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Now that you're retired...

Jim Kenney

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Now that you're retired what goals do you hope to achieve, skiing and otherwise? How are you going to make them happen?

I know covid has everything messed up right now, but this thread is for fun and to discuss what you're thinking about as an active retiree when things get back to normal. If you're not quite retirement age, but have some interesting plans, you can chime-in too:wave:

mineral basin april 19 powder copy.jpg
 

Posaune

sliding
Skier
Joined
Mar 26, 2016
Posts
1,914
Location
Bellingham, WA
For me it's ski and make music. The skiing part is working so far this year, but the music part has taken a huge hit from the pandemic. I hope to be able to get back to it full-on by summer, or at least fall.
 

FlyingAce

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Dec 22, 2019
Posts
472
Location
Taos, NM
I am not of retirement age but I am a housewife and have no kids.
I play golf every day between April-October and ski almost every day in November-March. I take a month-long vacation twice a year, usually in Hawaii, between my golf/ski seasons before the pandemic screwed everything up. I plan on continuing with the same schedule and hope I can still do the same when my husband retires so we can golf/ski together.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
Skier
Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,893
Location
NJ
You mean we are supposed to think things out?
Me, I am just winging it*.

* IRL, I go and do what Mamie tells me. :ogcool:
We pretty much do what ever our wives want. Lucky for me (pre covid-19) mine does let me go skiing, fishing and kayaking most of the days that I have an opportunity to go. Other retirement activities are travel, especially cruises, home owner projects, and spending time with family and friends.
 

Crank

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Posts
2,626
For me it's ski and make music. The skiing part is working so far this year, but the music part has taken a huge hit from the pandemic. I hope to be able to get back to it full-on by summer, or at least fall.

Music/guitaring is a big piece of my retirement plans. This pandemic has brought a screeching halt to all my jamming and gigging and rehearsing with other musicians. I have been working on my skills and on music theory alone, but, cannot wait to start playing with others again. Only problem with guitar is that as I age I can't play as long at a sitting and at sometime in the not too distant future I will need to get smaller, easier to play acoustics, maybe one of them hybrid Godin's.

Going xc Friday assuming our predicted storm brings half as much as the weather hyping media says it will. Fake news! (hope not)

So, moving, skiing, guitaring, hiking, biking, sailing. I have a pretty good sized sailboat and plan to start spending more time roaming around on it in the summers. All except the guitaring I plan to do with my soul mate and wife, Robin. We hope to eventually move to mountains. We also want to travel a bunch. Sure do miss traveling! I am retired, she plans to work for another 5 years.

Our goal is to remain healthy and in shape enough to enjoy this stuff for as long as possible.
 

Andy Mink

Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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I'll be retired four years in January. I must say skiing has picked up tremendously with the advent of A) getting back in to it and B) finding out about multi passes and, most importantly, C) reconnecting with @Philpug and @Tricia. That makes it pretty easy to get lots of days on the mountain and I've been fortunate enough to ski at lots of places I never thought I'd get to plus a few I'd never heard of.
20191230_153314.jpg

On the road to Lee Canyon ski area, southern Nevada.

20200102_134415.jpg

Down the road from Mount Lemmon Ski Valley outside Tucson.

I've picked up a couple of side jobs in the summers working for a mining engineering friend. I get to go to pseudo-remote and VERY remote places in Nevada and keep an eye on his projects. Not a lot of fun but it can be interesting and the extra pay help fund other things.
20180415_103228.jpg

Working from my trailer. It's the little white dot near the center of the photo. Yes, this is remote Nevada.

Then, of course, are the requisite honey-dos and the work keeping the house from falling down around us. Fences, walls, decks, painting, faucets, and the myriad of other stuff that needs work in and around a 30+ year old house.
20190711_071935.jpg

Shed construction with the management team.

We also spend quite a bit of time glamping in our 5th wheel toy hauler. Each summer we go to a National Park with a herd of friends, though this year didn't work out. We did do several long weekend trips, though, and I use the trailer to hunt from.
20200704_171650.jpg

Trying to stay cool on the dry lake.

Overall I highly recommend retirement if you can make it work.
 

SSSdave

life is short precious ...don't waste it
Skier
Joined
Sep 12, 2017
Posts
2,516
Location
Silicon Valley
Much of what is possible when retired is limited by one's wealth, health, dependents, physical fitness, skills, and knowledge.

