I've had some coworkers asking me about retirement, how I like it, etc. One fellow is a senior VP in legal, very nice guy, we chat on line at times. He would have more money than ... he needs. He's still working but thinking about it. Maybe he wanted to be CLO someday, I don't think he made that. He had an engineering degree from Purdue and is a patent attorney, but left patents.
I retired at 58, took a package when offered. I've never looked back at all, except to chat per above some. They treat retirees pretty well. Even though I was nowhere near being VP level, I did OK.
The best things about where we live is the park across the street, and I go often, and proximity to urban stuff, the symphony, arts center, botanical garden, any kind of restaurant that isn't French, bars, nightclubs, a lot of construction, and a lot of younger folks around us. I'd never lived in an urban area before. We get some traffic noise at times, we live on a busy street, there are homeless folks around, not many but I'll see one or two usually if I'm out walking, they have never bothered me. Crime around us is pretty slight but at night I keep my wits about me. There isn't much way anyone could break into our condo who wasn't a real pro, and a real pro wouldn't bother.
The air is pretty clean, the water tastes fine, electricity is pretty cheap, property taxes are a bit steep because the condo valuation is highish. Sales tax is 8.9% which is pretty steep of course. We have a Kroger and Publix about a mile away, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joes in different directions. So, it has worked out for us, I do like getting up and looking out at green stuff, and there is an allure of living in the country for me. I could have a double wide and some huntin' dogs and maybe an old Camaro up on blocks with a still in the shed.
