Retired
I was 'retired' for a while but didn't like it. You never get a day off.
I was 'retired' for a while but didn't like it. You never get a day off.
Retirement and Pool....not all it's cut out to be!!!
- Thread starter Maniac
- Start date
great idea!
Joel,
Overall I am against further fragmenting the forums, I think we have too many subforums already. However I think what you are suggesting is a great idea and suggest that you contact Mike H about either a subforum for the subject or a sticky thread(something else we have too many of) that only permited "looking for a playing partner or companion" posts with all replies by PM or other method so the thread didn't get hopelessly cluttered.
Hu
Joel,
Overall I am against further fragmenting the forums, I think we have too many subforums already. However I think what you are suggesting is a great idea and suggest that you contact Mike H about either a subforum for the subject or a sticky thread(something else we have too many of) that only permited "looking for a playing partner or companion" posts with all replies by PM or other method so the thread didn't get hopelessly cluttered.
Hu
What a GREAT post!
I am so glad you posted this.
You don't say anything about having less money to blow so I have to guess that you are rolling in the chips. lol
I have often thought about retiring. My wife does charity work so you know that means no income coming in from my better half. I don't think she will go for going back to work.
Another biggee for retiring is HEALTH INSURANCE. Your wife may still have you covered, or not. Still, it's a big consideration, especially if you have health issues.
Being underfoot could be a problem. It wouldn't be for me because I am street dawg.
Nevertheless, I look forward to hearing the comments of others as they see fit.
One of the reasons I haven't retired is I like working. Go figure.I also don't like to see the retirees at the pool room pinching pennies. That kind of keeps me from closing the doors as well.
Anyway, thanks for starting the thread.
We are far from wealthy, university professors prefer time to money so money doesn't add up very fast. Most of my private practice involved working with criminals so that wasn't too profitable either. I did find early on (in my 30s) that you tend to live whatever money you make. If I made a couple of hundred grand in one year, we spent it on stuff we didn't need. So I decided to figure out what life style we wanted and then earn the money to support that. We do have more than enough to live on.
When it comes to retiring you gotta run all the numbers. When I figured the cost of working, gas, office rental, taxes paid to a city I did not live in, state taxes, licensing and insurance fees, and the list goes on. It turns out that if I kept working I would soon find myself in a high tax bracket and would be working for the government.
When we retired we definitly down sized from a 40 acre farm and a 3,000 square foot house with out buildings to a double wide in Fl. All five kids are grown and through college so there is less expense there too.
When you run the numbers on what you need to live a reasonable life you might be surprised at how little you need to be happy. Before retirment I had a swimming, pool, hot tub, and of course my own pool room. Now I have none of these things as the community has all of them and they are less than 100 yards from my house. What's more is the idea that there are usually other friendly souls around when I go and use the facilities.
Health insurance can be costly and there are some people here spending $2,500.00 a month. When the complaing is done it is usually seen for what it is, the cost of doing business. You may pick up an expense here but you sure lose many other expenses.
After I ran all the numbers it turns out I make about 80% of what I did when I retired and have lost well of 40% of the expenses I had from all sources. So, for me it turns out retirement was a good financial deal.
I liked the work I did and had some anxiety about leaving some of my friends in academia. None-the-less I took the plunge and retired at 60. I have found that retirement is all about my wife and I having a great time together. We go out more and have more common friends than we ever did. Most of all there is time to do all the things I want to do. It is difficult to explain and perhaps one of the easier stories is the idea that I often feel kinda sorry for the people I see on the highway (outside our little fairy tale island gated community where the guard waves to everyone who comes through the gate). The "outsiders" all seem to be in such a hurry to get some place else and they seem to be angry or irritated about many things that simply do not matter.
I tell my friends that at our age you have to stop and think, "how many years have I got left? And how many of them should be for me and the things I want to do before I am no longer able to physically or mentally do them." When I looked at it this way I figured I wanted as much time as I could afford given my life style.
There is simply no way I would ever think about dong what someone else wanted me to do for money. Life is just too short and as much as I enjoyed my occupation I am enjoying retirement even more.
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Retirement beats working, and I have not looked back. Retired in JUNE 1997, have zero regrits! Miss my old period of Self Employment that ended in 1995 THANKS TO THE INTERNET! IT IS CALLED PROGRESS!
If I was retired and my wife working, I'd be on the couch, beer in one hand and my dick in the other watching re runs of Golden Girls.
They're hot.
They're hot.
Is this called the Villages....
The "Villages" are about 20 miles north of us. We live in Hawthorne. Ironically, the Villages are a little too fast paced for us. Seems like more of a vacation resort to me though there are many retired people there. We go to the Villiges for entertainment but prefer the real village atmosphere of Hawthorne. I understand that the pool playing community is good at the Villages though I have not been up there to play.
