Dealing with Life/Getting Old & Fishing

[wvfisherman]

I hope you don't mind me posting this on your fishing page. I really enjoy this site and reading about all the fishing and your replies. I just need to know if anybody else is as confused as I am about getting old and retiring.

 

I am in my sixties and getting ready to retire, but it is not like I thought it would be. I have fished all of my life and cannot remember a time I did not enjoy fishing. Fishing has always been part of my life. I started out with a cane pole and hand me down rods. When I was in grade school when my mom and dad gave me a new spinning rod and reel for Christmas. With that rod and reel and a canvas bag of lures, I caught trout, bass, muskie, all kind of fish and fished all the time. Now, I have all types of rods and reels and so many lures I could not count them all, but don't have enough time to fish like I would like and don't know if I can afford to go fishing when I retire.

 

Now that I am getting ready to retire gas prices are going out of sight, in addition to my medical insurances. taxes, food and my body falling apart. Everything is getting so high that I don't know if I will be able to afford to go fishing and enjoy life. My dad was a factory worker and when he retired in the 70's, he moved to a lake where he was able to live and hunt and fish, since his company gave him free medical insurance, a pension, along with social security. Now I have worked at the same job for 39 years but my company has been bought out four different times. The first time they said our retirement plan was over funded and paid us a lump amount which was a very small percentage of what was in the plan and put millions of our retirement in the company profit for that year. The second time, they cut our pay by one third and the third time, they discontinued our health and life insurance when we retire. Who can you trust?

 

I am thankful that God has watched over me and my family and we have had a good life. I just wanted to know if any of you have retired or getting ready to retire and how are dealing with life and if this has happen to any of you and if so, how are you dealing with it? Give you younger guys something to think about also?

[Photoz]

I've just turned 60, and have just over 20 years in at the Post Office. The pension plan looks pretty good, but, because of a dumb financial mistake on my behalf a few years ago, I couldn't retire at 65 unless I cut out a few luxuries . . . like . . . a roof over my head . . . . eating and clothing. My health hasn't been any picnic for a few years . . . and if I didn't have my drug plan, I'd likely be dead by now. My future doesn't look as rosy at it used to, but I'm a 'elluva lot better off than many . . . . . I just take a day at a time, I don't dwell on the past, or lose much sleep concerning the future. What's done is done, can't go back and do it over. I've even cut down on my fishing . . . . at $1.10 a litre, I do a lotta coasting . . . . and shortened my fishing domain considerably. One bright spot . . . I've been declared a winner (again) in my second fight with cancer as of a few weeks ago. The BEST advice I can offer you . . . . at the age you are now, MAKE VERY SURE YOU ARRANGE FOR REGULAR COLONOSCOPIES & P. S. A., tests . . . don't wait for symptoms, by then it's usually too late!

Edited February 23, 2008 by Photoz

[danbo]

One day at a time bro!

Find someone to share the expenses.

Take a course that is of interest to you & meet others. Find hobbies from home too.

[mcallister.grant]

God bless you both! I am sure things will work out in your favor.

 

Sincerely,

 

Grant

[Casey123]

My thoughts,

 

If you like to fish and are on a limited retiremnent income, Chapleau is the place to go.

1 hour to Timmins(health care)

5 minutes to awesome fishing. Over 300 lakes

Awesome Fishing = reduced grocier bills

Cheap housing - Waterfront on the Chapleau River around 50K

 

Sorry about the rest, my dad was a GM guy for 34 years, every few years when the contracts are negotiated, he gets nervous as they talk about cutting benefits and pension to retirees.

 

Best of luck and enjoy the board.

[lew]

I served a few years in the Navy in the 60's, then spent the next 32 years as a fireman here in Toronto and retired when I was 53 and am now enjoying every minute of it.

 

We have a nice trailer north of the city where I spend most of my time between May & November and my boat sits at the dock close by and I think I spend more time fishing than I do on dry land, and that's a good thing.

 

I often spend 10, 12 even 14 hours a day on the water and luv every minute of it

 

At least once a week I trailer my boat to another lake somewhere for a change of scenery and also take off on several extended fishing trips every year with the blessing of my wife........I've been married to an angel for nearly 42 years

 

After 8 years of retirement, I actually went back to work a few months ago to give me something to do during the winter months. I'm not at all interested in ice fishing so the winters were beginning to get a bit boring. I'm now delivering new cars for Honda all across Southern & Eastern Ontario and really enjoying it. The hours are great and flexible and I can almost pick the days I want to work and must admit, all the extra $$$$ is pretty nice too.

 

Once the nice weather and fishing season returns, I'll be heading back to the trailer, but will keep the part time job for when I'm around the city.

 

Retirement is good, at least for me anyways and if your able to do it early, that's even better. Too many people leave this earth before they even begin to enjoy a few years without having to punch a clock.

