Retirees, Those Soon To Be and the Hobby

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

My belief is that if you are in a position to do so, then do so. We moved and the primary requirement was one floor living. We have a two bedroom loft for when the grandkids or guests are here. During the remodeling we made the doorways, and our shower, wheelchair accessible; just in case. It’s one level to the garage and the train room. Most weeks if I had to go to work I would have to call and say, “sorry, too busy, maybe next week “. As far as I know it’s never been recorded that on their death bed someone has said, “I wish I spent more time at work “. Collect early and often.

@Tranquil Hollow RR - Good point about one floor living as we grow older. Another vote for collecting early.

Tom

@raising4daughters posted:

Thanks to all the posters here, especially those early boomers (I was born in 1964, so technically a boomer, but tail end, so I self-identify more as a Gen-Xer since I don't like the Beatles and was born after JFK ).  Like many posters, I've been a total slowpoke getting basement layout 2.0 up and running. Too much life getting in the way....graduations, weddings, etc. our 3 oldest plus our last born is only 14.  Second, I love seeing so many in their 70s still getting at it in this hobby.

Seems like you have an army of volunteers (children) readily available to help you on layout 2.0...

Sometimes, I can make progress in the Fall/Winter with time saved from not needing to do outdoor yard work, but with four daughters I guess other things may still fill in that time.

Tom

@RJT posted:

Tom I just ordered the book maybe I will get it read before I retire (Currently 69 still working and still enjoying it) if I am lucky between layout construction Honey Do's and my sawdust show projects. Of course cannot forget train show.

Rick,

  Good that you still enjoy working and we see the other side to retiring early.

  Train show??? I have not been to a train show in 2 years!

Tom

I appreciate this thread as well.  I used to think retiring at 65, or even 67, was going to be the standard and what I should work towards.  Lately, I've found as our workplace squeezes more out of people for less money that 62 or earlier is becoming the norm.  I'm glad to see others here who have retired earlier than 65 and breaking that "norm" I had in my mind.  At 51, I figure I have maybe a decade left and then go full time on hobbies.

I retired last October at 55.5.   I’ve been back on contract since then working 20-25 hours a week.  I think I have another 6-10 months before I’m done done. I’ve been working till noon.   My oldest graduated college, working, and still living at home.  My youngest is a sophomore in college.   I spend the afternoons doing yard work, visiting friends, road trips, working on my layout, plinking with my bow, or not one dang thing!   I’ve tore my layout apart, which I never finished, and I’m switching to HO while I can still see.   I don’t plan on ever having a large completed layout.   I do plan on building and tearing up multiple versions in whatever suits me at the time.  

@EmpireBuilderDave posted:

I appreciate this thread as well.  I used to think retiring at 65, or even 67, was going to be the standard and what I should work towards.  Lately, I've found as our workplace squeezes more out of people for less money that 62 or earlier is becoming the norm.  I'm glad to see others here who have retired earlier than 65 and breaking that "norm" I had in my mind.  At 51, I figure I have maybe a decade left and then go full time on hobbies.

@EmpireBuilderDave --Good for you. This was one of my original reasons for posting this to sort of "sound out" if retiring at 62 seemed doable for others. I did not want to be one of those people who dies soon after retiring or worse, dies at my desk, while still working. That's just my 2 cents. After 840+ posts, I'm glad people seem to still appreciate it.

Tom

PRR8976   

The poling car is one I have thought of-an older appearing transfer caboose with a center pole on each side-perhaps that will be my next project-looks like others have already done them.  I have done a number of PRR MOW cars --including a motorized tower car-done from an early MTR doodlebug coach/baggage car-with two wooden extension towers, caboose cupola , pantograph , ladders, undercarriage goodies, etc added --and a flat car tower car-with an extendable wooden tower.  As you can tell, the PRR-especially their early diesels and all their electrics-is one of my most favorite railroads. I also like many of the east Pennsylvania/NJ road names ( Erie, Lackawanna, LV, RDG, Jersey Central, etc) and (having spent some time in Maine), companies like the Rutland, BAR, MEC and B&M.  Ill try to show some pictures, eventually.

A big consideration is what your medical costs will be. It was quite expensive, per month, for my wife and I until we arrived at the wonderful age of 65 and Medicare.

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

A big consideration is what your medical costs will be. It was quite expensive, per month, for my wife and I until we arrived at the wonderful age of 65 and Medicare.

I retired at 64, but my wife continued to work until she was 65 and we had great medical benefits from her county job.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I retired at 64, but my wife continued to work until she was 65 and we had great medical benefits from her county job.

