Any retirees who've had to go back to work just to pay for the trains and/or layout?

If you choose to continue working, at least part-time and can delay collecting Social Security, it's worth remembering that each year you delay collecting from 62 to 70, your benefits go up at 8% a year, plus whatever cost of living increases occur, so that's worth considering if you can.  The difference in collecting at 62 versus 70 amounts to about 64% greater annual payments. It's true you need to live to 82 or so to break even, but most 62 year olds will make that life expectancy real, unless you have major health issues to begin with. Then collecting at earlier ages makes more sense.

Looking for a good woman to partner with me and go into the Iron & Steel Business. I figure she can take in ironing during the day and I can go out at night...

No, not yet but I would like to get a part time job doing something light.

I retired at 62 - just tired of the BS at work.  Life is too short to waste it working if you don't have to - I'd rather live modestly and cut back on trains if necessary.  No plan to go back to work unless I get bored, but that's unlikely as I'm plenty busy with projects and activities of my own choosing.

As far as trains are concerned, how many high-end engines can a person enjoy?  And how often do we read about quality control issues or see the expensive electronics go poof?  We have options that don't bust the budget - nicely-detailed locomotives made by Lionel 25-35 years ago can be found (often unused) for a fraction of their original prices.  MTH PS-1 locos have nice sound and smoke and sell for half of a comparable PS-2 or PS-3.  Williams made some nice looking engines that run well.  And don't forget good old postwar - anything that is less than "like new" is plentiful and cheap.

There are plenty of examples of folks on the forum who have built satisfying layouts without all of the latest bells and whistles; apologies to those I'm not mentioning, but @Arnold D. Cribari and @Mark Boyce quickly come to mind.

@c.sam posted:

Looking for a good woman to partner with me and go into the Iron & Steel Business. I figure she can take in ironing during the day and I can go out at night...

@c.sam  That took me back! The last time I heard something similar was in the mid-70s from my Dad. His coworker said, "My wife and I are in the iron & steel business. She irons and I steal."

John

If I was need to get a part time job to support my hobby then shame on me. Prices have gone into the stratosphere and it’s not all due to inflation. FWIW I think the current manufacturers are pricing themselves out of business, at some point the amount of people with deep pockets will dry up (this tread being a hint that is happening). My main focus now is older equipment with can motors and Blunami, for less than $500 I can have features that compete with a +$1K engine.

@Landsteiner posted:

If you choose to continue working, at least part-time and can delay collecting Social Security, it's worth remembering that each year you delay collecting from 62 to 70, your benefits go up at 8% a year, plus whatever cost of living increases occur, so that's worth considering if you can.  The difference in collecting at 62 versus 70 amounts to about 64% greater annual payments. It's true you need to live to 82 or so to break even, but most 62 year olds will make that life expectancy real, unless you have major health issues to begin with. Then collecting at earlier ages makes more sense.

I worked with many men whose aim was to maximize their retirement benefits.  6 months after they finally decided to retire, they were dead.  I left the earliest I could and enjoy every day.  Of course, unlike a lot of folks, I listened to my Depression Era parents, and retired with no debts.  I have splurged on a couple things, but always the less expensive items, not top of the line costing 4 times as much as many Lionel things do, and I buy broken stuff and fix them, the bottom line to all that is enjoying the hobby.

I worked at teaching until I was 69.  Gave that up and now have only 1 job.  Thinking about giving that up around 72 or 73

I've got health issues so going back to work, if I wanted to is out.

I've been sick most of the summer some good days some not.

Retire as soon as you can as tomorrow is not promised too anyone.

  I've switched scales but HO is expensive too but still cheaper than O,

for right now.

Didn’t read all the above posts yet, so this may have already been mentioned.

if you plan never to completely retire and continue to earn some money until the bitter end, like me, then you may want to hold off receiving Social Security benefits until you reach full retirement age for Social Security purposes. For me, that age was 66 when I started getting said benefits, but depending on when you were born, that age may be between 66 and 67.

By waiting until you reach said full retirement age, you can continue thereafter to earn money and that won’t cause your Social Security benefits to be reduced.

Arnold

By the way, I’ve never enjoyed our hobby more than during the last 2 years when I’ve bought a lot less and even spend less time, but I still buy some and still spend some time on it. That has a lot to do with this Forum, the Railboys local train club I participate in, being an associate member of the NJ HiRailers (a wonder of the World IMO),  and all the comraderie.

Like a lot of things, less can be more.

I never went into debt to buy trains. Only buy what you can afford.

If it turns you on to continue to work for the sole purpose of being able to afford the trains of your dreams, then do it, but my recommendation is:  don’t let it cause problems in your marriage or other things that might adversely affect your family and/or your life.

I retired from managing a Apple Computer Dealer Store and Service Dept. when I was 49.

But I still managed rental Apartments til I sold most of them at 63.

But I still needed more room for my train collection and layouts, so I purchased a rural three bedroom 2 bath house with separate garage/workshop and 1.5 acres of trees and grass.

My full Social Security at 66 almost covers my new house payment, so I had to go back to rental property management and repairs, to have money to buy toys.

Now I am adding garden sheds for the overflow of materials and tools I need for both work and play,

@Trainmstr posted:

If I was need to get a part time job to support my hobby then shame on me.

Indeed. If you actually need a part time job after retirement to pay for trains and related "stuff", then you have planned your retirement poorly.

