Shop time in retirement

[David Larsen]

A question for those retired / semi-retired.

I would hope to spend more time in my shop when I retire.

I get a kick out of all these people that save every penny for retirement because they want to travel or do something in particular. Once they reach retirement they either die or their health is poor and they don't ever reach their dream.

I spend time in my shop now and would like to do more when I retire. I hope my health holds up so that I can see it through.

For those that have retired: Have you found the shop time you looked forward to or does something get in the way?

If you could do it all over again, what would you do different?

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I retired 2 days less than a year ago. My shop time has increased, but not as much as I had hoped it would. Work on the house, inside and outside, honeydo jobs, and helping my parents have seen to that. But that's ok with me. I had planed to do those things; in fact these things were part of the reason I retired--especially helping my parents. At their age every day spent with them or every phone call with them is a gift. I wouldn't change a thing. I'm in reasonably good health and feel the shop time will come.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

You can find more time if you so desire. I retired at the end of January and we traveled somewhere every month so far. In fact, Monday morning at 0130, we returned from our latest trip to Houston. I am spending more time doing yard work right now. I just ordered more tools and hardware. I am getting ready to begin a new woodworking project.

[Chip Lindley]

You got me thinking. If travel funds were plenty, my plan would be to send HER travellilng. Then my shop time would increase exponentially.

Savings? If there was any, it is much less now due to our economic debacle. Even my paid-for home is worth much less than it should be. No sour grapes here; just facts. I am thankful indeed for the roof over my head.

But alas, it is not a perfect world in which we live. My shop time is best spent to supplement my retirement income. Beats being a Greeter at Wally World!

[Robert McGowen]

I retired a year and a half ago. I found that when I can do ANYTHING that I want to, I tend to end up with less shop time. Before retirement, I had to make time for the shop, but now that I can just walk out there whenever, I find that other things tend to eat into the shop time. YMMV

[John Morrison60]

David

I retired 3 years ago, and enjoy my wood working more than ever.
I took up the hobby 6 years ago after many years of home improvement projects.

I still very much enjoy the time that I now have.
It takes pressure off and enables me to methodically work at my projects.

I also made a decision that I would not "make do" with tools.
If I needed a particular tool for a project task, I would purchase it.
I have a lot of satisfaction with learning how to use the tools, and
with having the proper tools for tasks that I am doing.
I do not always buy new, and I have had a few miscues
(mortising jig for drill press, tenoning jig for T.S.)
but I have been thankful that I can do this.

My wife and I are pretty much homebodys, so I do not spend a lot of
time away from home. I try to go into the shop every day.

I do have other hobbys, but nothing that gets the time I devote to wood.

Welcome to retirement.
Good Luck.

John

[Larry Heflin]

I also hope to spend more time in the shop. June 4 at 12:00 noon ends 30+ years as a firefighter for me. Woodworking features big in my plans, but you know how that goes.

Larry

[Greg Moore]

I retired just over 7 yrs ago. Just prior to retirement, I built a new shop and started replacing my weekend commando grade tools (after raising two boys, they were wore out) with higher quality tools. My original intent was a hobby and a get-away space of my own.

That worked fine for the first few months. Neighbors and friends discovered my hobby and wanted to know if I could build a few things for them. I now spend 30+hrs a week in my one man cabinet shop. Five - six times a year, the wife and I leave for 2-3 weeks, just to relax. I have a very difficult time relaxing at home, when the shop is only 50' from the house. Of course since I enjoy my wood working, the shop is always calling ;-)

Good luck with your retirement

[anthony wall]

i retired 3 years ago and spent the first 2 years on moving and settling in a new country ,building a house to live in then building a holiday home at the beach ,i realy enjoyed those first two years then just before christmas i built myself a shop onto the house that we finished a year ago so that i could go back to my first love(woodworking).i am now building furniture again and loving it only problem is that everyone who finds out what i do and have done since arriving here now wants me to either build them a house or furniture , building houses is now much to heavy work for me though i will continue building furniture as long as i can or want to ,funny thing is that i expected to play much more golf than i did in the uk

[Rich Engelhardt]

If you could do it all over again, what would you do different?

I retire on Aug 19th of this year.

There's only one thing I'd have done different in leading up to it.

I would have spent more money on better tools instead of stuffing so much down the gullet of greedy slot machines!
(to the tune of several thousand dollars....)

Well,, maybe two or three other things - like cigarettes & a river of suds....

In defense of all three of my "nasty habits", being an "ancient" in the IT field carries an unbelievable amount of stress. You have to run at full throtle 101% of the time, just to stay a few steps behind the younger people in the field.

[Lee Schierer]

I'll let you know in 36-1/2 days.....

[Myk Rian]

I retired 7 years ago at the ripe age of 55. Only then did I start building my shop.
I spend much of every day in it.

A heart attack got me into weight lifting. I just kept re-hab going on my own. Now I do the training program in our Senior center weight room.
JOIN YOUR SENIOR CENTER. There are always projects there a wood worker and handyman can do.

[Thomas L. Miller]

David,
I retired in 2010. Prior to retirement, I built a shop with an office (now a quilting room for my wife). The only thing I can add to the above comments is that I don't really know how I found time for work prior to retirement. I do get more shop time. I do now buy top quality tools. I do some projects for friends (mostly gratis). I do have a perpetual "honey do" list. I do some occasional consulting gigs. We do travel more. My wife and I just returned from a month in Spain and are trying to recover from jet lag. While on the way to Spain (we took a transatlantic cruise to get there) I spoke with many folks who have retired. None of them expressed a desire to return to the daily grind of corporate life. Many enjoy lifetime hobbies like woodworking, flying and even bicycle racing. I did conclude that your retired time is yours and the results are what you make of it. I also agree with all the posters who said that one of the most important retirement assets you can have is your health. You can look for your health to probably improve simply with the reduction of stress. Have a great time in retirement. It's great!
Tom

[Jerome Hanby]

I think I would want to have my shop setup before I retire. Would be a major bummer to break myself placing heavy equipment then have to depend on medicare to fix me.

[Jim Tobias]

Well, I have to jump in and say that I also will let you know(I am just barely beating out Lee)in 22 days. I have had my shop for 10 years and am looking forward to being able to spend time in there on my own schedule.
As others have mentioned, health is also very important so I want to:
1- retire while I still have good health
2 - Do all I can in retirement to maintain that health
After 39 years working in Athletics(30) and School Facilities Management (9), I am ready to make my own routine and schedule!