Still Working (and winning) at Age 82

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I did not have that problem when I retired.


I simply stopped working and started sailing.

As I do not have 90% of the costs of living other people have, I only need maybe 5% of the money other people need.



The way I retired is not recommended for most, as we were raised to believe in many concepts that perpetrate the society but may/will render some individuals utterly unhappy. That was me.

So I let those who are happy working do the work.


The problem I do have is of the other kind: what to do after retirement. I mean, it is pretty boring to do nothing productive in the long term. To be on the sidelines of the mainstream.


Not everybody can retire early. Not everybody should.


But when one can and does not then it sort of like I understand the work this person does is the best thing in their life. So it is not a job anymore. So there is nothing to retire from.


barnakiel

So today is a day when I am feeling quite contrary.

Meaning I am skeptical of your claim, Senior Barnakiel.

OK, you say you only need 05% of what most people need? That'd be tough since on this forum we've had a few threads on what people spend. For me, it's about $3400 USD/month. You don't need 95% of that? Only 05%? Which is about $170/month? And you can live on that? I doubt it, unless you rely on the handouts or gifts of others. The tightest guy I know lives on his boat on about $850/month, and he is OK, but he's verrrry careful abut spending.

And even if you could, you'd still need that $170 coming in from somewhere.

So Mr Barnakiel, I don't think you just sailed away without some source of funds, and it's probably a bit more like $1000/month, more or less, and you get it from somewhere. Stop trying to kid us.

[Bunji]

[QUOTE=thomm225;3175088]Once again, this thread isn't about those that plan their whole lives to retire early and save for that.

It's about those that can retire early, but choose not to like 82 year old Barclay Tagg.

Many of us have zero debt and can retire with less.

But being stuck at anchor days on end can get really boring and mind numbing. Or doing little and not spending much isn't appealing to some of us

Staying mentally and physically healthy may be more important than retirement.......[/QUOTE
Well that’s an interesting interpretation (assumption) of a simple statement. We could all of cause spend our entire life working and doing exactly what the gubermunt, Councils, banks, insurance And power company’s, telcos etc wants us to do or we could retire early and spend time doing the sought of things that makes us happy (living the dream) no brainer I would have thought, reality is that having a steady income (money) allows us to compete (keeping up with the Jones) and the paranoia of not having saved enough for retirement inevitably wins the day. A bad days fishing is better than a good day at work

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

I'll be amazed when the winning horse is 82.

Paul

Awesome. If you have a stand up beach comedy show one day, I am buying a ticket!



bravo!
b.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by wingssail

So today is a day when I am feeling quite contrary.

Meaning I am skeptical of your claim, Senior Barnakiel.

OK, you say you only need 05% of what most people need? That'd be tough since on this forum we've had a few threads on what people spend. For me, it's about $3400 USD/month. You don't need 95% of that? Only 05%? Which is about $170/month? And you can live on that? I doubt it, unless you rely on the handouts or gifts of others. The tightest guy I know lives on his boat on about $850/month, and he is OK, but he's verrrry careful abut spending.

And even if you could, you'd still need that $170 coming in from somewhere.

So Mr Barnakiel, I don't think you just sailed away without some source of funds, and it's probably a bit more like $1000/month, more or less, and you get it from somewhere. Stop trying to kid us.

I have never said I have sailed away without what you call 'some source of funds'. Please point to my post where I said I did.



And no, I would not be very happy to live on EUR 170 in any longer horizon. But I could. I did before. Except that was some 10 years ago, and prices do go up (and much faster than inflation statistics seem to suggest).



So, your distrust is well based. In your case, my percentage would need to be closer to 10%. I can live on EUR 170 a month, but my boat cannot live without antifouling paint. And a new sail costs money to.


For a quick reference here is a list of things I either never had or else have gotten rid of. This might help us see the viability of funding, or not, ones lifestyle:


- a house,
- mortgage on the house,
- credit facilities of any kind,

- kids, kids at Uni, grandchildren,
- 3 financed cars in the family,
- marriages, wedding, divorces,
- freezers and air-conditioning,
- 100 inch plasma TV,
- Netflix, cable TV,
- smartphones and annual mobile plans,

- bar and restaurant dinners,
- alcohol, tobacco or drug addictions,
- church, yoga, gym, lawyers, hairdressers, barbers,
- you name it.


