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bajacalifornian
Super Nomad
Posts: 1117
Registered: 9-4-2010
Location: Loreto/Lopez Mateos/Rosarito
Member Is Offline
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Why 1 in 5 US workers won't retire
Above, on the screen this morning.
Every now and again, A guy drinks or smokes or whatever, and then hits the send button.
Occasionally, best to consider a delete order . . .
Anyway, I say an American is dependent on his stuff and things . . . with ambition for more stuff and things in the future.
A Mexican, well, doesn't have a bunch of storage sheds to hold his stuff.
Talk of 2 thousand $ or less, or should I, or shall I . . .
For me, I had no decision time. A brittle diabetic falling fast, in an unusually stressful occupation, I selected "live".
Best thing I ever did. For my sons too.
If work is getting you down or making you ill, don't let it happen. Live.
I like Eli, the Nomad.
A gringo headed south, you must first learn patience & finally learn, you don't have to spend a bunch of money.
Aside, I believe citizenship supports conviction of your changed value system.
American by birth, Mexican by choice.
Signature addendum: Danish physicist — Niels Bohr — who said, “The opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.
Jeff Petersen
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55steve
Senior Nomad
Posts: 857
Registered: 4-24-2006
Location: Warner Springs, CA
Member Is Offline
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I retired at 62 at the end of April this year - best thing I could have done!
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: thriving in Baja
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Why 1 in 5 US workers won't retire???
I watched that on the news this AM also and the bottom line was that they really can't afford too because they have only saved enough to live (with
the same lifestyle?) for 10 years (in the USA).
Somebody needs to clue them in about Baja living!
Bob Durrell
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J.P.
Super Nomad
Posts: 1673
Registered: 7-8-2010
Location: Punta Banda
Member Is Offline
Mood: Easy Does It
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One of the first things I learned in retirement. once I eliminated the cost assonated with working I had more disposable income than I did when I
worked. Then no car payments, no house payment, token property rental and living in Baja I can actually save money out of my Retirement Income.
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Heather
Nomad
Posts: 370
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: National City, CA
Member Is Offline
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My 78 year old dad, after 30 years as a US Marine, is on his second career as a security guard. He says he'll retire when he turns 80!
I'm sure he could afford to retire, but he loves his job at a private housing area on the beach in Oceanside. He's a real people person and going to
work a couple times a week keeps him busy!
If he retired though he may have to give up his hobbies of the race-track, the casinos, and daily lotto tickets!
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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I retired at 57, 17 years ago, and it has been a total blessing.
Yippppppeeeeee!!!
Barry
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bajagrouper
Senior Nomad
Posts: 964
Registered: 8-28-2003
Location: Rincon de Guayabitos, Nayarit, Mexico
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy and retired
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I saw a report awhile back that stated people spend more time planning a vacation than their retirement.....
also the average American household has credit card debt at $15.000+, many folks have to keep working well past regular retirement age...que lastima
[Edited on 9-20-2013 by bajagrouper]
I hear the whales song
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dtutko1
Nomad
Posts: 341
Registered: 8-26-2009
Member Is Offline
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Jeff you are right. I was able to retire at 54 in 2001. Lots of planning, paying things off while you're working, and most importantly living within
your means and getting off the consumption band wagon. Grow a tomato, catch a fish, and surround yourself with goodtimes friends and family. I can
live well and save $ on $2000/month.
Dorado Don
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yellowklr
Senior Nomad
Posts: 507
Registered: 4-14-2006
Member Is Offline
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retiring on my 50th birthday and not a day longer
Can't wait!
Derek
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Lobsterman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1682
Registered: 10-7-2008
Member Is Offline
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I retired 2.5 years ago at 64 after working fulltime since 16. Like others I could not wait for retirement and planned for a blissful retirement life.
