitting, housesitting. Do those campervan return trips where u drive it back for free.
Go to gnarloo for the surf season. live in a tent. Or indo. Explore Australia. You don't need a huge 4wd and caravan. Do it in the car you have now and a kings swag.
Go fossicking. Do one of those shxtbox rallies. Do the car up first. Raise money for charity
Get a horse and go on a horse safari. stay in pubs.
do some woodworking. join a mens shed. turn your hand at homebrewing or making wine or hunting. Spearfishing. bowhinting. harvest deer meat or roo.
I.e. got elderly parents? hang out with them. Do jobs around their house, go over for cups of tea etc.
Got kids? help renovate their houses. Cook them a meal midweek. look after the grandkids. Take the grandkids away on andventures all school holiday and give their parents a break
Garden. Grow your own veggies. Make a chicken run. Have a crack at permaculture or self sufficiency. Maybe u can afford a hobby farm or bush block.. Rear cattle or pigs or chooks.
Make your own sourdough daily. Maybe get so good at it you give to friends or sell in the local market
Go to the gym. swim laps. get or stay fit
Mow the old lady down the streets lawn. Mow yr friends lawn who is still working and leave a curry on the stove as a surprise.
Have a standing weekly golf game with your mates. Have a standing weekly fishing day with other mates. Or mountain bike ride.
Get into hobby aviation. Yr old so it wont be such a shame if you die. Those paramotors look cool. Dont look at flysurfers xray posts.
start a youtube channel on something you are interested in.
build a camper trailer. Build a boat. Modify your house. Weld shxt. Make a hell mad max style beach buggie out of scrap. maybe build one of those little jet boats with a wrecked jet ski motor. rebuild an old standup jetski and learn that.
go on dirt bike safaris. go on epiq kyaking or canoing trips.
Bum around south east asia. International travel costs a lot to go there and back but once you are there in a cheap country u can subsist on not much. rent out your house if u have to.
get an old fridge compressor and learn how to vacuum bag and make yourself a board.
walk your dogs. breed dogs.
do a snow season somewhere. Make it more cost-neutral by working. meet people through work. (see we only think about going for two or three weeks and the cost, but if you have unlimited time you could go for five months, work at a lodge etc)
Do some work for something you might enjoy like on a pro fishing vessel for a month or two, or on a farm or out in the wilderness. . Fark i reckon I would offer to help out for free.
I was at Porcupine Gorge recently and there were some grey nomads who had parked their vans there and were working as tour guides (paid). every arvo they would have a few beers around the fire and watch the sunset etc.
Some of these are not my thing (lots are) but it doesnt even matter even if you want to learn to dance, or sew or play lawn bowls, join the bridge club or whatever.
Not everything costs a lot of money and with the freedom of time you have lots of things you can do funds permitting. If you have low funds you might still be able to do because you have time in abundance. And if you dont have enough funds well we are all there to some extent.
Excellent list!
Was recently reading there is a trend of recent retirees in Australia spending a significant portion of their savings on caravans and cars and then travelling around Australia.
I'm happy staying within my postcode, it covers most of my needs. I did a fair bit of travelling throughout my life and the grey nomad thing has little interest for me. However, I am partial to the odd short holiday in a big Asian city. Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping under the stars - as long as there are 4 or 5 of them.
I'm quite content with regional life - surfing, fishing, walking, gardening, talking sh1t with people, the slower pace and waking up each morning to an ocean view.
Select to expand quotesaid..myusernam said..
wow. I wouldnt have thought a seabreezer would post this. after all we are all currently or ex watersports enthusiasts and work always seems to be around the best wind or conditions etc.
i have read a little in the past about the psycology of reitirement and specifically going cruising (sailing) and casting off the trappings of society. Much like the old timer in shawshank redemption we work for so long and live in the 5/7 9 to 5 cycle that we become institutionalised. Once we get freedom we dont know what to do with it and we are so conditioned to our shackles we continue.