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disability
I had to leave work in 92 because of a spine related desiese I was an electrian and rodeo for a hobby calf roper. I had always compeded is some type of sport I was going bonkers with nothing to compet at when a friend got me started playing pool you mite say pool kept me sane and keeps me active at something and I love all the az people thanks
I had to leave work in 92 because of a spine related desiese I was an electrian and rodeo for a hobby calf roper. I had always compeded is some type of sport I was going bonkers with nothing to compet at when a friend got me started playing pool you mite say pool kept me sane and keeps me active at something and I love all the az people thanks
The same thing happened to me. One of my best friends lived near by and he had a Gold Crown in his home and we played pool every Friday night from 7pm until we couldn't hold a cue anymore and enjoyed every minute of it. Things changed with his business and he had to move to another state. To say I was lost without my pool playing buddy would be an understatement! In addition to playing pool every Friday night together he was also my traveling companion to the US Open every year. My friend was a better player than I am and practicing with him helped my game a lot also.I used to have a friend that came over weekly and shot pool with me for a few hours. He moved and I miss the times we spent together playing pool, throwin' back a mixed-one (or two), and the general conversations we had.
James
My Wifes health , My health , Rising fuel prices , Just not any fun anymore to be on the road . When fuel prices went thru the roof , in june a couple yrs. ago I spent $12,400 for fuel for 1 month for one truck . Love being home all the time . Now I get up 6 am and work in shop till about 3 and then take a nap , and work off and on in shop , attached to house till mid-night . Some times I have to go to Pub , to check out a new pool cue , I made . Tough duty , but someone has to do it . i have a Brunswick Madison Pro-8 , at home but no body to shoot with , very often . By takeing cue to pub , I get a lot of opinions also . Thanks Jim
I am going to retire September 30. I live in central Ohio. The nearest "real" pool room is 63 miles from my house, one way. In between there are lots of bars and clubs with bar tables. The game is 8-ball. They call it "straight 8" here. Playing a safety can cause you a problem. I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to find a money game in any of them. This is a rough area. All the good paying jobs are gone. I'm sure there are lots of areas in the country that have suffered the same fate.
I have no idea how good I play, really. I started playing pool for a hobby back in the late 80's. I was 38 and drove to Columbus, Ohio to learn more about the game. I watched players like the Truck Driver, Kenny M., trying to improve. There is a pool room called Players and another called Cornfed Red's where a lot of the better player's played, and I started entering their weekly tournaments. I never won, but it was fun, and I learned some things.
About the same time, we had a local back room pool room, that was on its last legs where a few of the better players played mostly one pocket, so I got some exposure to that game as well.
Now I go to the senior center to practice, mostly by myself. They have 3 older, lower model 8ft Brunswick tables. I try to play in at least one tournament on the weekends. I would really like to have someone to practice with, and a pool room to frequent closer to where I live. Maybe someday I'll relocate. Right now I'm going to take the winter off to play pool, and wait till next spring to decide whether or not I need to find something part time to keep busy.
I have no idea how good I play, really. I started playing pool for a hobby back in the late 80's. I was 38 and drove to Columbus, Ohio to learn more about the game. I watched players like the Truck Driver, Kenny M., trying to improve. There is a pool room called Players and another called Cornfed Red's where a lot of the better player's played, and I started entering their weekly tournaments. I never won, but it was fun, and I learned some things.
About the same time, we had a local back room pool room, that was on its last legs where a few of the better players played mostly one pocket, so I got some exposure to that game as well.
Now I go to the senior center to practice, mostly by myself. They have 3 older, lower model 8ft Brunswick tables. I try to play in at least one tournament on the weekends. I would really like to have someone to practice with, and a pool room to frequent closer to where I live. Maybe someday I'll relocate. Right now I'm going to take the winter off to play pool, and wait till next spring to decide whether or not I need to find something part time to keep busy.
Question for those that retire, elsewhere.
I realize that you can make friends wherever you retire to but do any of you who retired to another state, miss your family or friends. I'm wondering if you have any regrets about retiring to another locale.
I can't imagine not getting a phone call from my son and saying, "Dad, can you come over right now and help me ****************?".
I've lived most of my life in New Orleans except for several years where we lived in Jackson, MS and the friends who I hang out with are mostly pool players. I feel like I might miss some of them.
We have a very small family tree and don't see each other on a regular basis and that's just the way it is.
I'm sure it's different for each of you and while I admire picking up stakes and moving to new locales, I wonder if I would regret it.