Retired February 2017 after 4+ decades working as a peon in Silicon Valley hardware electronics and hi tech engineering. Never a wife, dependents, or house, never taken a loan even for vehicles, never ever in debt, living frugally little interested in wealth. Had a habit of not working (without ever collecting unemployment insurance) for extending periods of months to years between jobs enjoying myself as a California landscape photographer, skier, backpacker. Thought I would be able to retire with a fat sum from Cisco stock but in 2001 with the Dot Com disaster all went under water. Had nearly gone through 125k in savings when the 2008 crash occurred but then worked hard another 8 years that accounts for my current modest savings. Now receive near the high end of SS monthly benefits given income over top 35 years, so being cheap have not yet gone into any of my savings, thus am content.

What I have as a senior is mostly good health, strong mind, youthful appearance, and exceptional athletic skills so expect to continue my 3 above pursuits for years barring disease rising. As a native Californian and someone in the SF Bay Area from the counterculture era, have experienced much live rock music so am a big fan. As an adult never much of a TV or movie person but rather endlessly fascinated by science, especially natural sciences so always reading. At least now don't have to read endless technology standards and data books haha. Am not one interested in moving to some wonderful remote natural location as am hopelessly hard core urban, though would entertain a small city. California works so with much world class nature just a drive a way.

With my limited funds, will be content to continue just skiing Tahoe (great variety!) as it's more about the visceral enjoyment I've long locked into solidly and not exploring elsewhere in the skiing universe. So without envy, I will continue to do so without expectations of much destination skiing because that's out of my pay grade. My log shows 209 backpacking trips with 910 days, so yeah am hard core Sierra Nevada. In 2019, little me at 135# carried 65# over notorious Shepherd Pass on a 10 day journey. What I am missing as a gregarious person and am keen to change, is a wife to happily leisurely share the remaining years of this mortal organic existence with.
 
Last edited:

johnnyvw

Out on the slopes
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Joined
Dec 20, 2016
Posts
1,665
Location
near RDU
I am currently in my last full work week of my career, will be going to 2 days a week starting next month as supplemental income to my 401(k) and soc. sec. benefits. I was really looking forward to a cheap senior pass at Camelback since it's 30 minutes from my house. But, the covid virus issues have put a damper on that, and at this point I am just waiting to see how the local areas work things. Travel is not in the cards, maybe not for a few years. Both my kids live at a distance that driving isnt all that practical, so that's going to have to wait as well. Most of my other plans will be house projects and various rebuilding/modifications to the 69 VW I recently acquired. And I recently found out I am deathly allergic to wasp and hornet stings (had a close brush with death from anaphylaxis in August) so I will be starting injections to lessen my sensitivity to them...which is a 5 year program that starts 2X/week
 

Plai

Paul Lai
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Nov 25, 2015
Posts
1,965
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Silicon Valley
I find myself needing to think aloud about this topic also, as retirement is closer and closer.

I find myself still wanting to "contribute", rather than just "play".
That said, default path is:
1. Break 30, 50, 70, 90 days per season skiing. [I'm currently averaging around 12-15 as a family man limited to holiday schedules.]
2. Fish more - I'm mostly a backcountry stream fisherman.
3. Continue Tennis and pickleball.

The bonus/stretch items:
4. Like many above (@Crank @Posaune ) would like to participate in music more. Unlike them, lack of skill/talent on my part may be a limiting factor.
5. Travel/Explore to do all of the above.

The dream would be:
6. Bonus: Find a way to "contribute" [part-time/limited].
7. Bonus: And somehow get paid while doing the above. I always seem to have the desire to make money. Several close friends at this point make ethnic/cultural references. I claim "growing up hungry", so it's built into my psyche.
8. Open to new adventures/hobbies as always.

This list is not priority (importance) order, but what's perceived as "doable".
Here's hoping "opportunity" will change things up.
 

PinnacleJim

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Posts
1,117
Location
Killington/Pico, VT
I have been retired for 14 years (!!). So I can tell you what I did and continue to do. I spend about 2 weeks each month from November to April at my Killington condo. Ski midweek and most Sunday afternoons. No Saturdays. Each February I have spent 3 weeks in Summit County Colorado, renting my Killington unit which usually covers the rent on a condo in Summit County. Last season was the first since 2006 that I skied less than 60 days. That was due to the early season close due to Covid. Currently at 13 days this season. No trip to Colorado planned this winter.