With respect to others in this thread who may have done I don't think theres anything sadder than this. Than not having the self awareness, or drive, or appreciation of how finite your time really is, that going back to work is the best solution. Ask yourself on your deathbed if you wish you worked a few more years. Or if you had a terminal diagnosis, would u still work? I guess if you enjoy your work that much good on you but most of us don't. Not all recreational pursuits require a lot of money. If you are that skint there's the option travelling permanently. (as in selling or renting out house or not having a lease)
I also don't believe that organised volunteering or charity is a bit like this. U can't think of or dont know friends, extended family etc that could do with some extra time or attention?
Random retirement ideas
I want to go cruising. Depends on boat size or type. But you don't need to spend a fortune. If you don't have much you can always move onto the boat or sell or rent the house. But you could even do something like buy a cheap arse small boat and sail around australia. (I saw one today for 13k)
This does require some skill. There are also people delivering boats all around the world who want unskilled crew to help. You might need to chip in for food. Help deliver a boat for a few months to another country.
buy an old boat in america and do the great loop (inland canal and river system lnking the gulf of america to the great lakes and back)
or buy an old van and hit the road
Restore an old boat, car or motorbike.
Renovate a house or your kids house. Or buy one to flip. Build an extension
Go camping lots. Fish. Explore. Do tassie in summer. Darwin in the winter. Chase mud crabs, crayfish. oysters. Fish the run off for barra or the whiting run in SA. Make it a yearly thing Dont know how to fish? learn! join a club even.
In fact if you join a fishing or sailing club or any sort of club you can get into the activity without paying lots of money.
You can yacht race for free. literally. Just be willing to help and pass beers.
Walk the birrabumb track. (months long walk from perth to albany) Even in stages. Plenty of hikes around the place.
Do watersports. Chase the seasons and conditions. I dont surf but fancy id like to spend a couple of months somewhere teaching myself. Maybe indo.
Go caravanning. Farmsitting, housesitting. Do those campervan return trips where u drive it back for free.
Go to gnarloo for the surf season. live in a tent. Or indo. Explore Australia. You don't need a huge 4wd and caravan. Do it in the car you have now and a kings swag.
Go fossicking. Do one of those shxtbox rallies. Do the car up first. Raise money for charity
Get a horse and go on a horse safari. stay in pubs.
do some woodworking. join a mens shed. turn your hand at homebrewing or making wine or hunting. Spearfishing. bowhinting. harvest deer meat or roo.
I.e. got elderly parents? hang out with them. Do jobs around their house, go over for cups of tea etc.
Got kids? help renovate their houses. Cook them a meal midweek. look after the grandkids. Take the grandkids away on andventures all school holiday and give their parents a break
Garden. Grow your own veggies. Make a chicken run. Have a crack at permaculture or self sufficiency. Maybe u can afford a hobby farm or bush block.. Rear cattle or pigs or chooks.
Make your own sourdough daily. Maybe get so good at it you give to friends or sell in the local market
Go to the gym. swim laps. get or stay fit
Mow the old lady down the streets lawn. Mow yr friends lawn who is still working and leave a curry on the stove as a surprise.
Have a standing weekly golf game with your mates. Have a standing weekly fishing day with other mates. Or mountain bike ride.
Get into hobby aviation. Yr old so it wont be such a shame if you die. Those paramotors look cool. Dont look at flysurfers xray posts.
start a youtube channel on something you are interested in.
build a camper trailer. Build a boat. Modify your house. Weld shxt. Make a hell mad max style beach buggie out of scrap. maybe build one of those little jet boats with a wrecked jet ski motor. rebuild an old standup jetski and learn that.
go on dirt bike safaris. go on epiq kyaking or canoing trips.
