Coming out of retirement?

[gnappi]

It's been four years since I reluctantly let my NRA law enforcement instructor credential and Florida "K" license (law enforcement instructor) and other state licenses expire. It's a long story but in short the state kept adding unnecessary and expensive burdens on me, so the licenses were easier to let expire than renew. I kept my NRA civilian instructor credentials so... dunno why actually.

Not long ago a local range asked if I would teach there again (I taught there 10 years ago) and today a gun store asked if I would teach their CCW class. Both have potential of ancillary things that I may be drawn into.

Here's the rub... I've gotten used to not having a schedule and got re-involved in fishing, shooting, ammo making and gardening and I am hesitant to start again.

Has anyone else retired and gone back to work (not necessarily firearms related) and found that it did not interfere with their retirement lifestyle?

[gbrown]

I can't answer your questions straight out, haven't been there. I'm like you, retired, no schedule, do what I feel like. Can you schedule these things so you are comfortable with them? How much of a problem is it to become current with the issues with the State? Lots of things to consider. You have to weigh these things against what you feel.

[gbrown]

One more thing, how comfortable are you with this? All in? Go for it. Hesitant, think again.

[elmacgyver0]

If you enjoy your retirement and don't need the extra cash don't let anyone talk you into something you don't want to do.

[gnappi]

I can't answer your questions straight out, haven't been there. I'm like you, retired, no schedule, do what I feel like. Can you schedule these things so you are comfortable with them? How much of a problem is it to become current with the issues with the State? Lots of things to consider. You have to weigh these things against what you feel.

I'll never renew with the state.

When initially I got my license, not being a LEO to "get my foot in the door" I had to be a security officer or private investigator (licensed to be armed and was both) be sponsored, attend the NRA law enforcement instructor's class ($500 plus room, board, travel and loss of vacation time, upwards of $2k total cost to me) AND pass the state exam which I passed (the highest the examiner ever saw at 99%) and THEN after 15 or so years teaching they wanted me to take another NRA instructor class every license period of 3 years, which I did three times. Later, on top of the renewal fee they started to charge a "fingerprint retention" fee and I'd have to get printed all over again. Then to add insult to injury, even though I trained alongside some of the U.S's best law enforcement instructors they wanted to degrade my license calling it a "Security officer" instructor license invalidating my ability to teach for a police agency. The only thing the DOA (Dept of Ag... appropriate acronym) could do to make it more difficult was to make me take the state board exams every license period which I fully expected them to do.

My keeping the private instructor credentials was easier logistically, clearly less expensive by a LOT, no issues with the state, and far more financially rewarding.

I'm going to mull it over and see if I can fit teaching again into my busy schedule :-) Oh, and I do not need the cash.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I retired 4 1/2 years ago and to be honest every day is full of activity, shooting, gunsmithing, wood working, boolit casting and I give a lot of it away. Retirement is another job with a lot of satisfaction in helping people.

Wouldn't have time for another job right now!

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[2A-Jay]

I retired from the Navy in 1992, I lasted 6 months sports fishing on the Puget Sound before I went to work as an armed security office in Memphis berfor moving back to Coarse Gold California. where I went to work as a Working Cowboy on a 200 acre ranch for 5 years. I then moved to Roseburg Oregon where I worked as an EMS 1st responder and Security Officer at Seven Feathers Casino until suffered a Massive Heart attack I am retired again and drawing My Mil Retirement pay and Social Security but am unable to work according to Social Security after suffering 9 TIAs in one summer. I now spend my time trying to convince my Wife I need yet more guns. my wife also has the honey-do list for me. That comes before range time in her book.

[monadnock#5]

As one of the fine members here told me in my retirement announcement, the ability to say NO is a valuable asset. If you enjoy training, and go in up to your ankles without getting dragged in up to your neck, give it a shot.