I was in a similar position as John.  I retired at 63 which wasn't my choice, but my wife was a school nurse so we had great benefits from the school district.  She was pushed to retire the same year, but they gave them 5 additional years on the school plan as an incentive.  I just turned 65, and my Medicare supplemental insurance is part of the school plan.  She just retired from working at a doctor's office and is still on the regular school incentive plan since she is 62.

Great thread, thanks for starting it Tom. The answers have been interesting, enlightening, and in many cases hopeful. I’m 59 and plan to retire next June. Looking forward to life without deadlines or schedules. I started my current (1st) layout 8 years ago at 51. The link is below.

Andy

Andy,

  Everyone should take a look at your excellent layout. Keep up the good work and post here when you can, too. Congratulations on being near retirement!

Tom

Thank you on both counts Tom!

Andy

Tom - I started following this thread back in 2015 and I had 10 years and 2 months until retirement.

I'm down to 41 months. Keep the thread going!

@Mark Boyce posted:

Tom,

Interesting you say you have 7.5 years before you retire.  If all goes well, I will retire in 7.5 years too.

Sean, excellent observation.  Ironically, in February 2015 I wrote I had 7.5 years until I retired.  In July 2015, the company selected my name for early retirement.  😄  Then they had me work as a contractor for 4 years, and I couldn’t find any other work.  You just never know….

@Mark Boyce posted:

Sean, excellent observation.  Ironically, in February 2015 I wrote I had 7.5 years until I retired.  In July 2015, the company selected my name for early retirement.  😄  Then they had me work as a contractor for 4 years, and I couldn’t find any other work.  You just never know….

Thanks Mark,

I work for the DoD so a buyout probably won't happen, but you are right: you just never know!

@PRR8976 posted:

Rich,

  Sorry about the passing of your friend. If doable, good luck if you can leave earlier. Hope you have room for a layout in your new home?

Tom

Oh yes Tom, a nice-sized dry basement.  But first I (we) have many things to "upgrade" in this 100-yr old house.   Plan to start prepping the train room space this winter, which since we're in South Dakota, should be pretty soon !

@Sean007 posted:

Thanks Mark,

I work for the DoD so a buyout probably won't happen, but you are right: you just never know!

At one time, a job at a public telephone company was a job for as long as you wanted to work for them.  Not now.  
Your point of the DoD is well taken.  You are probably right.

Even retired you still have all kinds of obligations that have to be done 1st before you can work on it.

Mine is open grid Gargraves flex and a lot of track is going up or down. I'm sure a table top type with sectional track would be a lot faster but that's not what I wanted.

@Sean007 posted:

Tom - I started following this thread back in 2015 and I had 10 years and 2 months until retirement.

I'm down to 41 months. Keep the thread going!

Sean,

  Thanks for the kind words. I may have started it but everyone made it interesting!

Tom

Well, I guess I should chime in...

I was planning on packing it in at 60 after 37 years with the same Company, but in 2012, the company decided that it wanted to downsize management grades, so I was the recipient of a sweetheart deal to leave 3 years early. Fortunately, I worked for one of the last major American companies to have a defined benefit pension plan, so I knew I’d be OK. After a couple of years of catching up on overdue projects around the house, at the ripe old age of 60, I started my first (and most likely last) layout. And, based on my “progress” of late (and I use that term VERY loosely ), I will have to leave money in my will to pay someone to finish it

Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be... it’s better!!! As long as you realize that an alarm clock is no longer a fact of life, and you are your own boss, so you get to decide what you do and when you do it, you will do fine!!!

@trestleking posted:

Oh yes Tom, a nice-sized dry basement.  But first I (we) have many things to "upgrade" in this 100-yr old house.   Plan to start prepping the train room space this winter, which since we're in South Dakota, should be pretty soon !

I'm currently in a 100-year old house that leaks on one wall in the basement when we have too much rain. So far, it hasn't been too bad in the 11 years we've lived here. Just a few days, maybe a handful where the water barely seeped in. The worst was tropical storm Ida recently where water (maybe half an inch) covered half the basement and garage. That was a period when we got 7.8 inches of rain if I remember right. The neighbors behind us had water up to their knees in their basement. I grew up in a basement that leaked, so I'm generally not too worried.

But in general,  I don't think that a dry basement can be over-estimated if anyone is moving.

Tom

@Mark Boyce posted:

At one time, a job at a public telephone company was a job for as long as you wanted to work for them.  Not now.  
Your point of the DoD is well taken.  You are probably right.

Good point Mark...You can say that about many jobs in days gone by, the railroads, car manufacturers, etc. However, even that does not mean you can make it to retirement. My wife's uncle worked for General Motors (Tarrytown, NY- serviced by the New York Central's Hudson Division) for many years and died on the job from a heart attack.

Tom

@Apples55 posted:

Well, I guess I should chime in...