Bum around south east asia. International travel costs a lot to go there and back but once you are there in a cheap country u can subsist on not much. rent out your house if u have to.
get an old fridge compressor and learn how to vacuum bag and make yourself a board.
walk your dogs. breed dogs.
do a snow season somewhere. Make it more cost-neutral by working. meet people through work. (see we only think about going for two or three weeks and the cost, but if you have unlimited time you could go for five months, work at a lodge etc)
Do some work for something you might enjoy like on a pro fishing vessel for a month or two, or on a farm or out in the wilderness. . Fark i reckon I would offer to help out for free.
I was at Porcupine Gorge recently and there were some grey nomads who had parked their vans there and were working as tour guides (paid). every arvo they would have a few beers around the fire and watch the sunset etc.
Some of these are not my thing (lots are) but it doesnt even matter even if you want to learn to dance, or sew or play lawn bowls, join the bridge club or whatever.
Not everything costs a lot of money and with the freedom of time you have lots of things you can do funds permitting. If you have low funds you might still be able to do because you have time in abundance. And if you dont have enough funds well we are all there to some extent.
Excellent list!
Was recently reading there is a trend of recent retirees in Australia spending a significant portion of their savings on caravans and cars and then travelling around Australia.
I'm happy staying within my postcode, it covers most of my needs. I did a fair bit of travelling throughout my life and the grey nomad thing has little interest for me. However, I am partial to the odd short holiday in a big Asian city. Don't get me wrong, I love sleeping under the stars - as long as there are 4 or 5 of them.
I'm quite content with regional life - surfing, fishing, walking, gardening, talking sh1t with people, the slower pace and waking up each morning to an ocean view.
I've never thought too deeply about retirement, it's always been something way off in the future, and as per my previous post, something perhaps out of reach. Now between the two of you, you're giving me a few ideas on how I might like to spend it, and how I might be able to do it.
still a long way off, but thanks for the tips.
I quit work at the end of April, not travelled very much and only ever had 4 weeks off a year. To young to access super, so I have rented my house to a couple of my kids. Moved onto my boat, the marina berth is paid up until the end on June, about a week to go. After that my partner and I will be living off the hook. Heading up to the reef for starters later on this week.
I wonder if I have seen some of you in the Bunnings woodworking aisle last Friday morning 
I'm only few years behind you, keep the good advice coming fellas!
Looking at the ocean from my caravan in Broome. Bit windy so might need something warmer than shorts t-shirt.
Don't wait too long. I still do a few days a week work but have holidays when I want to and for as long as I want.
I retired, mainly because my network that fed me work retired too. I'd never had to look for work and didn't fancy the idea of proving to some twirp why I was worth the big bucks.
The thing about being retired, and old, is you need to work out what really matters to you then enjoy the process.
We hear about, and dream about all these things that are going to be amazing when we no longer have to work. Most of them, when you actually do them, become tedious and annoying. It's actually the really small things that make the difference.
A good sleep, a good coffee in the morning, learning something new or perfecting something you've been working at for a while. Being fit and healthy is right up there. Get all that stuff right and everything else drops into place.
^she's probably high maintenance. She rode really fast until her bike broke in half. I'd stay away.
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
Remery, you still got her number..?
How would you introduce yourself?
"Hi I'm Mark_Australia from seabreeze.com.au Remery gave me your number.
I got in 5 minutes too late, but even being on centerlink I'm in the 10% of wealthiest people in the world."
Several months ago, while investigating my own sabatical/retirement I mentioned the acronym FIRE and the 4% rule.
FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. My understanding of FIRE is it's a movement focused on saving, investing, and living within your means to achieve financial independence and retire much earlier.
The key principles of FIRE are:
a high savings rate
Investing wisely
the 4% Rule - if you withdraw 4% of your portfolio annually, it should last indefinitely and you will retain your initial investment.
Obviously there are some risks with FIRE:
There could be poor returns early in retirement that can can negate savings.
Rising insurance costs, early retirees must plan for insurance, especially health and home insurance.
