MarcusDubya77

My wife and I are trying to figure out where to go when our kids head off to school. We were thinking of Michigan, but still need to visit to see what its like. We also thought about Idaho, but need to visit it too. I definitely want two things 1 ocean or big lake, and 2 snow. Mountains would be nice, but I can't get too picky. We also have though of overseas. We both like Japan, and would have a leg up since my wife is Japanese. Europe would be great if things would normalize there. We also even contemplated globetrotting. Right now, with my military retirement and disability, we have a pretty steady flow of over 5K a month. Plus we will have a pretty good amount saved up in 10 years. We will see.

RobM

Northern Michigan is beautiful, you should take a long road trip all over the country and see what you like the best.

MarcusDubya77

Luckily, my family and I have done a lot of traveling. I want my children to have the opportunities that I wasn't given. We finally got up to the Great Lakes area last yea, and I love the region. Michigan only seems logical, as we have always heard great things about the northern coastal arear and the Uper.

Legal Bill

Springfield Mass is 31 on the top 100 list... Throws the whole thing into doubt.

dlq04

If you like big water and snow, northern MI is the place to be.

Lainey

Any decisions on your retirement, Bill?

Rick and I have been conversing about this. He is "sucking it up" and working until 66. His full retirement age according to SS. No way will he wait until age 70 to collect. He most likely will retire early next summer. I am weary of the job and the working world. Due to insurance issues, I'm going to 'suck it up" until age 63 1/2 or 64. I hope to not go any longer than that and if there is a change in something and I have the chance to go earlier I will.

The biggest issue with retirement for so many is we have no idea how long we will live, how healthy will be be and how much money we will need...it's a crap shoot!

MarcusDubya77

That's what I said to my wife!

Legal Bill

Probably the end of 2018 for me Lainey, but depending on what my firm does, I may retire on December 31, 2017. Money is an issue and I have some expensive hobbies. I've been trying to get big purchases out of the way while I am working. But there are still big expenses in insurance (of all kinds, not just medical) and taxes charged on money withdrawn from my 401K that I need to consider. My investment contact tells me my plan is good and if all goes according to plan, I may have more when I die that I do now. BUT, if something crazy happens, it could be greatly reduced and then what?? Man plans and God laughs.

engifineer

I am 41 and have too far to go to retire :P

I manage medical device development projects for design firm. I like the money that comes with it, I like the fact that I still get to do some engineering work even though I am managing the projects (and running the PMO for our company) and I even like the types of projects. However, I have found that I am tiring of dealing with big company customers (you want to find the cheapest, hard to deal with people ... work with big product companies) with zero technical ability and way too much time on their hands to keep me on the phone instead of getting their work done and am mostly tired of dealing with all the BS.

I would be much happier I think opening a small shop and doing custom wood working. I worked for a custom cabinet shop for a number of years before and during college and still love doing that work. Puts me at peace instead of constantly stressing me out.

So the issue is that the current gig likely gets me retired sooner, while the second option likely allows me to live longer, happier ... until I get to be 65 and still have to work because I do not have enough retirement saved back :P My dad has been a mechanic all his life, used to love it, but is still working (still for himself, by himself as before) at 71 and has physical issues due to working himself so hard. So it is a tough decision. It is certainly nice for my day to be over the minute I walk out the door, but having more money put back to hopefully retire sooner is a plus.

So at 41 I dont know what I want to do with my life :P I am seriously considering doing sort of what I am doing now, but being a consultant. I get more than enough attention by recruiters for contract gigs of 12+ months, have built a good name in what I do, have lots of connections and cam literally make almost double what I do now as an independent consultant, IF I stay busy all the time. That last part is the downside of consulting, so there is more risk there.

We will need to stay close, or actually move closer, to our aging families for now, but at some point when we are retired and our parents are gone, I am definitely considering selling it all and moving to a small place in CO ... if I am still healthy enough to enjoy snowboarding, hiking at that point I am more concerned about the WHEN of retiring right now.

Lainey

Keep us posted. Yes, all the planning but really, none of us knows what will happen, makes that planning even more difficult. I don't expect we'll have more money when we die than we do now...if we do, we screwed up and should have had more fun!