Downsizing?

[pworley1]

Retire from my view: 1. Hours are longer. 2. Pay much worse. 3. No day off. Just joking, retired in 2017, and it has been great.

[Texas by God]

The less stuff that we have when we kick it is actually a blessing to our descendants.
It would have been to me
Five year rule helps a lot.


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[xs11jack]

My wife pulled a sneaky one on me. We talked about retiring out of town to a few acres because we both like the outdoors. Here in the suburban we have been blessed with great neighbors. Well, a weeks after retirement she says that she can't leave all her friends here and moving out is unacceptable. So here I am and it is OK I guess.
Ole Jack

[fixit]

My wife doesn't have any hobbies, and and has nothing she values greatly. As a result, she has always been "downsized". My side of the closet is packed to the gills with outdoor clothing, hunting and shooting supplies, various tinkering type projects, and whatnot. Our garage will not accept a car because of projects and equipment, as well as lumber and supplies. I have three toolboxes on my truck that are full of tools. There is room for organizing, but the amount of reduction my sweetie wants would be problematic....it would require a complete surrender of more than one of the endeavors that I engage in...I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[Baltimoreed]

We did all our traveling before I retired as my gal was a teacher with summers off and I had 4-5 weeks vacation every year. My suggestion is to travel while you’re young and able too. She never retired as she had a disabling stroke after 29 years of teaching. I retired 6 years after her stroke and with the help of others took care of her as she declined over 12 years. As to downsizing, Hurricane Irene did that for us. Took a year to get the house elevated and us back in it.

[MrWolf]

I moved out here almost seven years ago. Got the buildings up I wanted. I have tons of the kids old toys, papers, etc. My gf moved in a few years ago. My back is all messed up and hers isn't all that much better than mine. She has maybe five years left before retiring. We have 81 acres, no neighbors, and no plans on going anywhere. We love it here. Her church is just up the road. Downsizing? That is my kids issue as I am keeping everything I worked for. I figure they are getting everything for free so they can do some work deciding what to keep. One thing I want is in my will ( did one of those diy ones and really need one done by an attorney) that the place cannot be sold. There should be enough to pay for the place for a long time as taxes and personal property taxes are less than $2,000 a year combined. Timber was last cut about 20 years ago so they can always do that if more money is needed.

[Markopolo]

i have the sneaking feeling that she is talking about you downsizing your stuff rather than 'hers'.

lololol…

[Slugster]

I will not downsize. We live on 12.5 acres in a very quiet area, have my own 100 yd range and shooting shack. If I were to downsize, I would no longer be able to indulge in my hobbies and would most likely die of boredom.

As I told my wife: The next time I move, the County Coroner will do it for me.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I retired thirty years ago. My Sweetheart and I traveled a lot. We went to places many Americans never visit, like Fort Sill OK, Death Vally and Joshwa Tree where thousands of movies and TV shows are filmed. After I retired af we moved to a place in the country. It had a lovely house on 2 1/2 acres. We lived there for 16 years and loved every minute of it
, then we downsizesd before moving into a senior community.

[firefly1957]

Downsizing is really not an option for me at least not unless my health fails I like where I am at quiet area on 20 acres I can shoot as much as I want and do here. My wife does get a bit bored and to really mess things up our daughter is moving to Florida so I do not know how things change now .
I retired in 2006 and SWMBO in 2012 we did some travel but not as much as planned . I also have not fished much as I thought for various reasons .

I probably need to sell my boat and motor home does that count as downsizing?

[trebor44]

Large construction dumpster in the driveway, the only way to downsize! One room at a time!

[MT Gianni]

Tell her you like having a sweetheart and that you see no reason to downsize one.
If she wants to live in a motorhome and travel the highways, try it for 6 months but don't sell anything off.

[firefly1957]

^^^^ I was going to mention that and forgot if you do try to travel look at renting a motor home for a couple months before selling the house!

[bisleyfan41]

One thing I want is in my will ( did one of those diy ones and really need one done by an attorney) that the place cannot be sold. There should be enough to pay for the place for a long time as taxes and personal property taxes are less than $2,000 a year combined. Timber was last cut about 20 years ago so they can always do that if more money is needed.

Honest question, why would you do that? Seems like you're chaining your future family generations to your property that they might not even want. What if they don't want to live there? Should they abandon it and let it grow over since they can never sell it? Then the state gets it...for free.

I mean, somebody will have to sell it at some point, right? If not your kids, then their kids, or their kids, or the kids after that.

What if one of your kids or grandkids developed serious health issues in the future and needed a lot of money for cancer treatments or a transplant? Unlikely, yes. But certainly possible.

This isn't meant to be personal or an attack on you. Please don't take it that way. Just trying to wrap my head around your thinking. I don't understand why you'd want to limit their options, esp since you're gone. Were I placed in this situation, I think I'd forfeit the property.

[35 Rem]

I've been retired almost a year now and downsizing is the furthest thing from my mind. Been a slave to a job for 39 years, I'll be darned if I'm going to downsize and sit around in boredom just because "it's time". We're trying to build a house about 40% larger than the one we've lived in all these years and move to the farm rather than live on 3 acres. Selling my stuff??? Ha! I've never sold a gun and have no intention of doing so. I've got enough farm machinery, old cars and trucks etc. on the farm that in comparison my guns don't even matter. This is the time of life I've dreamt of for years and I'm going to enjoy it.

[dverna]

I downsized when I retired. 2400 sq ft house to 1600 sq ft. Went from suburbs to 20 acres in middle of nowhere in northern MI. Love it.

Traveling is what a lot of people want to do but the $64k question is..."Can you afford it?". We cannot and it ticks off my SO. Take a month and try it. Track your expenses. It may be an unrealistic dream.

I have a nice place and will stay here until I cannot manage living here anymore. When we decided to get together, I told her I was not moving. She is free to leave when it suits her. I was upfront from the beginning. I spent a lifetime getting to this point in my life. Might seem hard hearted but so be it.

Proverbs 21:19

Good luck. A lot of older couples are splitting up because their "needs" change. Nothing wrong with compromise if you do not resent it. BTW, that works both ways.

[ascast]

what is a sweetheart? I have a lady friend ( in different state) that calls me a hermit. I have 100's acre to play/hunt on. Lots to do. I also have a mini mobile home. Maybe you should try it for a summer.