All these things drain you. Drain you earnings, drain you credit facility, drain your time, drain the time you could use to study, read, travel, LIVE.


It is nothing about lifestyle, all about choices. Many people have it all wrong. We think our lifestyle influences our choices. It is not so, it is our choice make up our lifestyle.


That's the first part of it, "Mr. Trust Nobody". You can trust or not trust that is your choice. Just mind that your trust is based in your particular experience of a person brought up in a specific culture, sailing a specific boat, etc. Other people grew up elsewhere, had different professional paths, have opted for other joys and distractors. For other boat sizes, for other sea routes.


I will finish this thought in a separte entry now.


xoxo
barnakiel

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by wingssail

(...)



I don't think you just sailed away without some source of funds, and it's probably a bit more like $1000/month, more or less, and you get it from somewhere. Stop trying to kid us.

Look. It is very uncomfortable to talk money. As I have already mentioned, when I post how much cruising costs us, I always get these 'shut up you troll / liar' attacks. Why do you need to be another.


No. It is NOT EUR 1000 and not even close to this. With EUR 5k (USD6k give or take) I take my boat from here to Caribbean and back. We live in Canary Islands when we do not live in Caribbean.


We have also sailed rtw (long ago) and we spent less that 15k doing so. Again, I will hear things like 'it can't be'. It ****ing well can be and we did.


Nobody lives without money. And the more money, the easier some things are. Then beyond some point, the more money, the more difficult some things become (like cutting the ties and going sailing). Money is a double-sided sword.


Where we live, anchorages are free and a kilo of pasta costs about USD 1,00. A bottle of LPG costs about USD 10,00 and lasts two months. Olive oil is next to free, so is garlic.


Think about it. Where you live and how you live dictates how much you spend.


Needless to say, below a $ point, you will ruin your home/van/boat and possibly health, and that will be the end of whatever lifestyle you practice.


Take care. Trust some. Study different costs of living in different parts of the world. Study different life choices. Spend a year in India, watch people, think, apply (or not!)



Yours truly retired,

barnakiel

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Look. It is very uncomfortable to talk money. As I have already mentioned, when I post how much cruising costs us, I always get these 'shut up you troll / liar' attacks. Why do you need to be another.

Funny ... I get the same reaction here. I've repeatedly shared what it costs us to live this life -- in Canada. Comes out to about $17k/year (converted from CND to USD), so we average about $1400/month for two adults. On this we cruise about 1/2 the year, and do other land-based things the other 1/2. If we cruised in warmer climes we'd likely stay on the boat year-round. That day may come, but it is not this day!

We own no land. We have no children to support and no parents to care for. We have no debt. We own what we need, but not much more. We live well, and I have no major worries about money. If the markets crashed and inflation went nuts I suppose we'd be affected, but having little means we have little to lose. We'd find a way.

I know if I had more money I'd spend more. I doubt this would make me happier, but it might buy me more Talisker or Lagavulin. As it is I have to settle for excellent craft beer and the occasional Laphroaig. Life is so hard .

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Funny ... I get the same reaction here. I've repeatedly shared what it costs us to live this life -- in Canada. Comes out to about $17k/year (converted from CND to USD), so we average about $1400/month for two adults....I know if I had more money I'd spend more. I doubt this would make me happier, but it might buy me more Talisker or Lagavulin. As it is I have to settle for excellent craft beer and the occasional Laphroaig. Life is so hard .

I have no doubt that $1400 is doable. Tough for some, but doable. Congratulations (because I think you must be working hard at having a good life cruising on that kind of budget, and doing it is worthy of recognition, or maybe doing that is easy for you, in which case I envy you).

We all decide which things we think we have to have and then must find the money to afford them. In my case I like my Laphroaig and Lagavulin, but I don't get it often. Craft beer, Nah, I'd rather an occasional Pacifico Beer and drink my cheap scotch. Even Barakiel apparently finds room in his budget for a dram now and then, even be it rum.