After about a year of travel, fishing, golfing, and many other activities I felt something was still missing in my daily activities. That being the
feeling at the end of the day you had exercised your brain to the max, had productive physical exercise and had a feeling of accomplishment. I looked
around for various organizations both commercial and voluntary I could assist. I settled on a nationwide company that would fit my technical expertise
and physical needs, i.e. field electronic installations. Since then I've had assignments in Molokai, Tucson, Bellingham, WA and a few San Diego
sites. Yesterday I just got back from Redlands, CA. 107 degrees in the shade. I'm writing this piece beat up, bruised and physically exhausted from
digging holes in rocky soil, driving in 10' grounding rods by hand, climbing 30' towers replacing the cables (imagine a cellphone tower), j-boxes, as
well as replacing equipment racks and its electrical and electronic wires. This was the piece of mental and physical satisfaction that was missing in
my retirement. Fitness center exercising, walking, golfing, etc. just did not cut it for me.
I am now vacation relief for the fulltimers and work projects for 1-5 weeks at a time about 3-4 months total yearly. I get to pick where and whom I
want to work with. Next year we have a year of work on Maui & the Big Island. The pay is not great less than a 1/3 of what I use to make but the
per diem is tax free ($100/day for food in Hawaii). I lost $1800 in SS because I was paid too much last year and thus will not get another SS check
until Feb. This year I can make unlimited money.
I'm almost 67 and will probably work until I'm not physically able or my mind goes. I guess I'm just wired differently than others, no pun intended.
The extra cash will pay for my upcoming "Bucket List" Baja fishing adventure, 7 days at Rancho Leonero and a week at Mag Bay as well as other similar
trips in the future. On the drive home from Mag Bay I will be checking out various spots to rent for a future fishing camp. I'll be a week in BOC in
March.
Even though I have a handsome retirement annuity from working, 401k and SS, the part time job allows me extras that I would not normally be able to
comfortably afford.
[Edited on 9-20-2013 by Lobsterman]
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Lobsterman
I'm almost 67 and will probably work until I'm not physically able or my mind goes. I guess I'm just wired differently than others, no pun intended.
The extra cash will pay for my upcoming "Bucket List" Baja fishing adventure, 7 days at Rancho Leonero and a week at Mag Bay as well as other similar
trips in the future. On the drive home from Mag Bay I will be checking out various spots to rent for a future fishing camp. I'll be a week in BOC in
March
[Edited on 9-20-2013 by Lobsterman] |
Keep adding to that "Bucket List" and maybe your heirs will be able to do the things you thought of.
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: thriving in Baja
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In Sept 1999 I told the company that I was working for in the SF bay area that I would be retiring in Sept 2000. In June 2000 I sold my house up
there and bought another in Fallbrook, CA. Sept 2000 came and as I was packing my office stuff the boss came by and asked what I was doing and I said
"clearing out my desk because tomorrow is my last day". He asked why and I told him I had given a one year notice of my retirement back in 1999. He
said he had completely forgotten about that and could I please stay until he hired my replacement and I trained him. I told him that was not possible
since I had sold my home and already purchased another in SoCal.
Well to make this shorter we mutually agreed that the company would hire me back as a consultant for one year with the following caveats:
1. $50 more/ hr than my current salary
2. 40 hour week including a full day for paid travel at both ends of my commute from Fallbrook
3. $750 / week for travel and living expenses
4. No other benefits
So that's what I did for a year. An 8 hour drive form Fallbrook to Hollister every Monday and another 8 hours driving home on Fridays. In between 3
days of work and interviewing training my replacement after he was hired.
After my year was up I still was a consultant to them (and one of their competitors) on an as needed basis until I moved to Baja in 2005.
Bob Durrell
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tjsue
Senior Nomad
Posts: 519
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
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I took my Social Security early due to the loss of my job, but I'll never be able to retire. Living in TJ, I'll only have to work part-time, if I
stayed in San Diego, I'd have to work three jobs to make rent and ends meet.