Summers are spent sailing on Long Island Sound.
 

doc

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Posts
744
@Andy Mink: great looking management team. I've got 3 labs myself, but one chocolate sprinkled between the two black labs. The graying pattern on one of yours is very similar to that on one of mine (9 yo).
Now 66 but between COVID and possible boredom, no current intention of retiring any time soon.
 

scott43

So much better than a pro
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
13,552
Location
Great White North
I'll certainly be fixing bikes/skis.. I had intended to do a bunch of volunteer bike stuff..like learning clinics and stuff. I feel like I need to make a few bucks to supplement that. Can't go broke having a shop and not making enough to cover the rent. Or find a place where I can do it out of the garage. Few years to go yet..
 

tch

What do I know; I'm just some guy on the internet.
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Nov 13, 2015
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1,542
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New England
Retired 3+ years. I've always biked and skied and done wilderness trips with my family and friends. With retirement, it was easy to start volunteering. I live in a small (pop 1200) but very cosmopolitan New England town, so I had lots of opportunities and took them: on the board of arts organization, local newspaper, community organization, and drive the local ambulance. Bucket list items came pretty easy: first year, I did a 6-week ski trip out west, hitting many of the places I'd heard about but not visited. Second year, wife and I walked part of the Camino de Santiago and went to Patagonia for four weeks. Last winter, a friend and I did a 3+ week trip around the Powder Highway. This fall, wife and I did a 5 week RV trip in the Southwest. So...in many ways, I'm livin' the blessed retired life.

What I am just now beginning to feel (perhaps exacerbated by COVID) is a desire to be more meaningfully employed. This is a bit unexpected, as I was kinda burned out from teaching for 37 years and felt like I'd spent a lot of that time giving. As I said, I am volunteering, but it doesn't really feel like quite enough. And also interestingly, all those books I thought I would finally read...are mostly still sitting on the shelf. So... interested to hear what folks are doing to fill that hole for meaningful endeavors in their lives.
 

Pajarito-bred

Getting off the lift
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Joined
May 20, 2020
Posts
142
Location
Grand Junction CO
I retired in Jan. 2020 shortly after my 60th birthday, to maximize the 2020 ski season as a retiree (and grab a few final paid holidays). The Warren Miller axiom applies: "If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do". Statistically I have fewer future powder days remaining than I've so far already experienced the past 50+ years on the slopes.

It's great to not have to say any more: "Nope, can't ski tomorrow-- I've got meetings and deadlines, reports due, vendors and regulators and managers e-mails piled up, those fresh powder tracks will belong to someone else". Since retirement, skiing weekdays with those other old farts in the "over the hill gang" has been fantastic (except all ALL! group fun cancelled for now). Still looking forward to volunteering my time and a slower pace of travel, where places harder to get to can be explored rather than worrying about expending vacation days on travel time-- applies to ski trips, camping trips, beach trips, river trips, road trips... trips, remember those?

I learned quickly that the sudden transition from saving it to spending it is challenging, multiplied immensely by the shock of seeing my hard-earned retirement savings thrashed by CV-19 panic just a few weeks after depositing my final paycheck. The finances have recovered, but we're not ever going get those cancelled days back from last season. My long-dreamed-of post-retirement epic (oops, Ikon) adventures will have to wait just one more year.

I didn't take a ski-bum season or semester "off" as friends did, post-college or pre-career, so I'm planning to make up for that except the mogul-bashing part. Fortunately, I put one nickel in my retirement account every time one particular supervisor said or did something idiotic, eventually that pile grew large enough to retire and pay for ski gear, lift passes, beer and bikes and boats from now until infinity or death, whichever comes first. I'm planning on skiing until I'm 105, but the odds are against making it that far. I've likely forgotten plenty of powder days, so need to keep on refilling my short-term memory.

Hey! Why am I not skiing today, wasting time browsing skiTalk instead? My excuse is that I skied Monday and Tuesday, conditions were great --for early season -- it's still early season though, just a couple of runs open, need just one.... more... good storm to open the whole mountain-- Now that I could theoretically ski all 7 days every week, I'll need to figure out the appropriate % of days/week 3/7, 5/7, 7/7? This year, especially, it seems advisable to avoid Sat/Sun even powder days- what a horrible luxury! Plan is to incline towards more days on the slopes, and test the theory that the powder-day secret to being in the right place at the right time is spending time in the right place.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Jim Kenney

Jim Kenney

Travel Correspondent
Team Gathermeister
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 27, 2015
Posts
3,588
Location
VA
Much of what is possible when retired is limited by one's wealth, health, dependents, physical fitness, skills, and knowledge.

