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Calling it quits


Mr. Smooth

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What a pleasant and well written attitude to retirement. A man with a plan, I like it.

Work hard for 40 years then retire at an age  whereby you can still enjoy, touch wood, a decent number of active years. 

good luck on the next chapter 

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Good Luck 👍 

you have similar plans to my own - six months travel and six months at home ( once this situation is over .. ) . I also sold my house and downsized to a " lock up and leave" apartment, that was all completed early on this year .... just waiting now ... 😉 

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Goodness me, when i seen the thread title and poster, my first thought was NC had pulled your pants down and spanked you once to often in the Political 'debates' :default_biggrin:

Good luck, from the little i know of you from posts on here, you seem well travelled, and i have no doubt that will continue when this shitstorm finishes. 

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Congratulations and good luck to you - I retired similarly ten years ago and never regretted it; it's just a pity that you'll have to wait a while to travel to your favourite places like the rest of us but I hope to have a drink or several with you in Pattaya again when we are able to. 

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2 hours ago, Stillearly said:

Good Luck 👍 

you have similar plans to my own - six months travel and six months at home ( once this situation is over .. ) . I also sold my house and downsized to a " lock up and leave" apartment, that was all completed early on this year .... just waiting now ... 😉 

Would love to know more about the "lock and and leave" apartment. I also had similar plans but a career change brought me to the UK from the USA, so I have to work for another 5 years before I can apply for the permanent resident visa. Then I can retire 🙂

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I wish you good luck and good health in your retirement, I have never regretted mine. 

I worked my way into a job that I knew would be redundant in 2 years, took a package and left at 51 with 37 years service. Did 2X2 month trips to Thailand at first then 3X3.

In 2009 I took out a lease on a Pattaya room for 7k baht a month. Still have it today at the same rent. I have had a Filipina GF since 2012 and we spend, normally, 5 months a year there 2x2 AND 1 30 day. It is great to lock up and leave, cuts down on luggage

 

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Left the rat race 3 years ago at 51. Spent the last 3 UK in Asia, returning to the UK when (supposedly) the sun appears. It's been great.

I'm supposed to be back in Thailand now. I'm not looking forward to this winter.... I've had to buy a couple of sweaters, and a coat....

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1 hour ago, rajs123 said:

Would love to know more about the "lock and and leave" apartment. I also had similar plans but a career change brought me to the UK from the USA, so I have to work for another 5 years before I can apply for the permanent resident visa. Then I can retire 🙂

It's just a two bedroom, new build ( 69 sqm ) , I have undercroft parking and a large storage cupboard.. so happy to turn off the stopcock and lock the door for as long as I want  .... my previous property was a Victorian townhouse ( 135 years old ) over three floors , needed to be maintained and I did have a issue once when about to leave for a holiday , it had been snowing and was very cold , heard a hissing noise under the floorboards , one of the pipes had burst ... not the best start to a stress free holiday 🙂 

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Well done narrative buddy, great to see you filed your paperwork and have decided this is it. My Dad  ( RIP)   told me about 5 years ago that he could not believe he and Mom bought the house in San Jose, brand new in 1969 for $31k and how fast life passed him by and he regretted never taking Mom to Brazil like she always wanted to go. I know a smart man like yourself has the rest of his life planned out and will pull the trigger when we all get through this horse-shit Covid. 

I got out about 5 years ago at age 58, love every minute of it. I know you will too and hope to meet up someday. 

 

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I never understood the loooong  did I say long? Retirement posts a ALMOST retiree use to make in past days over years and years.....

I with you either retire or don't.... 

It's to bad this Covid thing is going on now....Mexico is open to Americans so that could be a possibility to get out of the USA for a while....

Anyways Happy Retirement....

Edited by fforest
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On 11/8/2020 at 9:04 AM, Mr. Smooth said:

I got my first job putting up tables and chairs in the auditorium of the local Catholic church on Fridays after school when I was 14. Paid $10 bucks for a couple hours work. And from that point on, I usually had some type of after school job, usually as a part time dishwasher and busboy at a local restaurant. Other odd jobs here and there would follow, before a 3 year hitch in the US Army, and a duty assignment in then, West Germany, and a whole new world was discovered by me at 18 years of age, filled with much more liberal social mores that were absent from my working class family upbringing where I lived.

I felt like Columbus.

After getting out of the military, it would indirectly lead me to what would become my life's career, working in the US Postal Service, for the last 30 years plus, a job that would go on to afford me, as time and money would allow, to see much of the world, meet it's people and customs, and indulge myself in the company of each foreign land's female companionship. But late last month, I filled out my retirement packet and sent it off to Human Resources to begin the out processing for retiring from the post office.