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Sweetwater
Senior Nomad
Posts: 915
Registered: 11-26-2010
Member Is Offline
Mood: chilly today hot tomale
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I took my pension at age 54, not so much because I wanted to but more because the deck got shuffled and they dealt new cards. I grandfathered into the
original deal which allows me open access to double dip or work anywhere for anyone without penalties. If I had not qualified and signed on, I would
be subject to the 'new' deal which restricted all those things.
I kept my per diem position for 2 more years, officially, but haven't worked at all for just about 2 years. I have been to England, Italy, Peru, Baja
x3 and Barronces del Cobre. I have done activities and spent time with my 86 yo dad. This might not be considered productive by some but it has been
great.
My wife chooses to continue to work and enjoys her career. It's not an issue since she can step out at any time but both her positions treat her well.
We had a great discussion driving down the local freeway tonight. So many speeding cars, so many new, expensive cars and trucks. So much ego, so much
pressure. You can see it on some of the faces......gotta go, gotta get there, gotta look like I'm successful.....
I've learned many lessons since I retired that might have gotten to me eventually but I'm grateful that I understand them now...
Everbody\'s preachin\' at me that we all wanna git to heaven, trouble is, nobody wants to die to git there.-BB King
Reality is what does not go away when you stop believing in it. -Philip K Dick
Nothing is worse than active ignorance. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749-1832, German writer, artist and politician)
When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I\'ve never tried before. - Mae West
Experience is what keeps a man who makes the same mistake twice from admitting it the third time around.
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MulegeAL
Nomad
Posts: 298
Registered: 8-25-2009
Location: PDX/Mulege
Member Is Offline
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One of the great lessons of baja for me was learning how little it takes to be happy and sufficient vs. the stateside mentality of how much does it
take. It is a lesson that is kinda tough to learn stateside, but after spending time on remote ranchos in baja, it became obvious how little it takes
to be happy day to day, what is important, what is fluff. When I read that managers live 5 to 7 years less than normal people I knew it was time to
make some changes.
I "retired" at 54 , and I'm still trying to quit "working" if you can call it that: renting race tracks, filling them with pals on bikes, telling them
why they're slow and them thanking me for it! Fun and pays well, I'm a lucky dude.
Really looking fwd to getting down south this winter, too much fluff/silly agenda here up norte.
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by soulpatch
I retired at age 50..... I am almost exactly a year into it! I love it and highly recommend it.
Yes, I could have stayed and exponentially beefed up my retirement income... or, I could have died, that being the only guarantee in life.
I can not believe how full my days are. It is amazing to be retired with a young wife, two active children who's days I am involved in heavily.
But, I appreciate all the workers. If that works for them then that is great. After working my entire life, yes, even as a child, I like the
not-working aspect much better. |
It is so wonderful that you are having such a great time!
Retiring early does not always mean now working, so to speak. We retired very early --- left well paying jobs and if we had stayed there for another
10 years, we would definitely have more income today, or as soulpatch said, be dead.
We took off for Central American and worked there for a couple of years for very little tangible pay, but a lifetime of memories and experiences that
we would not trade for cash. We had applied for the Peace Corp, but a tiny little school in the backwaters of Honduras called first. We would
have stayed longer except for some family issues at home.
We decided to work a bit more so spent 5 years teaching in Calexico which is a suburb of Mexicali. That put us in our late 50s and we decided to figure out a budget and stop working.
Life on this side of work is great for us.
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vgabndo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3461
Registered: 12-8-2003
Location: Mt. Shasta, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Checking-off my bucket list.
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I will first admit that I didn't plan very well for my future. When I "joined the system" I had been working in construction management for some time
when my developing skills made me valuable on the nation-wide market. The problem was that to survive on the East Coast in the Mafia controlled
portions of the country, I had to join the Carpenter's Union. Also, my SF based Corporation didn't offer ANY benefits beyond an hourly wage.