I was planning on packing it in at 60 after 37 years with the same Company, but in 2012, the company decided that it wanted to downsize management grades, so I was the recipient of a sweetheart deal to leave 3 years early. Fortunately, I worked for one of the last major American companies to have a defined benefit pension plan, so I knew I’d be OK. After a couple of years of catching up on overdue projects around the house, at the ripe old age of 60, I started my first (and most likely last) layout. And, based on my “progress” of late (and I use that term VERY loosely ), I will have to leave money in my will to pay someone to finish it

Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be... it’s better!!! As long as you realize that an alarm clock is no longer a fact of life, and you are your own boss, so you get to decide what you do and when you do it, you will do fine!!!

Paul,

Glad to see you are doing well in retirement!

Tom

I am happy to say I will be retiring on January 18, 2022.  It will be time to do all the projects I have put on hold over the years.  I do want to do part time work and some charity work but that will be after a few months and getting through winter.  My wife retired at the end of the last school year.  The great thing is we will be able to do more together.  I can certainly make a long list of train projects that need finished.  I enjoy upgrading engines, replacing lighting in my several passenger cars,  finishing sections of the layout still in the planing stages, etc..

I plan on doing a you tube channel covering many parts of the hobby along with activities of our Ft Pitt Kids Club I have been involved with over several years.  My hope is the channel would feature several different layouts and how they came from a vision to completion, even though we know they are never completed.  This will be a challenge for me but I will take it one step at a time.  I got a lot of good tips from several of the younger you tubers out there.

@PRR Joe --Good for you, that you have a clear plan of what you want to do. Congrats on your imminent retirement. When you get the YouTube channel up and running come back and let us know.

Tom

@PRR8976 posted:

Seems like you have an army of volunteers (children) readily available to help you on layout 2.0...

Sometimes, I can make progress in the Fall/Winter with time saved from not needing to do outdoor yard work, but with four daughters I guess other things may still fill in that time.

Tom

I should probably change my handle. None are children. Oldest is 28 and lives in Australia, second is 27 and just got married. Gave her and her husband two sets and track for their first Christmas tree. Third is 24 and a nurse working long shifts, though her husband is showing a train interest. Youngest, 14, has been a big help.

Can't remember if I already posted this, but even though I'm retired I'm too busy to go back and check the preceding 20+ pages...

Retired at the end of March at 62 - was fortunate enough to have worked the past few years for the federal government so was able to continue health insurance at the employee rate.  (If you're currently around 55 or younger, aren't making a six figure salary, and would like to retire at 62, I strongly recommend applying for a federal gov't job.)  I never intend to work for money again. A major factor in feeling comfortable (for me at least) was choosing a modest house and paying it off years ago - I feel bad for those who still have mortgage payments.  After I catch up with all the stuff I want to do around the house and with trains, I might do some volunteering.  Time to go to the gym several times a week, golf in the good weather, trains in the bad.

I plan to make major revisions to my layout and fix all of the things which I wish I'd done differently.  And I certainly don't look at it as my "last layout".  To me, the concepts of "last layout", building, or rebuilding is a function of one's health and mobility - everyone is different, and I'm relatively lucky in those regards.  My only concession is that I might make any future layouts modular in case I need to move at some point.

@Sean007 posted:

Thanks Mark,

I work for the DoD so a buyout probably won't happen, but you are right: you just never know!

See my post about continuing the health insurance at the employee rate - the biggest benefit of DoD, IMO.

@Apples55 posted:

Well, I guess I should chime in...

I was planning on packing it in at 60 after 37 years with the same Company, but in 2012, the company decided that it wanted to downsize management grades, so I was the recipient of a sweetheart deal to leave 3 years early. Fortunately, I worked for one of the last major American companies to have a defined benefit pension plan, so I knew I’d be OK. After a couple of years of catching up on overdue projects around the house, at the ripe old age of 60, I started my first (and most likely last) layout. And, based on my “progress” of late (and I use that term VERY loosely ), I will have to leave money in my will to pay someone to finish it

Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be... it’s better!!! As long as you realize that an alarm clock is no longer a fact of life, and you are your own boss, so you get to decide what you do and when you do it, you will do fine!!!

Sure....rub it in........

My father-in-law retired from one of the big NYC banks at 54. Still happily retired and 86 now.

I'm still about 10 years out.

@PRR8976 posted:

John,

How was the move? Another couple of things I am not fond of: packing, moving and unpacking!

Tom

Tom - I could write a book on the household move...particularly moving the train collection!

I had decided that I wanted to move my collection myself (including the 10' by 22' platform, constructed with 2X4s and 1/2" marine plywood).  We used to joke about using the space under the platform as our tornado shelter...it was that solid!  Originally planned to discard the platform, but stratospheric wood prices resulted in disassembling and shipping that, as well.

