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View Full Version : doing your own thing...



greenoak
03-03-2009, 06:26 AM
this is really small talk.. im up way too early..... ive not worked for any one since the 70s....and have done my own thing all that time...and love it.... etc etc...but now im in my early 60s and people all around me are retiring...after putting 20,30 + yrs in sometimes hated jobs..and from jobs with pensions.....
so the choice of doing my own thing is coming home to roost...its wierd to see people who worked jobs i couldnt have stood, coming into a nice time with lots of free time and a nice bit of income .....im not whining...and sure dont want to retire anytime soon..i guess its one of the choices we make.... i do have a path to retirement...but honestly not interested in giving all this up... which is a apparantly a good thing...lol those other people do have a lot more freedom tho..

Steve B
03-03-2009, 07:27 AM
I gave all that up so I can do my own thing. Although, pensions are no longer available for the most part for anyone starting a career now. All the emphasis is on the 401(k).

Those people may have gotten a pension, but they didn't get to "sell" their job when they left it. Presumably, you could sell your business - hopefully, for more than the value of a traditional pension.

thx4yrtym
03-03-2009, 08:48 AM
Ann,

I wonder how many of those friends that are retiring would say how relieved they are that they are not working any longer. IOW, what did they have to put up with at work for years to get to retirement.

I would expect that there has been a time or two in the past 12 months that most of us have thought for a moment, how nice it would be to not have this or that problem and just be working for someone else. Fortunately, the feeling passes quickly and we get back at it.

I'm impressed with your drive and I hope that your "job" continues to be rewarding as long as you want.

Spider
03-03-2009, 09:03 AM
What a wonderful capacity to have - to see the good in everything. I love to see that in you, Ann.

Sure, they have freedom now, but at what a cost! A lifetime of slavery to have one's twilight years in freedom? I'm like you, I have enjoyed a lifetime of freedom which is now flowing into twilight years - still free.

greenoak
03-03-2009, 09:38 AM
thats how i would feel too...slavery...
.and its good we like it because my theory is after a few years of being on your own you would be awfully hard to boss around!!!

another kind of dark thought is that a few years into your model or whatever you call your plan...a few years in you realize how good of a plan it is ....or its limitations...like if we had built our business in a richer town we would probably be doing even better... or if we had flipped houses for the last 20 yrs we might have our own island by now.... but you can always change some things....
im just so glad we changed from selling to teens,which was our training ground,, generally they are poor and they steal....to homeowners....its a lot better pool ....with a lot more money floating around in it...
ann

Vivid Color Zack
03-05-2009, 01:32 AM
^^ I'll get my island someday :)

I just feel the pressure on weekends when my friends with jobs are completely care free.

Other than that most of my friends in my shoes (degree, young, ready to take on the world) aren't any better off than I am, so I'm ok with that for now. I've got nowhere to go but up.

huggytree
03-05-2009, 08:27 AM
i try to save double for retirement than i used to.....i plan on selling the business someday and retiring...

i try to keep my life as close to normal as possible...i sometimes work a couple of hours after supper. i rarely do any work on weekends...i still pay myself the same wage i used to make and save all the profits seperately at the end of the year....the only lifestyle increase ive done is nice vacations.

i love owning my own company and being in control of my destiny...i actually get less headaches now than i used to when i worked for someone else...i dont have to be angry all day at the boss because of how badly he ran things....now its my way and 99% right.