Thread: I'm Going Back to Work (I Think)

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Has anyone considered going back to work after retiring? I have sat here on my fannie and watched the stock market eat away at what I have worked a life time making.My broker says hang in there it'll be back.I don't think he knows I am 70 and may not live to see it come back.I think working will help offset the loss.At 70 I'll probable have to take a greeters job or something less.Man I am pis_ _ _.I got one interview from the resume I had at a head hunter company. I may be crazy for even trying to go back.

Don,
I'm in the same boat as you but I'll only be 65 in three months. There is NO WAY I'd go back to work, 43 years on the same job was tooooooooo much for me, I'd rather pick aluminum cans along the side of the road before I'd go back to work. Maybe put the wife to work but no me.
I used to get migraines three time a month and they would last three days. When I retired........... the migraines left.

Don I wish I could work, but my body & doctor refuses to let me. If anything came out of my disability it was I got to watch my son go up, been able to take care of my wife and my parents & in-laws as they grew older.

Originally Posted by Don Dalton

Has anyone considered going back to work after retiring? I have sat here on my fannie and watched the stock market eat away at what I have worked a life time making.My broker says hang in there it'll be back.I don't think he knows I am 70 and may not live to see it come back.I think working will help offset the loss.At 70 I'll probable have to take a greeters job or something less.Man I am pis_ _ _.I got one interview from the resume I had at a head hunter company. I may be crazy for even trying to go back.

Since you are a car guy,you might do what I do.I watch craigslist and local swap meets for Performance parts and if I can score a good deal, I clean it up and resell it at a profit.I have had intakes I bought locally for $25-$50 sell for over $190 on ebay. It's fun to do something with something you enjoy anyway.

When I lost my job almost two years ago because my company got bought out, I took early retirement at 62. I thought all my life that retirement was the pot at the end of the rainbow and I would be able to play with my toys and enjoy myself. Boy was I wrong!!

I HATED being retired. I lost all purpose in life, lost a lot of my people skills (because I wasn't dealing with the public every day) and aged more in those two years than I did in the previous 5 years. My days consisted of getting up at 10 or 11, watching TV, taking a nap on the couch with the cats, then playing on this computer until I went to bed at night.

Four months ago I went back to work and am doing what I always did.......I now work 12-15 hour days and LOVE it. I am the first guy in the door in the morning and leave hours after everyone else. I have purpose in my life again and instead of depleting my savings I am now building it back up. I feel better and am starting to use my mind again.

We've all heard of the guy who retired and died a month later, and now I know why. Retirement may work for some, but I intend on passing away at my desk at work. (hope they don't think I'm taking a power nap! )
Don

I retired last year at 55......much the same as Don, our company shut down.......I do keep busy around here, get a bit bored at times, but really don't want to work.....maybe, I am just lazy....LOL........I might have to work though, part time...like said above....my pension fund has taken a beating........and it will get me out of the house.

I have a friend who has retired and went back working 4 or 5 times....everyone is different........

had to learn how to be retired, at first I too was bored, I did some fishing but that grew old fast, so then I thought of what I really liked doing and didn't do because of work; Motorcycling, old cars and working with my hands.

I also keep my eye on good deals, like when I'm out riding my motorcycle or Pheasant hunting, I come across lots of goodies, buy em up and resell them. I bought two Model T fenders for $25.00 and sold them for $250.00, actually I've done that a couple of times. I've also set up at Swap Meets and have a blast.
I wouldn't even consider thinking about going back to work.

Because of medical conditions, I sold my big shop a few years back and got away from all the big payments, hiring and keeping decent help, etc. a number of years back and started working out of my garage.... The learning curve for me to do a lot less work and put in less then half the hours I used to was steep... Took a few strokes, some time back in the hospital, and a lot of thinking to get things cut back to where they are now....

Biggest think to learn was accepting the fact that I had to do less if I wanted to live through it.... I'm doing better the last year or so, just had to learn to be comfortable with the pace I have to work at. I tried the doing absolutely nothing but sitting in the house all day for awhile...made it 3 days!!!! Now I do what I can do at a pace that keeps me relatively healthy. Some days that's a lot, some days it's absolutely nothing...

About all I do know is my own stuff, Tom's coupe being the exception. Winter is really a tough time for me, so when Tom picks up his coupe, there's nothing else that HAS TO BE DONE this winter, but enough to keep me going if I'm able to do it.... I can't imagine just flat selling everything and going to a dead stop, think that would be impossible for me. But I also know I can no longer work 70 hours a week and kick out cars at the pace I used to. The best part of the whole deal is that it's no longer work when I'm in the shop, it's fun!! I really enjoy taking my time, working when I can, and getting things done at a pace that won't kill me... Not easy to learn, but in my case it was an essential!!!!

