On retiring, what new things did you start...

[Quickstatus]

There must be many people who only have the pension and still pay rent.

Per fortnight
Single pension with all additions: $1042.40
Couple with all additions: $684.1 = $1622.2 per couple

Includes pension supplement, clean energy supplement and rent assistance

Per annum:
Single $27102
Couple $47172

Is this correct?


Not a lot of discretionary spending there

.…………

What cars would you drive after retirement?

 

[bodog]

Per annum:
Single $27102
Couple $47172

I have no idea if it's correct but I reckon that's relatively generous from the taxpayer when many people have to fully self fund their retirement. If they take responsibility and save for their retirement they save the taxpayer this cost
Isn't it $800k of assets other than the family home that are allowed?
Sure it's not going to allow for an extravagant lifestyle but it does provide a significant contribution towards funding retirement

 

[Renato1]

Good idea - I am using my long service leave at half pay from August to February 2019 to get a taste of retirement. It will also tell me how I will go living on less money.

I have just booked a trip to Thailand and Singapore for 3 weeks and I'm hoping that I don't blow the budget.

Interesting, thanks. Sounds like a fun trip. Just be wary in Singapore when you see restaurants with reasonable prices, but who charge are fortune for cans of Coke when you get the bill.

In the last decade before retiring, I would always ration out my half pay leave - taking Christmas. January and February off each year (when Melbourne is wonderful and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else) and then take the occasional two or three months off for overseas trips every other year during the late European summer/early autumn. Can't say I was ever dying to get back to work.

I'd give my staff my local and overseas mobile phone numbers, and tell them to ring me or email me if they had any major problems that required my intervention - which happened several times.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Pushka]

Impressive that no one has suggested a Cruise


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View attachment 121071

Well, I cruise now so it’s not a retirement thing for me.

 

[get me outta here]

I think some people in retirement may suffer from relevance deprivation. If you think that may be an issue, it would be good to prepare for that by getting a plan to be whatever defines relevant to you.

 

[beardoc]

3 weeks after retiring I was back at work.Spend ~40% of the year working,50% travelling.
Absolutely love it.

I pretty much started to do this at the start of my specialist career - I found the option to work rurally, and started my career working 32 weeks and taking 20 weeks off (unpaid) a year, where I travel. Best decision I ever made. Not waiting until retirement to really travel.

 

[JohnM]

3 weeks after retiring I was back at work.Spend ~40% of the year working,50% travelling.
Absolutely love it.

Why did you wait so long . I first retired at 56 on a Friday and changed my mind over the weekend to be back at work elsewhere on Monday morning, with more leave and a gradual phase-down from there - now coming up 12 years ago.

Work is not in the slightest way permitted to interfere with travel .

 

[Renato1]

I just remembered another new activity I took up after retiring - archery.

I bought two compound bows (45lb and 70lb draw weight) and a recurve bow (40lb draw), so that I could shoot from my balcony down the gully and over our creek - both at targets and at foxes that happily were wandering down there in the middle of the day (and killing poor ravens and magpies and other wildlife). I never actually hit a fox, but they learned not to saunter around with impunity like they owned the place.

And male visitors all had great fun shooting my arrows as well. So I even bought a low power 20lb draw bow, so that ladies could have fun shooting too.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Deleted member]

How many cars would one turnover in retirement assuming car is new at retirement?
I plan to have new cars on retirement day. I think I can sneak in 3 purchases until then.

Ironically, my cars will be older, not younger. My current project is 51 years old. (1967, MGB MK 1) the issue will be getting in and out of it as I age I suspect

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Ironically, my cars will be older, not younger. My current project is 51 years old. (1967, MGB MK 1) the issue will be getting in and out of it as I age I suspect

Well based upon my father you may have a while yet as he had a similar MG for several decades.

He has had great fun for several retirement decades tinkering about with and racing a range of cars including an ex-Tony Johns supercharged single seater Raid Car ( Austin 7 'Raid' cars ), Nota, Nota Major, Nota Sportsman, Elfin Formula V plus others.

Often I would receive a call to come visit him and my mother - which really meant that after a cup of tea that he would say that "since you are here" that I might as well help him with some aspect of working on one of his cars that he could not do by himself

At 86 he still has his CAMS racing licence though yes in just the last year or two some of his cars that you have to slide into have become too difficult for him to get into. He mainly drives some bon-racing Austin 7s at present and still loves his car rallies.

He is living proof that those that have a passion have enjoyable retirements.

 

[rogerkambah]

I'll try and answer your questions @lovetravellingoz

Definitely a sea change. We have just purchased a 3 bedroom apartment/townhouse that is about 200 meters from the beach. Not exactly sure when we will sell our current house, we will have the place available as a holiday let until we are ready. When available we will also use it ourselves. The move will mean leaving ADL and moving back to NSW. Neither +1 or I have lived near or by the ocean so this is how we have decided to end our days.

