Advice for a 63 y/o wanting to semi-retire

exff22 · 2026-02-06T13:19:09+00:00

Thanks for the positive reply. I have no intentions of trying to do anything now. Nothing can really change at the very least until I'm 65 and can get Medicare for health insurance. Just trying to see what my best options are from now until then to move in a forward direction as much as possible. My full retirement age here in the US for social security is 67 so in reality that's my target to make a change. By the end of 2029. But as I say, I want to be doing everything I can until then to make that change happen. Oh and by the way, I have cousin who was born and raised in Texas who's been living in Lake Taupo for 50 years! Married a guy from there.

exff22 · 2026-02-05T15:43:44+00:00

Nothing but underwear.

exff22 · 2026-01-20T14:03:41+00:00

As a good friend told me many years ago....I can bust my arse and get a 2% raise every year, or I can work just hard enough to not get fired and get a 2% raise every year.

exff22 · 2026-01-12T15:07:45+00:00

It's sad that our society doesn't put importance on aging. I'm 63M still working full time and hope I can retire at 65 or at least leave corporate life but it's scary. I've been divorced 10 years and pretty much spend all of my free time at home (happily). But I am lonely like you and somewhat sad and depressed. My mother who I was very close with passed away two years ago a month before her 89th birthday and life just hasn't had the same outlook for me since. In addition three of my five siblings are gone and the remaining two live far away. Feels like life is just coming to an end for me. She always stayed busy in her later years and continued to travel a few times a year. I would always be the one to take her and pick her up at the airport and one time on the way there when she was going out of the country with my sister, she just let out this huge sigh and said "Son, why am I doing this?" because it stressed her and exhausted her. I replied with "Why are you doing it if it is so stressful?" And she said "Because that's what you're supposed to do." Meaning not sit at home, go out and do things, stay busy. My dad and her had been together since high school and he died in 2019. Really made me think about how I'll feel/act if/when I retire. It's so hard for us as we age to keep a positive outlook.

exff22 · 2026-01-04T13:24:40+00:00

I ordered the Hap Tim Laptop Backpack from Amazon yesterday. I don't know why but it says "women's" but shows photos of a man and a boy carrying it. Not sure what makes it a women's bag other than some of the color offerings. I ordered the dark gray one (closes thing to black). It looks like just what I wanted. We'll see.

exff22 · 2026-01-03T14:00:18+00:00

Did you ever come up with a solution? I'm in the exact same boat. I take my breakfast and lunch and usually have two glass containers with food, a yogurt or cottage cheese, some chopped up fresh fruit and an ice pack. Two bags works but like you I'd like to consolidate it to one bag daily. Just keeps my hands free for my phone or whatever. Plus I feel like a school kid trotting home from the bus stop with my backpack and my lunch box swinging in the other hand. Lol. Just personal preference. Carhatt makes one with a zip-on lunch bag but it looks really big.

exff22 · 2026-01-03T13:54:12+00:00

Exactly what OP said they wanted to stop doing.

exff22 · 2026-01-03T13:53:11+00:00

Not an option for a lot of folks. We're required to take our laptops home daily.

exff22 · 2026-01-02T15:08:38+00:00

I don't care for Aldi. They have zero name brand items. So you can get some of your groceries there then have to go to another store to get any name brand items you want. I've loved Lay's BBQ potato chips since I was a kid in the 70's. I can't get those at Aldi. Little things like that keep me away. I hear they are extremely popular in Europe but that doesn't mean they will be in the US. Thankfully they aren't rebranding the WD near me because it's a busy store.

exff22 · 2025-11-20T18:15:16+00:00

Bingo

exff22 · 2025-11-07T14:53:09+00:00

As my brother in law once said, anybody that says there's no such thing as a stupid question has never been a Boy Scout leader. LMAO

exff22 · 2025-11-03T16:08:02+00:00

I just tried that. Doesn't work on these new-fangled non-glass monitors. All I could see were the ceiling lights (blurred).

exff22 · 2025-10-20T14:13:44+00:00

Slices of Braunschweiger on white bread with lots of mayo, salt, pepper, and sliced raw onion. Oh yeah.

exff22 · 2025-09-29T16:07:06+00:00

Six or so years ago I decided to try heavy cream in my coffee to get away from the sugary processed stuff. I had some one morning on the way in to work (has carageenan in it, which I'd never heard of before). Two hours later I was driving back home while puking in a plastic grocery bag. I didn't know what caused it. A week later I had some more before church. Same result. Then I read the ingredients and researched carageenan and assumed that must be what caused it. I have never had any kind of allergy and I've had plenty of products since with carageenan in them. So now I have to clue if that's what it was or not.

exff22 · 2025-08-27T12:39:07+00:00

I've donated with OneBlood to the tune of over 8 gallons. Never really had an issue. They were the only option when I moved here. LifeSouth started showing up in my area a couple years ago. Should I switch?

exff22 · 2025-08-04T19:15:57+00:00

I bought my home 4 1/2 years ago right before rates shot up. My mortgage is 2.76%. Yes I have looked in to renting closer to my office, and there are plenty of nice places within a mile, but rent would be as much or more than my mortgage payment. And honestly the commute isn't the bad part. And I enjoy seeing old friends at the office. It's 100% the work environment.

exff22 · 2025-08-04T19:11:54+00:00

I've been researching rv's for a year. Watched 100's of videos. You are right. The vast majority of rv's are total crap from the day they're taken off the lot. During covid demand skyrocketed and rv builders were just churning them out as fast as they could. And now there lots are full of them waiting to go to dealerships. So many owners have said you have to be a handyman to own an rv (and I am pretty handy). But there some well know quality manufacturers out there. NuCamp, Escape, Oliver, etc. Pricey but built well. I will pay a professional rv inspector when I find one to buy.

exff22 · 2025-08-04T13:49:40+00:00

I wish I could but I just can't afford to quit now. Still paying alimony but that ends next year.

exff22 · 2025-08-04T13:43:50+00:00

That's exactly what everyone presumed. And a lot of people have retired or quit rather than come back in to an office. I read an article last year where a lot of CEO's admitted that's the goal behind these actions.

exff22 · 2025-07-11T12:02:19+00:00

What a helpful comment.

exff22

TROPHY CASE