if I were retired, I'd honestly have to ask myself if I deserve it.

[DriftBusta]

8 minutes ago, Snake said:

There is a huge difference in being retired and being out on comp/disability.

The best part of retirement is there is no pressure, no little thing in the back of your mind that tells you you are NOT retired and something is out there waiting for you.

There was about a month of anxiety where regardless, my brain didn't accept I wasn't going to work.

 

You had a physical job, and the folks I talk to who did, were thankful for not having to do those activities any more, and could focus on the physical-like riding a sled, motorcycle, etc., on their terms, not because they had to.  I bet you won't miss those cold winter days working.   Plus you and the wife have multiple income streams set up, so you should be dialed for the rest of your life.  The job I have now I wished I started doing 20 years earlier, not physical, which has an opposite issue, getting soft sitting behind a desk.  But the upside is I can come and go as I please, make my own hours and really have no limits on my income.  I want to milk it as long as I can, eventually just work a few days a month.  The money is too good to pass up.  If we didn't buy that goddamn boat last year, we could get by on a lot less.   I will wait until full retirement age before i start taking SS, cuz there are no income limits.

[Snake]

8 minutes ago, DriftBusta said:

You had a physical job, and the folks I talk to who did, were thankful for not having to do those activities any more, and could focus on the physical-like riding a sled, motorcycle, etc., on their terms, not because they had to.  I bet you won't miss those cold winter days working.   Plus you and the wife have multiple income streams set up, so you should be dialed for the rest of your life.  The job I have now I wished I started doing 20 years earlier, not physical, which has an opposite issue, getting soft sitting behind a desk.  But the upside is I can come and go as I please, make my own hours and really have no limits on my income.  I want to milk it as long as I can, eventually just work a few days a month.  The money is too good to pass up.  If we didn't buy that goddamn boat last year, we could get by on a lot less.   I will wait until full retirement age before i start taking SS, cuz there are no income limits.

I went from averaging over 20,000 steps a day to barely 5,000.

Having the revenue streams sewn up (except for the next pension and SS) is another bonus of retirement over sitting around collecting what Dad calls a 'blue check'...