GMC Motor Home, Travel with Teri and Dan

Friends and Retirement

I was chatting with a friend last night. He and his wife have a new fifth wheel. He is 66 years old. I asked him when he was going to retire and enjoy the new fifth wheel. He told me that he does not know if he can. Said he has lost a lot of money lately with the stock market down. He is drawing soc security and a full pay check too. He owes no one any money. His wife is drawing a retirement check as she is a year older than he is. I said "what?". "How long do you think you are going to live? Uh, you can be broke and enjoy the fifth wheel just as much as you can if you have a lot of money. If you keep working you will still be poor. Quit... enjoy life for a little while".
He is not broke but is chasing that dollar. So many folks get into that thinking mode. I could have been one of them, very easily. We could have made a lot of money if we had kept working. I had a good job and would have had a couple of great pay increases if I had kept working. I might have had a stroke too. Life has been so much more fun since I retired at 52. We don't have any money but we don't need much. We planned ahead. Rebuilt a 1974 GMC motorhome. Took us 2 years and a few bux. But, it is paid for and is very dependable. We lived under our means while we worked. We do not owe anyone and have a comfortable home and a nice looking RV. We do not hesitate one bit about hooking Teri's car on it and heading across country. I am no great mechanic but I have a working knowledge of how this thing works. I am a "shade tree mechanic", at best. I have even learned to slow down from 75 mph to 60 on the interstates to save a little on gas money. By the way, I got premium for 1.89 today.
I told my friend, "we don't know how long we have here, let's enjoy it a little. If you feel the need to work you can do as I do, pick up a job here and there". Lots of folks will hire temporary help, using retired people because we are dependable. We need no benefits and will be there early, everyday and work late, everyday. Sometimes "cash" is a good thing. He has a new truck to pull
the new fifth wheel too, all paid for. Hey, I am not leaving anything here if I can spend it myself, ha.
Did I have any impact on him? I don't know but I do know that his wife hopes I did. She is ready to enjoy that new fifth wheel. They don't lack for anything. Whatever money he has lost in the stock market is really not the issue here. It is all in his thinking. The stock market will come back up. We only lose when we must sell at low prices. If we can leave it in there it will come back to us.
Teri and I got a statement today. She was all concerned trying to figure it out. I told her to throw it in the drawer. Don't worry about it. We eat, we sleep, we drive our car, and we are going to Az. this January. Does not make any difference what that piece of paper says. We had a plan and we are sticking with it. Maybe we won't have as much money as we thought we would have but we can still realize our dream. Life has been good to us and we must be good to it. We have way more friends than any couple should ever have. Many of them have been made in the last two years. We are members of several RV clubs and have made so many friends. "No money is worth what we have experienced in the last 2 years". I left my friend with that comment. I hope he took it to heart.
Yall have a great week. Monday was good at the Gregg home. I got the yard up in shape. Tuesday we go to see the orthapedic surgeon for Teri. Keep her in your prayers for a simple fix.
Dan

posted by Dan & Teri Gregg @ 6:24 PM