retirement

[Ratatatat]

Kinda on topic, what type of jobs you all doing in retirement? My retirement date is coming soon and although my pension will be good enough for me to not have to work anymore, I'm worried I will be bored out of my mind.

I retired after having informal talks about a six figure job with a defense manufacturer. Shortly after I retired, the company was sold and the people I'd been having discussions with were gone.... just like that, doors open and then doors close.

So now I exercise every day, read the mind numbing drivel posted here and a few other sites, and make dinner for the fam. Part-time work has been easy to find... firearms instructor and transporting boats for a marina, a couple days a week and seasonal in nature. Not complaining- I'm cool with not having a daily grind. Plus, now that I workout and don't eat gas station food anymore, I've lost 25 pounds and my BP has dropped from 140/90 to 110/70.

Former co-workers who retired about the same time landed in different places. Two guys are working armed transpo of dope and cash, which is ironic because five years ago they would've stuck their 9s in the ear of an armed driver carrying 100 pounds of dope and $200K in hundies and now they are *that guy*. Totally legal though and lots of decent paying security jobs for former cops, if you don't mind smelling like mega-skrunk and working for the dope man. Another guy is working as a LE liason for a major credit card company and another started his own executive protection company. And a couple more aren't doing much, other than golfing and day drinking.

I'm worried I will be bored out of my mind

Whenever I get bored (which, frankly, isn't that often), I wonder if I'd rather be bored sitting on my couch watching Judge Steve Harvey or dealing with a dogbreath boss... dimwitted co-workers... endless bureaucracy.... angry public... dangerous roads.... declining society... on and on.... well, the answer is sitting on my couch.

It will be a bit of an adjustment but whenever I hear people say retirement is one of life's more stressful events, I don't know what the hell they are talking about.

[scotty_appleton814]

I'm happy as heck that your BP went down that much. It's truly a silent killer

[GoldBadge]

Good deal on that BP drop!

[Iowa #1603]

Kinda on topic, what type of jobs you all doing in retirement? My retirement date is coming soon and although my pension will be good enough for me to not have to work anymore, I'm worried I will be bored out of my mind.

Nope I don't have to work .................................................. ..........That being said, 2 months after retirement I started working for an Armored Car company. THAT was a big mistake. Various reason why. I lasted 10 days before I told them they couldn't pay me enough to work there any more.

Being retired and not needing the job----you can do that !

About 6 months later I landed a perfect job. I have been working for 11 yrs as a Court Security Officer/ Prisoner Transport officer for my local sheriff. All of us at the Transport Division are retired LE or Corrections & work an "On Call " schedule except for maybe 1 day a week scheduled for various court sessions. Transports are usually able to be scheduled in advance so we know what we will be doing a few days prior.

I get to keep my hands in the job, but don't have to be out in the patrol racket. It's sweet. And pays decent for part time work. We are armed & drive marked/unmarked vehicles as needed.

I have some retired friends that are working various jobs, one works for the lumber yard delivering product, one drives school bus, one does odd jobs / construction. one is a long haul trucker, several work as farm laborers,

One guy lives on a lake, and his dream at retirement was to spend it fishing.................Six months later he was found working at a sporting goods store as a door greeter. His words to me were " I found out that you really CAN NOT spend all your time in a boat " He has since completely retired now and still fishes SOME

The thing you need to remember is a LOT of LE personnel have Type A personalities, and sitting around doing nothing is not in their make up. I do my fair share of TV watching etc, but I also like to keep busy doing SOMETHING

[GoldBadge]

Nope I don't have to work .................................................. ..........

I don't have to work either and my employer knows it - a big plus. It's work that I enjoy doing, it keeps me busy, and its a little extra spending money for the wife's credit card. The minute it stops being enjoyable, I'm outta there in a New York second.

[Iowa #1603]

Absolutely! I was talking to our new hire deputy the other day as part of his FTO, explaining how our division works (or doesn't) I reminded him that since we were all retired.......if we said we weren't going to do a transport or hospital watch.........that was just the way it was
Sheriff has told the sworn staff that if we dont', they would have to do the job and to be just glad when we did say yes !!

.

[BNWS]

After my kids were born my wife left her job. We learned to live conservatively and only have a small mortgage. THAT along with a good pension means I dont have to work. If the right job comes along .. Maybe.

[Aidokea]

A-freekin'-men.

I was blessed with a career that paid very well, so my wife has never had to work, and my pension is enough to easily support us, as long as we live within our means. I have no desire to work myself into the grave, trying to impress people I don't know, with stuff that I can't take with me.

[SOCAleo]

Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. I was thinking of doing a part time instructor job in report writing, but as some of you suggested, just retire and relax sounds enticing too.

[BNWS]

Try the job, you may enjoy it. Sounds low stress and you can always quit.

[BNWS]

I did have a retirement gig for a few years. At first it was perfect, a job doing some phone background checks. The office was all retired cops. The boss was great. Dress code was "wear clothes'' . A week before you would schedule what days you were coming in. Close to home to boot! Too good to be true. Initially when offered the job I told them to let me think about it. Even though I didn't need the money, the job sounded too good not to give it a shot. You never know where it would lead. For the first couple of years it was everything they said then slowly as the business got more successfull the job changed. It started to become a numbers game and I fell into a familiar funk that I had as a cop. Eventually they closed our office and let everyone go. Truth is I didn't care. I was there for the perks and the pocket change. The camaradrie of retired guys was a plus. Even with all those perks it had become a grind and I was relieved when it was over. I feel sorry for the full timers that made their living there and those part timers that needed the money, but I don't miss it.
I thank god everyday for my pension and the ability to live comfortably on it with out having to take those mind numbing security gigs with some career square badge telling you where and how to stand. Will I ever work again? Maybe, but I have the luxury of being picky.

[scotty_appleton814]

I can't wait to join the ranks of Retired!!!!!

[JohnKelly]

Retired in 2007, keeping active with jobs around the homestead, still enjoying retirement, long may it last.