[Randito]

My dad retired at 62, he is 90 now. He volunteered at the woodland park zoo until recently. He also help crew a friend's sailboat from Rhode Island to Seattle and then to Australia. And kept teaching skiing until he was 70. Played tennis twice a week. Keep busy, keep moving. From his experience, I would encourage retirees to downsize their living quarters sooner rather than later. My folks stayed in the house they raised their kids in until my mom's medical needs necessitated a move. Unfortunately this was also in the bottom of real estate market in 2008. Also they had 40 years of junk collected in the basement and the "kids bedrooms" that us kids needed to clear out. Personally I've already downsized from the house I raised my kids in. The savings in mortgage payments, real estate taxes and heating, etc costs are substantial.

[DigitalJanitor]

[Chief Joseph]

[Malachai Constant]

We never had a large home and we paid it off 15 years ago. We do have a large lot with a hiking trail on it. As soon as we retired we regarded the trail to PCT standards and added small decks with benches so we can enjoy it for years. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we moved to Canada and haven't got all of it replaced. We would not have been able to retire without the ACA hopefully we will still have that.

[boot up]

Yes, downsize all the stuff you carry through life. Do it sooner than later! We forced the issue by moving to another state on a budget. Is is REALLY worth the cost of moving that? Where the heck will we put it in our smaller house? How long since I last used or looked at that. 31 years of collecting stuff, and that doesn't include needless stuff moved during a company paid move. I had literally a ton and a half of stuff dumped from whittling down the garage. And I did months of dumping stuff in the garbage cans. I think we made over 50 runs to nearby Goodwill drop stations, and I sold tons of stuff on Craigslist, at bargain prices but less stuff in our move and less stuff for our kids to deal with later. One of my thoughts during the huge effort to whittle down, was that I was glad to be doing it before I got old and infirm. Heck it was physically tough enough now. Lots of easy decisions before it got to the tough calls on what to toss. I am missing a few things and having to buy a couple of replacements for getting over zealous, but overall a nice feeling to have less stuff. My parents were a good lesson to me. My Dad is still alive at 92 and has never thrown out anything since we moved there when I was a kid in 1960. Myself and siblings hope he outlives us if for no other reason than dreading dealing with that mountain of junk.

[Malachai Constant]

One thing we noticed is you can rebuy most all your "precious" stuff at goodwill for next to nothing.

[Randito]

[DIYSteve]

[Riverside Laker]

[Chief Joseph]

My junk actually provides entertainment of sorts...I keep things that are broken and try (and usually try again and again) to fix them before I finally give up on them. I am what I refer to as an "Organized Hoarder" I enjoy going through my stuff, organizing and taking inventory. I will many times find items that are missing that I need. When I am bored and restless it keeps my hands and mind occupied and after the organizational chore is finished, I feel a sense of accomplishment. However, now given more time I am beginning to slowly downsize and get rid of things, I have made 2 trips to the landfill and have given some items away. For me it's a constant struggle over what to keep and what to discard, (kind of like playing rummy)....One has to be very care what one gets rid of, since it's nearly guaranteed you will need it in the near future, even though it might have been useless for years.

[Nancyann]

No worries, CJ, when the time comes that you discover you need something you gave away, eventually it or something similar will show up at a thrift store. Riverside Laker wrote "I'd planned for my retirement since my mid-20's, so it was easy to pull the plug. It only took 5 minutes to get used to it" SAME! I retired September 1, at age 63 11/12th, and haven't looked back for a minute. After almost 26 years working in the schools, I thought at least I might miss the kids, but for some mysterious reason, that hasn't happened.

[mike]

[treeswarper]

[DigitalJanitor]

[Schroder]

My retirement was gradual. I started playing more and working less until I wasn't working any more. Health problems forced my wife into retirement and then we decided it was time to downsize from our 5 acres and a big house but we didn't have a plan. Just the logistics of moving out of the place we had lived for 40 years overwhelmed us. We were fortunate to have a realtor friend that spent 3 months with us helping us get rid of our accumulated belongings in 2 houses and 3 outbuildings. We sold the place and moved into an apartment for a year to get our bearings and figure out where we wanted to be next. It took us that long to find what we wanted, with a lot of compromises. We're not travelling or hiking as much as we hoped because my wife and I are taking turns with our health problems but we're still having fun. Stay as active as you can as long as you can.