[Land Owner]

The comfort of my easy chair, no schedule, no time restraints, gloriously a supporting wife (my Paradise on Earth), the ability to dodge the rain in any given week planting food plots for wildlife on private hunting land, working on tree stand improvements, particularly after ripping the wooden ladder off of one while making a turn with the harrow sticking out behind the tractor (dooph!), sowing seed, riding the golf cart around the fields, smiling over a finished job - well done, seeing the seed germinate "overnight", and back again to the first five words above - keep me on the retirement sideline. Hunting season looms large. Being able to fully enjoy every bit of it, now that it is FREE (aged out) of license fees, is satisfying. The anticipation never grows old...

[gnappi]

As one of the fine members here told me in my retirement announcement, the ability to say NO is a valuable asset. If you enjoy training, and go in up to your ankles without getting dragged in up to your neck, give it a shot.

I like that, up to the ankles... and I'll remember it.

[toallmy]

If it's something you enjoy doing its not really work . I closed my little wholesale seafood business a couple years ago after over 25 years of operation , planning on retiring about six months in to my recliner time - I was offered a position in a completely different field now honestly I'm enjoying myself .
It's sort nice I go to work now because I want to .

[Handloader109]

I ended up early at 58, 4 yrs ago. struggled a bit, started very small business engraving that has helped pay the bills. applied for and ended up working from Jan all year so far with the census in office as clerk. 40 hours a week until recently. about 6 months in, it started hindering me, and it is finally winding down with true end in sight.
I would only do it if you feel the need, desire and can make it fit your schedule. PT, sure, ft, nope

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[MrWolf]

Been forcibly retired for almost four years now. My circumstances are different in that mine was a disability retirement. I have since gotten SS Disability. That being said with my pains, I would never go back to doing something on a schedule as it is to much especially on a hurting day. I am the type if I cannot give my best to others then I don't do it. Have to deal with things not being as well done around here as they used to be but that is at my place for myself. Good luck with your decision and enjoy retirement.

[tinsnips]

Unless you really enjoy that job life is to short to go back to work. I still work long hours but a few of my buddies say the best part of there life has been retirement. Right now I am trying to decide if I want to hang it up my body says quite my mind says not yet. Good luck with your decision.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I retired two years ago.
Ain't going back into the work force.
Not happening.

[Huskerguy]

I guess I have a somewhat different perspective. I have retired 3 or 4 times from education. Each time I did, someone would call me up needed help running a school or with a program. The last time they asked me to do something totally different, I evaluated special education students and recommended specific technologies for them. Totally out of my comfort zone. It didn't pay much, not nearly as much as I made as an administrator but for three years it was EXTREMELY rewarding. I was able to use some of my skills to directly help others. Last May my wife and I both hung things up for good - at least we think. I still sometimes feel the urge to want to get back into helping kids somehow but at 66, it is probably time for someone else to do that.

I have never regretted doing something I enjoyed and doing it for the right reasons - to help someone else. The extra money is nice but at this point, if I haven't made enough, a little more isn't going to make a huge difference in my life. I also know about the cost of certifications - I kept my administrator licenses up to date and it was very expensive and frankly, looking back, a waste of money unless I really wanted to go back into admin.

Like someone told a pastor friend of mine - if you can be happy doing anything else, do it. If you have a passion for what you are doing, do it on your time schedule for the right reasons and you will be satisfied. Best of luck.

[BrassMagnet]

I retired from the Navy in 1994. I retired from the FAA in 2019. A few months later I applied for a technical instructor job and I got hired. In March of 2020 the technical instructor job got shut down due to COVID and it is still shut down. I have been an unpaid NRA instructor for many years.
I perceive the NRA instructor to be a way to pay back to those younger than us and to ensure our freedom remains strong. My favorite example is lapidary. That is polishing rocks and making jewelry. When I was young, lapidary was considered a gold mine and those doing it wouldn’t teach others. Now those that know how to do it are in their nineties and it is a dead hobby. Do we want our firearms freedoms to die that way?
Doing firearm training and getting paid can be good for all. Just don’t get in too deep. Ankle deep only!

[bedbugbilly]

After being retired for as long as I have, I can't imagine going back to work where I have to be at a certain place at a certain time. It's a PIA when I know that I have to plan around a doctor's appointment or similar. My wife and I keep busy and the days go by so quickly as it is just doing the things we want to do.