I am personally thinking through my retirement dreams currently.  It has been an interesting philosophical process that goes well beyond my model railroading hobby.  During the great recession, I was more or less wiped out financially like a lot of people my age.  My profession of architecture had an 80% unemployment rate at the height of the recession.  However, like many things in life there is a positive outcome to a negative experience.  I am finding now that with attrition from the profession due to that event, my skills are more in demand now than at any time during my career and my peak earning years are still ahead of me.  As a result, I don't see myself retiring until I'm into my 70's.  My wife is 8 years younger so I probably would continue to work as long as she does.  It helps that I enjoy what I do even if the profession has changed a great deal over my 30 plus years in this industry.

As a result, I expect to be able to use the added income to finally build that one layout I've been dreaming of for some time.  I have more trains than I know what to do with and I see retirement more as way to right-size the collection and spend my time focused on the part of this hobby I miss the most, the modeling part.         

@Trainmstr posted:

Prices have gone into the stratosphere and it’s not all due to inflation.

Inflation plays a big role, but prices also reflect the cost of new technology. Want to save money? Buy a DC loco -- there are plenty to choose from on the used market.

My company was bought out by a foreign-owned  company when I was 50.  It paid well, and had a great retirement plan.  I was senior management, so perhaps that worked out for the best.  I went with another company in a purely technical role, and I loved it.  After 14 years that company went bankrupt.  I was 66, had full SS and Medicare.  I would have happily worked another 3 years if I could until my wife had Medicare, but that wasn't in the cards.  I was totally debt free when I 'retired' and have been doing fine.  Adding to my train collection as my boss lets me, and we go on 2-3 trips per year.

So, for the OP, I luckily did not have to get another job to pay for my hobby.  However yesterday we ordered our standard pizza from our favorite pizza place (haven't had one in 4 months or so), and I was surprised to see the bill.  Since this was online I looked at a bill from the beginning of the year.  The exact same pizza had gone up 30% !!  We've noticed prince increases in restaurants and the grocery store as well.  The point is that inflation is undoubtedly effecting our hobby.

Short answer for me is "No." I can pretty much buy whatever I want, but my wants are limited. I am not a collector. I'm an operator focused on B&O operations through Cumberland Maryland circa 1950. There are not many offerings that meet those criteria. Golden Gate Depot recently offered a 1956 B&O Capitol Limited consist. 1956 is too late for me, and I don't model the 1950 Cap because it had a unique consist whose cars could not be used in any other trains. I have 12 tracks in my staging yard, but cannot afford to dedicate a track to unique consists such as Capitol Limited. I plan to buy a Lionel Base 3 once the bugs are worked out since I have 4 Sunset 3rd rail locos with TMCC. I plan to buy a Ross turntable because it's the one feature I didn't get in my layout that I really wanted. In time, both will come.

I'm the child of two Depression Era parents; my father's mother saved used paper towels in an old tissue box to reuse them until her death in the 1980s; the idea of spending money I don't have and need to work to earn causes a visceral reaction.

I love being retired. The biggest problem with working is having a boss. After 12 years of self-employment, I never was able to adjust to having a boss again. I didn't need or have one when self-employed, and found the same to be true as an employee. Bosses didn't see it the same way. I won't work for pay again if it entails a boss.

Well I don’t like plastic trains and the MTH tinplates in o gauge can’t be found. Plus I decided prewar steam is my spot. So I’ll never overspend myself from retirement. Now if tinplate comes back I’m in trouble.  

I retired after 35 years of teaching (which I loved).  Being on Tier 1 in NYS my pension is OK (compared to Tier 6 that they have now) especially when combined with Social Security which I waited until age 70 to collect.  I never cared to live a lavish lifestyle (not that I could with four kids).  I really liked being a father more than anything.  When I was a young teacher it was difficult because the pay was so low I had to work every weekend as a waiter (a single Friday and a double double on Sat and Sun).  But I made up for it in the summer when I spent time with the family during the week.  As time went on and the pay increased I made jewelry and sold it at shows on some weekends and ditched the waiter jobs.  Now that they are older they still call me with their problems, but I love it.

My renewed interest in trains came only recently because of a grandson (my daughter's son) who became obsessed with trains at age 1.  So I spent (spend) more than I would have normally.  For many years I was content with an annual Christmas layout I made that consists of O Gauge size houses and an N Gauge two level display.

Now I built a portable 4 x 8 layout for my grandson to use in his apartment in Queens, NY which ended up staying in my basement because they had another kid.  But every time they visit (actually tomorrow) we spend hours down there and at 8 years old he is still obsessed.  I haven't been all that well lately, but I keep wanting to take him back with some of his trains to the NJ Hi Railers Club.  He loved Ben and the other wonderful members he met there.  

At nearly age 80 I keep saying building my own layout is "in the works someday".  My mother lived to be 100 so maybe?

I know some people spend a lot of money on trains and I get the joke in the OP's question.  Trains are pretty cool today, but I think the cost is turning a younger generation off and some of the QC leaves a lot to be desired.

In terms of inflation, I have looked at the surveys about it (quite a few).  The top complaints aren't trains of course.  They are (in order based upon several surveys) Grocery prices, Housing, and Gas prices.  The reasons aren't difficult to assess.  The term "greedflation" was coined after the pandemic, but it doesn't apply to all corporations across the board.  Just the most significant ones that anger people the most especially the monopolies and the ones that collude.

It is pretty easy to look up the profits of different companies.  I haven't looked up model train companies myself so I won't guess.  But the way I look at it they don't have the luxury of true price gouging because they are in a limited market that could easily disappear if people stop buying making all of us who love model trains truly upset.  That would especially be true for O Gauge because it is such a small market share.

Short answer is I wouldn't go back to work to pay for trains. 

John

OH...BOY!!!  Did we get PLENTY of alerts to this thread.  Guys....too many diversions in the responses to let this continue.