Effective December 31, 2020, as we all say good riddance to what has to rank as one of, if not the, most miserable years of our lives, I'll quietly punch the time clock for the final time and say goodbye to the post office and calling it quits.

For years, I had imagined a celebratory retirement trip to Pattaya for a few weeks, meeting up with friends and drinking cohorts I've met through the years from all over the world, enjoying spoiling myself a time or two with an agogo dancer or hostess or both, walk the beach smelling the sea air, admiring the wide kaleidescope of neon blazing colorful streams of light into the night sky, and maybe even taking the time to reflect on my very first trip in 1994, a lifetime ago really, when seated at a beach road beer bar and watching middle aged men walking hand in hand with a sexy, slender, brown skinned babe who could be their daughter, or even grand daughter, if he was old enough, and vowing that someday, I was going to be that guy living in Pattaya year round. I had found my Paradise and that old guy was my new hero!

Alas, after all this time, my 29 year old self from back then will soon become a 56 year old self now, that guy on the beach from long ago, and though that dream has been tempered some regarding the amount of time I would spend there, the desire to return has remained as strong as ever. But as we all have become painfully aware, at this time it just ain't happening.

My ringing the bell a time or two and buying a round for the house has, sadly, been deferred thanks to a virus.

Unlike a few who spent endless hours and posts debating back and forth on when to retire, and one in particular who made a career out of deciding when to go (ex-Secrets bm's know who I'm talking about), I have no reservations about pulling the plug. As a single guy with no ex's or kids, and relatively healthy and young, I'm anxious to turn the page and get started on the next phase of life. Travel will be a big part of it, as will possibly selling my house in California and relocating to another state to live about 6 months a year, while being abroad the other 6. Not to mention being on top of a broad for that matter!

I've always enjoyed the retirement posts, the advice offered, the recommendations from others about how to spend wisely, both your money and your time, and trying to live your daily life with some sort of routine as well as taking care of one's health.

Financially, I should be pretty good. I'm not going to be wealthy by any stretch of the imagination but I should be comfortable, which is good enough for me. Besides, there aren't any prizes given out for being the richest guy in the cemetery. I was fortunate in the market these last 4 years, and last decade really, with my retirement fund, and with a monthly draw that should help keep the wolf from the door, as well as a modest rate of return, I should have clean socks and underwear in my drawers and an occasional surf n turf on the grill well into the time when my teeth fall out and my night nurse is wiping the drool from my chin. So in addition to that, paying my rent without any difficulty shouldn't be a problem as well as being able to swing my bar tab.

Though my return to Thailand will be delayed, I am cautiously optimistic that before too long, perhaps the back end of 2021, closer to the holidays, it will be safe to return and be able to cross paths with many of you who are retired living there or just enjoying an extended holiday, solving the world's problems one beer at a time and having a few laughs along the way.

I look forward to the next chapter......

One thing about your post, you seem to have a very realistic view of the future and prioritise health and finance. Which IMO, are the two most important factors as we near retirement. Good luck.

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25 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Surely that would be prorated .. ? 

That's why I'm asking.  Where I work, it accrues the previous year, and is awarded the following year, so quitting on 31 Dec screws you out of your vacation payout.

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16 minutes ago, alias said:

That's why I'm asking.  Where I work, it accrues the previous year, and is awarded the following year, so quitting on 31 Dec screws you out of your vacation payout.

That's pretty shitty.. I'm guessing they get most resignations on 1st Jan ... wherever I've worked your holidays etc accrue as you work , so leave after 3 months you are owed 25% of your allocation 

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5 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

That's pretty shitty.. I'm guessing they get most resignations on 1st Jan ... wherever I've worked your holidays etc accrue as you work , so leave after 3 months you are owed 25% of your allocation 

Yeah, it is.  Gotta work till I'm dead anyway (young wife), so it doesn't really matter to me.

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2 hours ago, alias said:

That's why I'm asking.  Where I work, it accrues the previous year, and is awarded the following year, so quitting on 31 Dec screws you out of your vacation payout.

When I retired 4 1/2 years ago all accrued vacation time was included in my final paycheck.

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3 hours ago, alias said:

Congratulations on being able to retire in a fashion that suits you.   Its an accomplishment.

Why not work until Jan 1st (or 31st, as the case may be) and get the following years vacation, sick day, etc..?

Congratulations, Mr Smooth! Becuase of your of your youth, I agree with alias. You can save more money in your LOS splurge fund!

I retired 4 years ago, it took a month to prep the house in California for sale and then another month to sell the house and get the house check.  With the check in hand left California forever for the Pacific Northwest land of blue skies, clean air and pure water.

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