Which part of NSW coast if its not too rude a question.

Edit: worked it out. Nice choice.

 

[Limewood]

We made a sea change from Sydney to Cairns 20 odd years ago, best thing ever, low cost property, fantastic palm fringed beaches, 10 mins to waterfront dinning, no pollution, no big city traffic, very laid back, 1 hr to Port Douglas, 30 mins to beautiful Palm Cove, Ok it get very wet and hot so we have air-cons all over, the other 9 months of the year we still wear shorts. Ok there are cyclones yet none has hit Cairns directly for many years and homes have been built to withstand cyclonic conditions for more years than can remember anyway.

 

[rogerkambah]

What cars would you drive after retirement?

Since driving a convertible (hood down) on a winding road puts a smile on my dial I have one of those. Then there is a not so slow hatch to go to the shops and trips since the convertible is only a toy. Sometimes we like to explore dirt roads so have a SUV for that. Its not a full blown rock hopping 4WD though. So 3 different cars cover my activities, although we could get by without the hatch, with the SUV doubling up.

Wife has own car which she really likes but it only gets used for her commute to work 3 days a week. Don't need it but she is very attached to it.

 

[Quickstatus]

I suspect that how we will end up with more than 1 car.
Maybe 2 - Golf hatch Tdi (or whatever the version is in 15 yrs. maybe be all electric
And an SUV for touring.

How long will I keep DL for?. For as long as possible or until autonomous driving is allowed and reliable. When does yearly driving tests kick in?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Wife has own car which she really likes but it only gets used for her commute to work 3 days a week. Don't need it but she is very attached to it.

If the saying Happy wife, happy life is true, then I suspect that Happy wife, happy retirement life may be even more true

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I suspect that how we will end up with more than 1 car.
Maybe 2 - Golf hatch Tdi (or whatever the version is in 15 yrs. maybe be all electric
And an SUV for touring.

Car plus SUV at present.

However in large part we already have more time now, and will have even more when fully retired, we will at least for a while swing back to having a real 4WD again, and one capable of towing, as we will up my our outback touring and other Australian adventures again with either a small offroad van and/or possibly boat.

We will still travel overseas each year, but with all the extra time available a multitude of additional short and long domestic trips open up.

With us both working in my/our company now at home which is cloud based (so home based or anywhere based!) our kms have plummeted and so 2 cars is not really necessary. So when we do the above we may drop down to one vehicle as even now we rarely need two.

 

[Quickstatus]

So how important is post retirement drivers license?

If ever there is a reason to stay in good health it’s to keep the DL

 

[van]

I have been retired 18 months. Spent a lot of my working life as a consultant in Asia. Since retirement I have visited Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia & Malaysia as a tourist with my wife. During workdays I always flew business class and continue to do so. An accumulation of hundred's of thousands of FF and hotel points help the budget. We have been cruising for years and continue to have at least 1 cruise per year mainly in cold climate regions eg Iceland, Alaska. I have taken up N scale trains and building wooden model boats as well as university guest lecturing and working on relevant committees. Life is as busy now as when I was working, just don't get paid.

 

[Quickstatus]

Here is the RMS NSW webpage about older driver licensing
Older drivers


From age 75 - yearly medical review
From age 85 - 2nd yearly driving test and yearly review if want to keep unrestricted license or no driving test if modified license (essentially from nursing home to RSL and back during the day)

That will be a PITA.

I’ve got >20 years before the yearly. Hopefully autopilot cars will be around then. Or maybe even a personal drone aircraft

 

[Flying mermaid]

Mr FM’s been in and out of retirement since he was 37 and we have always worked together and that has been from home since we were 34, so no real settling in with each other - we just occupy opposite ends of the house.

Since more formally retiring, we did Tai Chi lessons for 3 years and now practise it daily. Has made a huge difference to leg strength, balance and posture after years of fairly sedentary lifestyle. We did plan to follow up with Ballroom dancing, but that hasn’t happened.

We take the dogs for a long walk in the reserve daily and some other exercise as well. Mr FM prefers swimming and I do strength or treadmill. (We have facilities at home, as I think we would be too lazy to go out).

I have always enjoyed cooking, but Mr FM took it over for around 30 years, so I have been enjoying getting back into it. Bought a Thermomix and tend to make everything from scratch with organic ingredients.

I enjoy investing, so a fair bit of the day goes on reading company reports and analysis. I have toyed with charting, but find it a bit boring and too much like work.

Mr FM is heavily into photography and we now have a constant stream of models and cosplayers turning up at the door. He is playing around with a smoke machine at the moment. He loves doing the photoshopping afterwards and is turning our some really interesting work. He has always had a bit of an artistic bent.

Travel of course is in there and I love doing the research and planning.

We feel healthier than before we retired - work was never a priority, but we definitely have more time now for eating well, exercise, relaxing and catching up with friends.