Luckily, we were smart enough in design and construction to nut-and-bolt the frames together, and screw the platforms to the frames...even with that, it took us 10 hours to dismantle and put the pieces in a 15-foot U-Haul truck (stripped screw heads were the main culprit).  Carefully labeled the legs/braces for each of the five platform modules during disassembly

Lessons Learned to follow shortly...

John

@Seafarer posted:

Tom - I could write a book on the household move...particularly moving the train collection!

I had decided that I wanted to move my collection myself (including the 10' by 22' platform, constructed with 2X4s and 1/2" marine plywood).  We used to joke about using the space under the platform as our tornado shelter...it was that solid!  Originally planned to discard the platform, but stratospheric wood prices resulted in disassembling and shipping that, as well.

Luckily, we were smart enough in design and construction to bolt and screw the platform together...even with that, it took us 10 hours to dismantle and put the pieces in a 15-foot U-Haul truck (stripped screw heads were the main culprit).  Carefully labeled the legs/braces for each of the five platform modules during disassembly

Lessons Learned to follow shortly...

John

John,

  That is very interesting to me on several accounts... When we had our roof done a few years ago, I started stockpiling the leftover (several half sheets almost marine grade plywood--7 or 8 laminated layers, I think and most have thankfully been kept above ground) plywood for the glorious day I start my layout.

I can understand the sturdiness of a layout...my last one was 11x4 and I could have made a cozy, solid bed underneath!

If and when we move, I plan to take the plywood with us and also move my trains by ourselves. Wife has bears and other stuffed animals--who am I to say anything about what she collects while I come closer and closer to probably someday having as many steam switchers as the Pennsylvania Railroad did! Did I mention the plywood, my trains, my T-Rail track, my train books, train railroadianna...including a very heavy Pennsy caboose stove, a 57-pound New York Central cast iron Yard Limit sign, New York Central dwarf signal, a Southern Pacific switch stand and a B&O metal freight house sign (something all in common= heavy), etc.? I'll need to put extra air in the U-haul's tires I guess when it comes to that day. No, I'm not a hoarder...more of a hoarder/collector/operator! It sounds better when you word it that way.

So, you moved the layout from a garage. Did you go to another garage, basement or room--- if you can share and can you say from what state to what state you moved to? ...no need to say the city, town or village.

If you wrote such a book, I would read it, so you would have at least one sale.

I assume you meant you used nuts and bolts to fasten your sections together?

Tom

@Mallard4468 posted:

See my post about continuing the health insurance at the employee rate - the biggest benefit of DoD, IMO.

You are100% correct. The very first retirement class that I had years ago  emphasized keeping the fep healthcare after separation. That and put money into the TSP.

This assures that I will be healthy enough to run my railroad and have a decent amount of funding in which to do it!

@RSJB18 posted:

Sure....rub it in........

My father-in-law retired from one of the big NYC banks at 54. Still happily retired and 86 now.

I'm still about 10 years out.

Sorry Bob... nothing personal, but it is required of all retirees to “rub it in” at least once a week. Please refer to The Retiree’s Handbook - Chapter I: subsection xix - The Duties & Responsibilities of All Retirees

Tom! So you are the T rail phantom!  I haven’t seen any T rail in several decades! Lol.

so back to the topic at hand….

I will retire on December 31, 2022, as they say up here God willing and the crick don’t rise!

the following month in 2023 I will turn 70.

until then in the current health crises, my work is my calling.

my bucket list is bursting!

@Leroof- T-Rail comes up surprisingly often on the big bidding site. Sometimes fairly affordable, mostly not. Glad you will be inducted into the Retirees Hall of Honor soon!

Tom

@Apples55 posted:

Sorry Bob... nothing personal, but it is required of all retirees to “rub it in” at least once a week. Please refer to The Retiree’s Handbook - Chapter I: subsection xix - The Duties & Responsibilities of All Retirees

You left out one thing from the handbook - whenever you encounter someone who is still working, be sure to thank them for paying for your Social Security.  This is especially effective for bonding with younger people who are convinced that they'll never see a dime from SS. 

@Mallard4468 posted:

You left out one thing from the handbook - whenever you encounter someone who is still working, be sure to thank them for paying for your Social Security.  This is especially effective for bonding with younger people who are convinced that they'll never see a dime from SS. 

At one time, I thought I was never going to see a dime.  Now I am getting back some that I put in for 45 years.  😉

@Mark Boyce posted:

At one time, I thought I was never going to see a dime.  Now I am getting back some that I put in for 45 years.  😉

Yeah, I swallowed that too.  Now just make sure you live long enough to get it all back and then some!

My goal is to even have my clone taking part!

Tom