what to do? what to do?

[Lucinda Stone]

gawd, i hate decisions.....  getting to be the time to think about retirement.  i can work the rest of the year and basically quit my job next january...  start collecting soc sec early at 62, i have 2 pensions i already get, and could work part-time and be sorta ok... altho a big expense would be health insurance, altho could be doable with the obamacare. however, the expense of living up north is just not at all possible in that scenario.

plan a---  quit the job, collect the money and head south since i could easily afford a florida condo or house, most familiar with fort myers area on the gulf coast... downside, family and friends up here, altho they all travel so would be visiting from time to time...  get a little part-time gig, just to pay the insurance until medicare kicks in and get a tan!! that's like a priority... being from new england, i'm tired of the pasty-white... and do my sewing business...

plan b--- status quo...keep working until they pry my cold dead fingers off the keyboard... upside i would get more soc sec the longer i work, but can i last another 3-5 years doing this job? when i really want to get my sewing business going? my job is ok but...

if i go, yeah, it's a whole new world and adventure.. and alone (my mother and aunt are snowbirds down there, my daughter has been there a while, not sure how long she will be staying there, she's doing the traveling nurse thing)

people up here say they will miss me, which is kinda funny since i hardly see any of them now...

big plus is the lack of snow and ice, i despise driving in that crap, gives me agita to the nth degree... as for southern heat, that's why they invented air-conditioning....

if i stay, more of the same old same old... not 100% happy in current situation but it's ok, have food shelter and insurance... but my soul/spirit is tired...

i figure the first 20yrs of my life was growing up, the next 20 was the married and kids, the last 20 have just freakin flown by...  so shouldn't the last 20 be for me??

 

[Lifesighs]

I retired at 59 took the gamble of no insurance till medicare kicked in at 65, no regrets however you have to make up your mind for yourself. I had a great pension so does my husband and he was already doing medicare and social security. Living your life the way you want is/was my deciding factor. I could have had an even better pension if I had waited 6 mos. couldn't make myself do it. Enough is enough. Being retired is the best time of life for me.

[crestofwaves]

Yes.  This is YOUR time now.  I retired in June and make 1/3 of what I used to make, which was a good hefty salary.  I can live on it, but I don't like seeing my checking account go down to $200 before I get another check.  So, I sub a little here and there.  I will be subbing three days this week, but I took the last two weeks totally off.  A day here, a day there gives me a little cushion with the big NEast Bills for heating and taxes.

 

If I NEVER had to go in to work at all ever, I would like that even better.  I don't miss the people I worked with because the ones I cared about, I am still in contact with, plus my free time has enabled me to hook up with a friend I had lost touch with over the years, so I have a gypsying partner if I want. And I play online, read whatever I want ( I picked up Camus' The Plague because I never read it, and broughr it back to the library half read--dont need to read that shit anymore, lol.) When it's warm, I take my dog for long walks.  I still have a husband and we do things on the weekend. I am OK with it.  Maybe after taking this year off, I will need to do something more constructive, but for right now, me me me is fine.

 

I have NOOOOOOOOOO regrets about retiring.  I worked since I was 16.  So, YES, I say unto you.  It is YOUR time. 

[Marianne Kiendl]

You know, life never turns out the way you expect, and it is a lot shorter sometimes than you think.  Seize the day, take the plunge while you are still young and healthy enough to enjoy it. Sunshine every day in Florida!

[frenchy]

well just my 2 cents cindy but i'm pretty sure i told you before the prices of condo's and houses down here wasn't gonna stay low for too long .. and i saw on the news yesterday that in the last year in the ft. myers area as of nov. our values have gone up about 6%.. with the great fall we had down here ( and it was a lot harder and further down down here than just about anywhere in the usa ) i'm sure that the rebound will be a lot higher and a lot faster once it starts .. and its startin ... NOW ..  so whatever you save you may not makeup if you figure in the cost of your condo if it goes up 24% in the next couple of years .. and it just might .. it may go up even more  when you figure they were sellin houses that went for 300k for less than 100k just a couple of years ago .. i understand all the trepidation you have but if you decide to not retire i'd suggest you at least try and lock in your condo asap and then rent it till you retire .. but i'd have to say i agree with everybody else here .. its your time now and you'll never get these last few years back once they're gone .. money ?/ yeah its important but its not everything .. if you had to you could learn to live on less .. and its not really that hard once you get used to it .. marianne says seize the day .. i agree .cresty says she worked all her life since she was 16 and has nooooo regrets its your time .. i agree.. lifey says retirement is the best time of life for her .. i believe her .. ( she looks kinda shifty but i think thats just an act ) .. just kiddin .. pat says it ain't selfish to think of yourself at this time cause you deserve it .. i agree .mrmusic says it wasn't his plan to retire early but now that he has he ain't sorry .. so..what to do >. you say you don't see your family that much anyway and they'll come down so you won't really miss em.. you hate the cold and the snow and the drivin on the ice ..you hate that pasty white skin you have and want a tan .. ( actually i never thought a woman looked better with a tan but thats just me ) and you'd like to get some kinda sewin biz goin before its too late .. and your soul is tired .. hmmm.. gee what to do ?? do you have any real pro's at all to put in the stay up north column ?? its gonna be 80 degrees here today and probably somewhere around that mark all week ... did i leave anything out ??  so far you should be packin already ..      

[dwalt]

I am in the same boat.  Wouldn't be working now if I didn't have to have health insurance.  I do have a great job and I love the people (mostly) I work for and with so I am lucky there.  When I do retire I will leave this stupid state for sure. 

[blithe spirit]

Cindy, if you are at all thinking about FL for retirement and wanting to buy real estate, now is time I think...Frenchy is right about the market where he is and where I am is the same thing. I have a friend who is a realtor and she says the bottom is now and it is starting to go up. I am in Central FL. I bought a house about a year ago...it's been the perfect time for me. I won't be retiring any time soon however...I need the medical coverage.

[Lucinda Stone]

ok, the votes are in...  one year from now i will be dipping my toes in the gulf coast waters...  once i wrote things out here, and got your unbiased opinions and advice and info, it was pretty clear to me, that barring any catastrophic issues, i will be heading south.   next will be the real estate adventure.  leaning more towards house than condo, thinking being condo fee monies could be applied to a better house...  would like to have one of those 'caged' pools off the lanai, and then, of course, would need to have a cabana boy :)

so i thank all of you folks for your input, it is time for me....

[Marianne Kiendl]

Happy to hear that!

[frenchy]

in one year a 109k house might cost 149k .. i'd start lookin now cindy .. rent it if you must but look now .. 

[Lucinda Stone]

that's what i'm thinking, buy now and rent out til i get there...  actually, i could have my daughter live there, just thought of that... 

[ProblemAgain]

cabana boys seem quite popular for some reason.....

[blithe spirit]

I'm thinking he needs a moustache...needs too look a bit more rakish...hmmm