Lifestyle trade offs - extreme saving may not be sustainable or allow for daily consumption of smashed avacado on toast at local cafes.
To get started with FIRE:
Start tracking expenses and minimize spending,
Maximize income with side hustles, and career growth.
Invest in tax-advantaged accounts like superannuation.
Aim for a portfolio 25x your annual expenses (based on the 4% rule).
In Australia experts estimate to live well for couple you need around $73k per year, if you own your own house outright.
So that means to retire as a couple you only need to have a portfolio valued at a little over $1,8m to achieve FIRE.
Good luck breezers.
At 70 years of age 5 percent of superannuation must be withdrawn annually (actually starts at 65) and travel is a drama because of the high cost of travel insurance.
Doesn't that only apply to people who have switched their super into retirement phase? It's my understanding that I can move my savings from the pocket marked "my investments" into the pocket marked "my super account" for the tax advantage until I'm 75.
And you don't even have to put in any actual work to take advantage of super. The rules saying you had to were cancelled a couple of years ago.
I believe the percentage rules only apply to retirement-phase, not to accumulation super accounts.
From age 65-74, the minimum withdrawal rate is 5% of the balance. After 74 The percentage increases gradually with age.
Select to expand quoteairsail said..
And the biggest barrier to retiring early.....kids
Tell them to get jobs and support you
Select to expand quoteairsail said..
And the biggest barrier to retiring early.....kids
I read each kid costs around $1m and after all of that they tell you f'ck off.
I think $1m is a tad on the high side
That said though, they are the gift that keeps you giving.
Select to expand quotemyscreenname said..
I read each kid costs around $1m and after all of that they tell you f'ck off.
i can get you one for $200k, PM me
I consider myself very lucky. Retired at 68 (79 next month) as sold my small 2 person business, took 2 yrs to wind down gradually and now dread the thought of having to work.
Had a Riviera flybridge cruiser for 19 years and did a couple of runs from Lake Macquarie to Port Stephens and the Hawksbury, sold it a coupleofmonthsago. Mostly just kite surfed etc and now Windwing foiling when 5kn plus.
Do several short always stays all the way to the Hunter Valley and Port Stephens, bike ride with my wife on these stays.
Just finished a Foil Drive Assist session on this beautiful day.
My Garmin watch indicates that I have the fitness of a 66 yo, not sure about that.
Select to expand quotewarwickl said..
I consider myself very lucky. Retired at 68 (79 next month) as sold my small 2 person business, took 2 yrs to wind down gradually and now dread the thought of having to work.
Had a Riviera flybridge cruiser for 19 years and did a couple of runs from Lake Macquarie to Port Stephens and the Hawksbury, sold it a coupleofmonthsago. Mostly just kite surfed etc and now Windwing foiling when 5kn plus.
Do several short always stays all the way to the Hunter Valley and Port Stephens, bike ride with my wife on these stays.
Just finished a Foil Drive Assist session on this beautiful day.
My Garmin watch indicates that I have the fitness of a 66 yo, not sure about that.
That is the key. Do something every day
It well known that it is important to have a purpose in life.
When retired this can become a challenge at times for many and without a purpose one is just existing not living.
Sadly nursing homes are full of people just existing ??.
So what is a purpose - well it's different for each of us and the older we get it becomes harder to have a purpose.
A purpose can be significant and complex eg running a large voluntary group, planning a world trip, researching and buying the best foiling gear etc. As we get older it can be as simple as have a pet and looking after it. Before going to bed each night identify your purpose for the next day and finish each day satisfied that something was achieved no matter how small.
To sum up identify what purpose in life works for you.
Select to expand quotewarwickl said..
It well known that it is important to have a purpose in life.
Yes, but I think it's just another psychological crutch.
My purpose is to be able to live without psychological crutches.
Select to expand quotewarwickl said..
It well known that it is important to have a purpose in life.
Carantoc's purpose is to win Seabreeze.com.au. Currently I see myself as well ahead.
