[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by StudentStudy

Are you newly retired or have you been for over 10 years? 8.5 yrs. from my last profession - but have my own company now, a p/t business

What is your life like compared to how it was before? Less discretionary income now so we have to stick to a tighter budget. But also far less work-related stress. More free time now. And I'm told I'm a better person to be around now...........

What challenges do you face? What's going to happen in the future with the economy, healthcare/Social Security/Medicare systems, inflation, our country as a whole? And will we be able to maintain a respectable lifestyle/mode of living through our years in the future?

What are the benefits? See response #2

If you could change anything, would you? Nothing of consequence.

Would you still retire at the same point if you could go back and do it again? In retrospect, I'd have probably stayed in my last profession a bit longer. I got out of the game at a (comparatively) early age so it's tougher on the finances for a longer stretch of our lives than it would have been otherwise. But I might have also had a stroke/heart attack/who knows what from the stress...........it seemed like I was heading down that route! Adapting to a different financial situation is as simple as modifying your lifestyle (and mindset) to fit it.

What advice do you have for younger generations about retirement? Invest wisely and save, save, save. And then when you think you've saved enough.......save some more. Very few companies will be providing anything even closely resembling a "livable" retirement plan for the younger generations so you'd better plan on going it alone. If you can be lucky enough to have a job you enjoy and work for a company (assuming you wouldn't be self-employed) that is successful, growing, and "shares in the wealth", all the better for your financial future. Also, keep your charge card purchases in check. If you can't pay the bill in full when it shows up in the mail each month, then you're not doing it right.

Bill