And, as he points out, too many of us are trapped in that whole long list of things which drive up the cost of retirement and cruising. I've excluded most of them from my life but choose to keep some in my budget which does keep me from living on $1400 a month, or anything close to that.

Of course it is my choice and I can make it because we do have an income which supports our lifestyle (this year, barely, but it does).

However, the real point of this thread drift is what it costs for retirement and cruising. No matter how you cut it, retirement and cruising costs something and none of us can just quit everything and go do it (and none of us have). At the minimum we need to have arranged, somehow, for an income. Further, we had to have obtained a boat and made it suitable for living on and cruising. So we did the necessary ahead of time. Still, we had to do it, it wasn't free.

And finally, among the choices we can make there is the choice not to retire, but to keep working at something we love. Not a bad choice, either.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by wingssail

I have no doubt that $1400 is doable. Tough for some, but doable. Congratulations (because I think you must be working hard at having a good life cruising on that kind of budget, and doing it is worthy of recognition, or maybe doing that is easy for you, in which case I envy you).
...
And finally, among the choices we can make there is the choice not to retire, but to keep working at something we love. Not a bad choice, either.

Agree, 100% . Well said.

I would never say my lifestyle and choices are for everyone. It's easy for me, but many would say otherwise. Point is, there is no single right answer to finance or retirement that fits everyone. I am simply one example -- one data point -- for others to consider.

One aspect of this thread, at least according to the OP, is that paying work is related to being active, stimulated and productive. It is for some, but not for all. That's why I responded that it is a choice for the OP to make.

[sailorboy1]

I see this thread is the normal contest where the rules for player vary, meaning the definition of "winning" is also in the eyes of each beholder.

[barnakiel]

Yes. More is in many ways better. No doubt. Up to a point. But this point is probably not our problem.

Especially in boat terms: better maintenance, newer sails, better marinas (cleaner showers in better marinas ...). Also some medical help, when something nasty happens, And so on. It is.

There are many places on the net where people discuss externalisation. I am writing this message on free Internet. It is free to me but not to my friend who owns the bar.

I think externalisation plays a big role in living in retirement, both an early one and the more common one at 65.

Also the use of free time. I retired early and so plenty of my time gets used in very productive ways. Hence the pressure on whatever savings we had at the start was so much less.


If one retires at 65, there are some big pressures (health costs) and the only way to cover these is from a retirement fund (or else gets extrnalised to the society).

b.

[Flightime]

Amazing! Living!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Bunji

A bad days fishing is better than a good day at work

Well that sounds nice but isn't quite true.

I've known several that retired to do just that and it didn't work for them.

And it almost ruined their favorite hobby so they went back to work.

It's a hard choice....retirement or continue to work.

As long as your job is changing and you are learning it's not bad to retire later, but at the same time you must stay in shape if you have plans for when you do retire for good..

One of the fisherman I spoke of refused to quit smoking even after bypass surgery. He just retired again but isn't real healthy. He's only 68.

Then we have a 70 year old at work that plans to work 5 more years. He loves to work on computers and systems more than most of us love fishing so it's like he's retired at work.

He is the one that explained to me that the photo of a sub that I took last Saturday was actually a high tech Virginia Class Sub then went on to explain the tether system the the guys standing on the sail were using plus what most of the antennas, snorkel, and the rest of those items were that were mounted up there

https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/...of_a_virginia/

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Flightime

Amazing! Living!

Yes!

That's the point! (and stay active)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ob...&start_radio=1

[Group9]

Early retirement may not work for everyone, but it has sure been the best thing I ever did! Eleven years of vacation so far!

As I write this, I just got back from a fishing trip. And, it was fun!

[thomm225]

Fishing used to be fun, but I'm thinking hiking might be better if you still can when you retire.

I did a 3 mile run over the looong weekend (Saturday) with pull ups and pushups but failed to recover fast enough for Monday which made that a tough day at work.

It was probably because I worked out with some weights on Sunday and did some additional low body leg exercises.

We don't use our bodies enough when fishing or sailing so you have to try different things to stay in shape