I retired a year and a half ago after 35 years in the construction business. We moved from Wa back to CO. At first I relished not having to get to work every day. I played, worked on our new home, Etc.....after six months I found myself totally bored.
I volunteered to help as a supervisor on a Habitats for Humanity home and that led to a volunteer stint with our school districts building trades program this school year. I graduated college in '72 with a teaching degree in secondary ed. yet never taught a day of school, in talking with a couple of the instructors during our initial training in Aug for the volunteer program I was urged to get my teaching creds updated and apply for a position as an instructor. Seems the district has several positions to fill next year and not enough qualified applicants.
So, I went back to school in Sept, I need to take 30 hrs of courses offered between this past Sept to July. Then I apply to the state for a teaching certificate.
Not bored anymore what with the volunteer work and school...now it seems I don't have enough time in the day

For me, sitting around and watching TV is OK as long as I have access to the Internet but it does disconnect one from outside contacts since we live back in the woods and only need to venture forth for supplies. Jan. and Feb. are the worst since I do not have a heated garage. For several years I have been fortunate to go back to teaching part time and use the salary for my car so I have lined up a one course deal for the Spring Semester and then again two compressed semesters in nine weeks for the Summer. I taught Summer classes for over thirty years but skipped last year to complete a book (so far we have sold a grand total of 268 copies, mostly to libraries!) but in 2008 I went back to teach Summer school again. This is a tradeoff since it messes up vacation plans and I can't work on the car as much but few others want to teach in the summer and I have been able to use the money for my car while liviing off my State Pension. However, Virginia is now showing a 3.2 $ BILLION shortfall so there is concern about the long range future of the pension so maybe I better save a little of the salary from part time teaching. Apparently the pension fund depends partly on CSX stock so ship by rail on the east coast to help me out! The good side of the tradeoff is that it is great to be around college age kids and teaching the same old calculus problems does keep my brain functional since I would not use that sort of thinking otherwise. As mentioned above I hated the pressures of trying to get outside research funding and internal politics from a Department Chair and Dean so the first two years were joyous to get away from migraines but teaching is the fun part of the job. The "get money, get money" pressure was surely a pathway to a stroke or other health problems. I plan to try to catch up to the latest research on Lithium batteries in a liesurely way since that looks like the way of the future for electric cars but now I don't have to write grant proposals which are a lot of work but usually lead to a rejection anyway!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Last summer, at the tender age of 75, I sat down and wrote "tohellwithitIquit" letters to the last of my customers. I didn't bail out all at once, the first ones to go were the ones who paid slow (or, on occasion, not at all). The next round I got rid of the a------s I just didn't like, then in September I sent respectful letters of sincere thanks to the fine folks who made it possible for me to feed my family for a long time.

We're doing okay so far but I'm definitely ready for the stock market to go back up.

My wife tells people that I'm a lot easier to live with now. I don't understand why she should say that because I have always been kind and gracious to everybody. I might add fun-loving, even tempered, and understanding at all times.

---- You may want to spray your computer with "B.S eradication spray" at this point ------

I miss the many good friends I made among my customers but that's about all I miss. I have a sufficient number of toys and a bunch of unfinished projects to keep me amused now. Outside of a few geezer-related problems, my health is pretty darn good.

All in all, I'd have to say I'm blessed, and I wish the same for the rest of you retired guys.

Jim

I retired when GE finally said that I was no longer needed - after 42 years. I had gotten to the point I really disliked some of the people I worked with and for and really disliked the way the company was moving - out of the smoke stack industries of the US and into the financial end so really was ready to move on. I have a mediocre pension that unfortunately I have to share with a long gone ex, and a fair SS income. My savings - I'm afraid to look at - GE Stock sold at $14.03 yesterday vs the $38-$56 and more that I bought it for, my Vanguard accounts are down 25% and a separate 401(k) another 25%. Then my wife took early retirement last week!!! Am I going back to work - not yet. I've been doing some volunteer work, unloading some 'treasures' on eBay to lighten the load and playing with my projects. I've had a few bored days when it's just too nasty to work in my garage shop so play with some home improvements. Some day when I finally grow up, then I might get serious about watching TV (and yes, I too am in car race withdrawal), so until then, I'll just keep having fun doing what and when

I wake up in the middle of the night having dream's that I'm back at work. For the money I sure wish I were able to work. I have had many surgeries, and need many more. For the brief time in between when my medication helps I try to do things around the house. It’s seems I don’t get a chance to do the things I want because of things not working in the house. I just spent time and frustration of going through a furnace replacing parts. They always seem to quit in the cold part of the season. I will say I have learned alot of home repair. When one cannot call a repairman because of the high cost you try doing it yourself. I just wish I were able, and had the energy to put that wiliness to work on cars. I wouldn’t be able to get paid for it, as it takes to long to complete when I hurt, and can’t move so good. There are two of us brothers surviving out of 5, the oldest, and the youngest, the oldest will be 81; I’m the youngest at 62. He is able to do twice as much as me, and alot faster. Until last year he was running marathons to compete, and would run everyday when not competing. I would go back to work tomorrow if I could, and that being Sunday would be double time.

Richard

Don, I'm retiring next month and I made that decession last year when my stock was doing OK. I'll probably do some landscaping work this summer for some extra $$$$$, but I've worked 47 years and it's time to quit. My wife and I were planning to buy a house in Wyoming with my stock $, but that's out of the question now. It will get better, but it's going to take a long time before it does.

Don,
You could come over and help me finish my `32