 

If your in a position now to retire and it's something you want to do, then I say go ahead and do it while your still able to enjoy yourself.

 

One of these morning you'll wake up and then it's too late to enjoy everything you've worked all those years for.

 

Best of luck to you if you decide to make the move !!

 

But that's all just my opinion.....

Edited February 23, 2008 by lew

[OhioFisherman]

I retired in 2003 age 52, not the original plan, forced to by illness. The plan was for a career change to something that involved less hours working, more hours fishing. A 40 hour a week job would have been like 2 days hours less a week and I would have been happy working 3 days a week.

 

Teamster truck driver most of my adult life, good points to it some bad. One good point was our union ran our pension fund, your pension followed you from company to company and a few closed up on me.

 

Deregulation of the freight industry hurt the trucking companies just like it has done to the airlines, no safety margin everything revolves around profits now. One bad year can send a company down the tubes.

 

Just my opinion if management says a plan is good for you? It is probably a whole lot better for them. Management makes a living off of keeping costs down, and the employees are part of the cost. They aren`t looking at your best interests.

 

Sort of tough for me at first, sick and no clue why, double talk from the doctors not what I was used to or expected. A label for an illness instead of taking time or making an effort to determine the true problem. It took me 3 years to get a correct answer, LOL and I am not happy with it either, just have to accept it and move on.

 

Right now everything is on hold, got to make sure the wife and kids will be ok, 2 still in high school. I know I will get worse, just not sure of the time frame. Stuff happens, just have to try and deal with it.

 

LOL I am saving enough in gas money to buy a couple decent reels a month, just no energy to use them. Sucks!

[Radnine]

I love posts that make me think, and this one did that.

I too wonder about the rising costs of things and the world of work that my son will face (me, I recon, will manage). One thing that I have found helps is to try and think outside of the box a bit.

I am also a golfer and about three years ago started on the divot squad at a local golf course. Me and two other guys mix dirt and seed and fill all the holes in the golf course once a week. For that we get free golf with carts. The course in fact is almost exclusively staffed by us "volunteers". It doesn’t sound like much perhaps, but it saves us after tax dollars and is fun.

Perhaps there might be something you could do in retirement to support your fishing habit. I know a buddy’s dad used to run a cottage resort on Rice Lake. He got his cabin for free and (I think) a small stipend of some kind. For that he got to live his dream all summer.

Start thinking non-traditionally and a solution might appear.

At any rate, thanks for the great post and best wishes to all.

Jim

Edited February 24, 2008 by Radnine

[fishinggeek]

We're in a different age now. It's difficult to work and retire in the same company, let alone the same position. Benefits are getting worse (both corporate and public) and costs are going up. Thankfully income is also going up but we have to be smart about it. Being relatively young, I have come to realize the following that at least apply to me:

 

1. Act in your own self interest professionally. I will never do something that hurts myself or my family financially to help my employer. If they want me to take a pay cut to help their expenses, and I can find a similar job at relatively more pay, I'll move in a heartbeat. I just can't buy having to feel the company's pain, unless I was self-employed. I have loyalty as long as it's reciprocated, meaning they compensate me fairly.

 

2. Always strive to improve, unless retirement is nearing. Do graduate school, some type of certification, networking, or whatever you have to do to stay competitive. I don't see raises, promotions, and bonuses coming to those who are complacent. Of course, if you're retiring in the next few years, this will not payback itself.

 

3. Be prudently risk-adverse. I don't invest in anything that has risks higher than I should tolerate. Speculations like real estate, derivatives, or junk bonds are way too risky for me. Uncertainty is only one part of my risk, exposure is the other. I won't ever pile a large proportion of my portfolio into any investment type (ie. not all my eggs in one basket). I have insurance on life events that I cannot recover from financially or required by law (eg. home and auto). All other insurance is a waste of money for me at least for now, as I have no dependents.

 

4. Always save. Put my discretionary income into my primary residence, RRSP's, or non-registered investments (in that order). I don't need to do any arctic fly-in trips, bluefin tuna charters, top-of-the-line bass boats, etc. When faced with the option of these luxuries or retiring more comfortably, sending kids to university, or nicer house, I'll forgo the luxuries any day. Give me a few lures, a rod & reel, and I'll go for GTA every weekend if it means my kids can play hockey, get braces, AND do their doctorate in another country.

 

I see people in poverty living happy lives. I am lucky I don't live in poverty, but I'm happy living the life of a poor person. Good friends, family, health, and a few fish make everything worthwhile. People think I'm too frugal, but I like to feel safe and responsible in terms of providing for my future family and my retirement.