Only you can answer the question of if you want to go back to teaching the classes. If it's something that you love doing and you don't mind sticking to a schedule - then I guess you have to decide on how important it is to you to do it. I have always found though, that when someone asks me to do something, like teach a class, be a speaker at an event, etc., it usually ends up with more being asked of me - either by those that I agree to do something for or others that want me to do things for the as well. Pretty soon, it snowballs and all of a sudden you have no time to do what you actually want to do. It's hard to say "No" and everyone's situation is different. You don't mention a significant other - if you have one - what do they think of all of this? As I've gotten older, I have realized that I am much closer to death than to birth and I worked hard all of my life. Now is the time for me to enjoy the fruits of my labor and spend time with those I love, doing things with them and doing what zi want to do, not what someone else thinks I ought to do. Some may call that selfish . . I call it living each day to the fullest.

Good luck with your decision - you'll figure out what's right for you.

[gbrown]

My wife got me a wooden sign shortly after I retired-- RETIRED, under that, DON'T HAVE TO, DON'T WANT TO, CAN'T MAKE ME. My feelings exactly. BTW, she regrets getting that sign, keeps threatening to toss it. :violin:

[trebor44]

Retirement means "retired". End of story unless finances dictate otherwise! Too much time for fun stuff and not enough free time for 'work' per someone elses schedule! Only you know the value of what you want to do, it's a personal thing!

[white eagle]

The comfort of my easy chair, no schedule, no time restraints, gloriously a supporting wife (my Paradise on Earth), the ability to dodge the rain in any given week planting food plots for wildlife on private hunting land, working on tree stand improvements, particularly after ripping the wooden ladder off of one while making a turn with the harrow sticking out behind the tractor (dooph!), sowing seed, riding the golf cart around the fields, smiling over a finished job - well done, seeing the seed germinate "overnight", and back again to the first five words above - keep me on the retirement sideline. Hunting season looms large. Being able to fully enjoy every bit of it, now that it is FREE (aged out) of license fees, is satisfying. The anticipation never grows old...

amen brother I hear you loud and clear
I retired about 4 years ago have my own land and bought a tractor and never seem to ride my 4 wheeler anymore
cutting grass,tilling fields,planting corn,planting food plots and mast bearing trees all for animals is my give back to
the animals for what I take
Absolutely love the doing that now that I have time to do it not rushing off to build another Walmart or lay brick on some
apartment building is golden
I actually got a phone call someone saw my resume and wanted to hire me for a job at the rate of 25-40
dollars an hour turned him down flat he seemed shocked but money isn't the end all,is it...

[skrapyard628]

My favorite example is lapidary. That is polishing rocks and making jewelry. When I was young, lapidary was considered a gold mine and those doing it wouldn’t teach others. Now those that know how to do it are in their nineties and it is a dead hobby. Do we want our firearms freedoms to die that way?
Doing firearm training and getting paid can be good for all. Just don’t get in too deep. Ankle deep only!


Lots of good advice in this thread. Im quite a ways away from retirement age so its always good to read about these things and plant some seeds in my mind for the future.

Training and teaching people about firearms is very honorable IMO. Anyone who devotes their time to do that without profits in their mind is a better person than they may admit.

The dead hobby quote above strikes me quite hard. My girlfriend is currently learning lapidary arts, specifically faceting and soon she will be learning how to create custom settings. The only person we found who was willing to mentor and teach her is over 80yrs old. There just arent very many young people involved in it. Thankfully her teacher Frank is more than enthralled that someone new wants to learn the craft. As a side note her teacher reloads and casts his own bullets, or at least he used to. So there we go...full circle, lapidary and guns!

[facetious]

It's been ten months since I retired and all ready I can't even fantasize about going back to work. Someday I might do something but it will have to be something that I want to do.