Retired February 2017 after 4+ decades working as a peon in Silicon Valley hardware electronics and hi tech engineering. Never a wife, dependents, or house, never taken a loan even for vehicles, never ever in debt, living frugally little interested in wealth. Had a habit of not working (without ever collecting unemployment insurance) for extending periods of months to years between jobs enjoying myself as a California landscape photographer, skier, backpacker. Thought I would be able to retire with a fat sum from Cisco stock but in 2001 with the Dot Com disaster all went under water. Had nearly gone through 125k in savings when the 2008 crash occurred but then worked hard another 8 years that accounts for my current modest savings. Now receive near the high end of SS monthly benefits given income over top 35 years, so being cheap have not yet gone into any of my savings, thus am content.

What I have as a senior is mostly good health, strong mind, youthful appearance, and exceptional athletic skills so expect to continue my 3 above pursuits for years barring disease rising. As a native Californian and someone in the SF Bay Area from the counterculture era, have experienced much live rock music so am a big fan. As an adult never much of a TV or movie person but rather endlessly fascinated by science, especially natural sciences so always reading. At least now don't have to read endless technology standards and data books haha. Am not one interested in moving to some wonderful remote natural location as am hopelessly hard core urban, though would entertain a small city. California works so with much world class nature just a drive a way.

With my limited funds, will be content to continue just skiing Tahoe (great variety!) as it's more about the visceral enjoyment I've long locked into solidly and not exploring elsewhere in the skiing universe. So without envy, I will continue to do so without expectations of much destination skiing because that's out of my pay grade. My log shows 209 backpacking trips with 910 days, so yeah am hard core Sierra Nevada. In 2019, little me at 135# carried 65# over notorious Shepherd Pass on a 10 day journey. What I am missing as a gregarious person and am keen to change, is a wife to happily leisurely share the remaining years of this mortal organic existence with.
@SSSdave , I don't know much about online dating sites, but you ought to have a winning dating profile pretty much already drafted in your post!
:daffy:

Loving all the other posts in this thread!
 

Tom K.

Skier Ordinaire
Skier
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Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Posts
8,402
I've been semi-retired since 50. Very lucky. Work half-time-ish, or a little less, for a client I really enjoy, and who appreciates what I offer.

If they'll have me, I'll probably work for them to the grave. In the meantime, my sort-of-retired plans continue to be simply:

1. Have fun.

2. Be nice!
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
Skier
Joined
Feb 27, 2016
Posts
2,168
Location
Killington
Retired to play Peter Pan. Grew tired of playing an adult. Plan to ski at least a decade of ski days with a tad less than 1500 required to check that one off. Wife had me agree to move the the beach when we are no longer able to ski so doing everything in my power to keep this from ever happening. Waiting for social security to kick in as it is slated to go to the heli skiing fund. Pick up trash off the mountain as a daily community service. Searching for the fountain of youth is full time occupation.
 

TexasStout

Epic Pass + Loveland 4-pack for 2021-2022
Skier
Joined
Nov 24, 2015
Posts
698
Location
Texas and Colorado
Haven't thought much about what I want to do when I retire other than ski, bike, hike and travel as it was always a few years off. Now, at 62, our company is doing a COVID-induced reorganization and have announced they will be offering voluntary severance packages in January. With twenty-four years of service, it's a no brainer to get paid to leave instead of working those last two years.

In year one, I plan to rest, play and improve my fitness level back to what it was before COVID shut things. While also thinking about what to do to contribute in some way, like volunteering.

We're probably going to sell our Texas house and move to Colorado to live, while maintaining a smaller footprint in Texas. Since Texas is where my family and our friends mainly reside, we'll spend part of each year there.

As for skiing, I target next season, after COVID is managed, to ski as many days as years old i am. Looking at a monthlong winter road trip to resorts in areas I've never skied before - Utah, Wyoming and Telluride. I look forward to repeating the number of ski days for years of age as long as physically possible.

Besides overseas travel, which is high on our priority list, my wife wants to buy a camper and go places we've never been and stay as long as we feel like it. I concur.

Hunting and fishing with my grown sons and my brothers are other activities I look to increase time on, especially when my youngest finishes his stint with the Marines in July.
 

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