It is hard for me to imagine not running down to Buffalo Billiards on a moments notice because a road player was in town or there was some action going on. I doubt if there are many pool rooms in the country like Buffalo Billiards but I'm sure there are. I just hear some of the laments from those whom I know from the Internet or through national tournaments and it doesn't sound like there are many pool rooms like the one I belong to.
I would appreciate your candid thoughts about having regrets or not having regrets about moving to a new retirement community where you don't have family and friends.
Katrina tore me up pretty good and I'm not sure I could take another one and often think about moving to another location. Florida sure sounds attractive but they aren't without the hurricanes either. Phoenix sounds good but Arizona Jay and his wife are trying to move down to our Gulf Coast. lol
Anyway this is a great discussion, I appreciate hearing all of your perspectives.
I realize that you can make friends wherever you retire to but do any of you who retired to another state, miss your family or friends. I'm wondering if you have any regrets about retiring to another locale.
I can't imagine not getting a phone call from my son and saying, "Dad, can you come over right now and help me ****************?".
I've lived most of my life in New Orleans except for several years where we lived in Jackson, MS and the friends who I hang out with are mostly pool players. I feel like I might miss some of them.
We have a very small family tree and don't see each other on a regular basis and that's just the way it is.
I'm sure it's different for each of you and while I admire picking up stakes and moving to new locales, I wonder if I would regret it.
It is hard for me to imagine not running down to Buffalo Billiards on a moments notice because a road player was in town or there was some action going on. I doubt if there are many pool rooms in the country like Buffalo Billiards but I'm sure there are. I just hear some of the laments from those whom I know from the Internet or through national tournaments and it doesn't sound like there are many pool rooms like the one I belong to.
I would appreciate your candid thoughts about having regrets or not having regrets about moving to a new retirement community where you don't have family and friends.
Katrina tore me up pretty good and I'm not sure I could take another one and often think about moving to another location. Florida sure sounds attractive but they aren't without the hurricanes either. Phoenix sounds good but Arizona Jay and his wife are trying to move down to our Gulf Coast. lol
Anyway this is a great discussion, I appreciate hearing all of your perspectives.
Hi -
I am 71 years old, in good health, and retired. Our kids bought a pool table last Thanksgiving. I played 8 Ball with our 14 year old grandson. I was awful, and he beat me. I had never played pool with a pool cue on a regulation table. In college I played pool on a small table with rake and broom handles.
I told our grandson I was going to learn how to play better, challenge him this Spring, and clean his plow. He is a city boy. He didn't know what "clean his plow" meant. Made me laugh, and I told him I was going to beat him.
As assisted living center is about a mile from our house. It has an old regulation size Olhausen table and a few beat up Dufferin house cues. I volunteered to play pool with residents there. I cleaned and sanded the rough spots on the cues, installed new tips, regularly clean the table and balls, and have been playing a few times a week. Unfortunately few residents are physically able to play, so I usually practice alone. I am working on my stroke, making shots, and controlling the cue ball. I also bought a few old two piece cues I have restored and really enjoy trying to learn how to play better.
One thing I did not fully anticipate was meeting and making friends with the residents. Every person has a story, and I have really enjoyed making new friends. The down side is they are all older than I am, and two friends passed away in the last six months. But I know I am brightening their day every time I show up at the pool table, they brighten mine, and I am having fun.
Now I am too good for my grandson. He won't play with me anymore. Gotta love it.
Rick
I am 71 years old, in good health, and retired. Our kids bought a pool table last Thanksgiving. I played 8 Ball with our 14 year old grandson. I was awful, and he beat me. I had never played pool with a pool cue on a regulation table. In college I played pool on a small table with rake and broom handles.
I told our grandson I was going to learn how to play better, challenge him this Spring, and clean his plow. He is a city boy. He didn't know what "clean his plow" meant. Made me laugh, and I told him I was going to beat him.
As assisted living center is about a mile from our house. It has an old regulation size Olhausen table and a few beat up Dufferin house cues. I volunteered to play pool with residents there. I cleaned and sanded the rough spots on the cues, installed new tips, regularly clean the table and balls, and have been playing a few times a week. Unfortunately few residents are physically able to play, so I usually practice alone. I am working on my stroke, making shots, and controlling the cue ball. I also bought a few old two piece cues I have restored and really enjoy trying to learn how to play better.
One thing I did not fully anticipate was meeting and making friends with the residents. Every person has a story, and I have really enjoyed making new friends. The down side is they are all older than I am, and two friends passed away in the last six months. But I know I am brightening their day every time I show up at the pool table, they brighten mine, and I am having fun.
Now I am too good for my grandson. He won't play with me anymore. Gotta love it.
Rick
Welcome the AZ! Great story!