[woodbutcher]

;) Just make sure that the"up to your ankles"was`nt going in head first:twisted:.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Land Owner]

amen brother I hear you loud and clear
I retired about 4 years ago have my own land and bought a tractor and never seem to ride my 4 wheeler anymore
cutting grass,tilling fields,planting corn,planting food plots and mast bearing trees all for animals is my give back to
the animals for what I take
Absolutely love the doing that now that I have time to do it not rushing off to build another Walmart or lay brick on some
apartment building is golden

The harvest of a really good deer on your own land, that you tilled, planted, pay for and sweated the details, made encouraging for the deer's passing, is table fare, taxidermy, and memories above all else. I give credit to the Land Owner, my SCDNR Mentor and Host, for 28 consecutive years of dirt time and hunter education, through his open invitation annually to my hobby farming, hunting, and learning by observation and instructions. I had the luck and good fortune to know, befriend, and share the camaraderie of the men that annually prepare the Upstate SC lands for Public hunting. I ate it all up for breakfast, before it got to be too much. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

What I learned there I brought home to my land. It took a while. I had to try different seeds, different plants, different timing, a different strategy, but from the lessons learned I adapted, persevered, and overcame. From Desk Jockey, "sailing" a business computer in engineering design every business day, to 5-days of annual sojourn to SC just to plant, and then back again in 45-days to hunt for 10-straight days was a thrill.

I've hung up those "racing around" shoes. I am staying closer to my homestead now, hunting my own land. My tractor will STILL outwork me every day and twice on Sundays. I am sharing the work and what I know with a couple of younger generation men who are eager to lend a hand with the chores - for the right to hunt game (deer, turkey, and hogs - and Lord do we have the hogs). There has historically been and looks to be again a LOT of trigger time in hogs.

The future is bright...retirement is a gift for which we've worked all of our lives and in which to take advantage. Don't miss it. Life goes by SO FAST.

[BobT]

I retired from the Navy in 1996 and have worked every day since, now at almost 62 starting to think about retiring again.

[elmacgyver0]

I was going to retire at 68 but was coerced by my boss to work part time.
Now I work 3 days a week and have 4 day weekends and money to buy toys with!
I make enough that I don't need to use my savings or SS, I can just let it build up.

[beezapilot]

Retired from the Navy at 38, got a golden handshake from BMW at 50, played hard for 8 years. At 58 I finished up a great summer of travel and adventure, and opted to take a 90 day temp position at a local company- extra cash for this years adventures (that wouldn't happen, but I didn't know that). In the 90 days of employment, the plague hit and the market went south hard- so stayed with the job. Thought I'd ride it out as it seemed a good buying opportunity to throw money at the 401K (can only use earned income). Been there a year, 3 promotions. Happy to have something to do in lieu of adventuring. Working four 10 hour days leaves me 3 for shooting and kayaking, so not much of an hardship on my time. Oddly, I've appreciated the social aspect of the job more than I thought I would. Now with the horrible possibilities in November, being employed may not be the worst thing- make an evaluation in the new year, may retire for a 3rd time.

[BP Dave]

Haven't hung up my spurs yet, but thinking about it. From a completely different perspective, there are more people than ever buying firearms--I suspect many are first-timers who could desperately use proper training. You sound like someone who could provide that. A lot of people volunteer in retirement--sometimes they get paid enough to cover expenses, sometimes they don't. My grandfather, a skilled and experienced orthopedic surgeon, used to volunteer at blood banks for $50 a day. He didn't need the money, but they had to have a doctor present, so he did it as a public service for small change.

So in addition to the remuneration, you might also consider the public good that comes from providing competent instruction. And if it interferes with retirement, you can always quit.

[shooterg]

When retiring never tell anyone ! Told the wife I did not retire to go to work for her - shoulda told everyone. All think you now have time to volunteer for any and all.

[Winger Ed.]

I retired 3 years ago.
For most of the things I did when I was younger--- I figure its time to let someone else have a turn at doing all that.

[snowwolfe]

If the money would be handy tell the prospective employer you want paid double what you made before. If he accepts you are good, if not you only lost a few minutes of your time.
I knew a few guys who came out of retirement for obscene amounts of cash and all were shocked to receive it. Most lasted another year or so before retiring again.

[Bmi48219]

Even if you retire and take a no stress, part time position at a astronomically high rate of pay, there will be occasions you can’t do the things you want to do because you have to go to work. Extra money is alway good, but you can’t buy extra time.
Good luck & enjoy your retirement.