I paid into that system for 14.3 years until I got hurt on the job. My exceptional ability to create good outcomes from the garbage plans and specs I
was given had resulted in my being stuck in the field, on the ground, because to promote me was to lose a man far too valuable in my present position.
They just started piling-on merit raises above my Union scale wages to keep me in the "trenches". When I got hurt, they looked at my pay, and my age,
and after 17 years with the company, called me back for two weeks to get me off disability! (GAP Corporation) They didn't check to see if I survived
my surgery.
The Carpenters union prohibited me from doing any non-union work which even resembled construction. They forced me to force them to change their rules
for every retired Northern California Carpenter when they illegally declared it illegal to be a Home Inspector in the Real Estate Industry. Having to
shut my business while I fought them was disastrous to my reputation.
To take an early retirement from the Carpenters, I had to take a 30% cut in benefits. My retirement was reduced another 75% by my Health Insurance
premiums being deducted. And over the years, as the Republican WAR on labor unions became more successful, our Health and Welfare program has been
savaged. Each of the last two years, my premiums have increased by $75.00 per month. (now $650.00/ mo.) I expect this will continue until I starve or
die from returned gunfire.
When I got cancer, my Cadillac health insurance, proved useless to prevent financial ruin. I kept a roof over my head with a Reverse Mortgage, and at
70 I have a part time job in a fast food joint. (It helps a lot)
Perhaps if BOTH political parties had participated in US health care reform, things might have been different, but the GOP dug in it's heels to insure
that Obama failed at EVERYTHING, and their "patriotism" has seen America plummet into an economic septic tank. The liberal "turd" that was my life,
was one of the first to be flushed. Thanks a lot.
Unlike dominant Red State demographics, I have never been arrested, never seen a food stamp, never seen a welfare check, don't smoke cigarettes, never
got a teen-ager pregnant, I am not obese, and was a Marine before I could vote to have a say in where I was sent to die. I have voted in every
national election since I turned 21. I have always paid more taxes than what I got back. (I live a Blue State)
Am I a bit angry at the fools who have voted to savage our social safety net in order to farther enrich the super-rich? Here's the affirmative
statement you've awaited, and which I like to put in my posts. Yes! Could I live on two grand a month in Mexico? Hell, that'd be sweet in
California!
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
Member Is Offline
Mood: mellow
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I retired in '91 at age 55.
Had a nightclub/disco in a shopping center in Sacramento.
Got lucky!! The main anchor, a grocery chain, wanted to expand and I was the only business, with a extended lease, in their way. They ended up making
me an offer I couldn't refuse, and with that, and some rental properties, and our own house free and clear, decided to call it quits.
Best decision I ever made.
Build a nice house in Loreto/Nopolo, on the golf course and the sea, and never looked back. Believe to be in a very envious position.
Now if I just could keep from getting older. 
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DianaT
Select Nomad
Posts: 10020
Registered: 12-17-2004
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vandenberg
.......
Now if I just could keep from getting older. |
Now if you can figure out a positive way to achieve that goal, please share it as it seems to be happening faster and faster and so far, a dirt nap is
the only alternative I can find, and we are NOT ready for that.
Then again, we think that to continue to be on the move, with a different definition for all, keeps the brain from growing moldy and that helps.
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Whale-ista
Super Nomad
Posts: 2009
Registered: 2-18-2013
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sunny with chance of whales
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Cost of living in Ensenada for retirees?
I'm considering taking retirement soon. What are the living costs like in Ensenada these days? Are there many nomads living in/near Ensenada who could
offer their perspectives?
20 years ago a partner and I invested in some properties at San Miguel. Last time I visited in the spring it was busy and crowded at the restaurant.
I've been waiting for an opportunity to either rebuild or sell a lot there. Lots of activity going on.
If anyone has direct knowledge of Ensenada as a retirement location, I'd appreciate a reply.
I'm also looking for advice regarding property ownership for non-Mexican citizens.
(We keep hearing rumors of changes to the constitution. )
Thank you!
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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