Edited February 24, 2008 by fishinggeek

[Tomcat]

I’m about to turn 65 and I’ve been retired 10 years. And frankly, the last 10 years has been outstandingly satisfactory. My decision to retire at 55 was made with the full knowledge that my retirement income would be lower than if I worked until 65. However, I was a firm believer of the “work to live rather than live to work” premise. My wife and I enjoyed good health, were debt free, had a beautiful home, had no children remaining at home and we both had defined benefit company pension plans. While not wealthy by any means of measure, the last 10 years of freedom from the work force have been thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Of course, the amount of retirement income required for a satisfactory retirement will vary with every individual. In reality, it’s simply about objectives and choices. Spend your disposable income in a way that provides you the most enjoyment. If that means paying $4 a gallon for gas during a fishing trip, so be it (as long as you didn’t take food off the table to do it). After all, with your shoulder to the grindstone for 39 years, you’ve earned the right to take regular fishing trips during retirement. The only real question is how many!!

[Canuck2fan]

I think the biggest problem you face over many other posters is that you live in the U.S. where your prescriptions and health care are not paid for by the government. That makes a HUGE difference.... When my dad "retired" from his full time job he would have lost his medical coverage for my mom so he worked out a deal where he worked to cover vacation times which worked out to about 2 weeks every 6 to 8 weeks. He also worked 2 Saturday mornings a months which none of the young partiers wanted to do anyhow. That allowed him to keep on the medical plan until the insurance company made his boss let him go. By that time though they only had to go 5 months till my mom was 65 and she got her prescriptions paid for (at that time it was about 6 grand a year....) Perhaps you could find something part time with another employer that would give you help with your medical coverage? Maybe Obama will win down there and get you some medical coverage....

 

It is amazing though how you can adjust to making less. I still make less than half of what I did in 94 and live just fine.... I made a decision to have quality of life over quanity of material things. I went from working 7 days a week 60 hrs minimum to working no more than 30 hrs a week (even though I work 6 days). I might not have the latest and greatest gadgets but I am more content than most. You pick your priorities and remember not having the expenses of working helps a lot.

 

Good luck with what ever choice you make and if you get fishing post some pictures.

[crappieperchhunter]

Good thread and good suggestions from others. A part time job doing something you enjoy...great idea...helps with expenses and sanity. My mom volunteers at the local hospital...doesn't get a penny for it...but it gets her out of the house and she has made alot of new friends just through the simple act of meeting people.

 

I love sports especially hockey. There is something about grabbing a coffee and heading out to the local arena to watch your kids play. Mine have outgrown it but when I retire I plan on "adopting" a local team every year and making a point to get there schedule and watch there home games. For the cost of a cup of coffee I get out of the house and enjoy being at the arena and watching the kids have fun. I figure that will be good therapy. Gotta be better for you then sitting on the couch everynight watching TV.

 

Same with fishing. I don't know what kinda fishing you do....but you can shore fish for several different species of fish pretty cheap. Don't have to spend much money to enjoy a day on the water....especially if you already have tons of gear like you said. And friends in a similiar situation could help with splitting the costs...a win win situation.

 

I am a list person. Debbe says I am the "LIST KING" Make a list of things you have to do or can't do without and things you can do without. You might be surprised at how small the list of important things really is. Focus on those things.

 

Also look after yourself. I can speak from personnal experience here. You really don't have to do much "right" to make your life so much better by improving your health. Little changes can make big differences. Take charge of your health and you will be rewarded with a better quality of life...I can't stress the importance of this enough.

 

Bottom line is your retirement is what YOU make of it. If you focus on the negative things and mope around feeling sorry for yourself I guarantee your retirement will suck. If you focus on the positive things you have it will be fun and rewarding. Your choice. Relax and learn to enjoy your life even if it has a few bumps and brusies...and isn't the story book ending you had dreamed of.

 

Take care and good luck.

[TennesseeGuy]

Can't think of anything I'd rather do than be in my office, well before anybody else arrives, Monday morning. Haven't had a job I didn't like since the summers of 1952, 1953 & 1954 straight out of high school. Those three summers encouraged me to sit down front, not miss any classes and get on to something better.

 

I'm easing back and get in some fishing, but will be working 40+ weeks in 2008. Several friends my age are retired. The ones who haven't gone crazy are growing soft. That doesn't have to happen.

[Tarzan's Jane]

Everything is getting so high that I don't know if I will be able to afford to go fishing and enjoy life.

 

 

It's not just the fishing...you listed so many other concerns...and they for sure are important to look at and consider. But giving up on the thought of even fishing, sounds to me like you are overwhelmed. Taking an honest hard look at your present situation and into the future can be tuff. But you just have to promise yourself that fishing for you is in fact enjoying life therefore you are going to make the time to fish. How much, or how often...well that is yet to be determined, but you just keep it on your list of what things are going to stay in your life so that you can look forward to retirement with at least a positive starting point. And eating fish at least once a week is very healthy and easy on the grocery bill.

 

I no doubt will likely take up a part-time job as a Wal-Mart greeter....why not. And may even volunteer at a soup kitchen...at least then I know that I will have one meal a day.

 

Talk with your partner....plan it with her....but keep positive.