This is the first in a series of profiles about life in retirement.
• Jim, 67 and Kathy, 66
• No kids, married 44 years
• South Carolina
Work
Jim went to work for a major oil company right out of college and moved up through the organization. When he retired he was overseeing all of the capital projects being done around the world, reviewing startups of refineries and offshore platforms. Over the years they moved 18 times, living in Asia, North America and Europe.
“By the time I officially retired in 2008, the company didn’t care where we lived as long as we could get on an airplane and go where we needed to be,” Jim says.
Kathy has a degree in education, but didn’t use it much because they moved around so often, so she worked in many industries.
“I worked as a vet tech, bank teller, for an insurance company, I gave riding lessons, and worked with baby horses,” Kathy says.
Why did you retire?
“I had always planned to retire between 55 and 59, because I was getting tired of all the travel and wanted to do something else,” says Jim. “And when I thought I had enough resources, I pulled the trigger.”
“And I ended up retiring when the lady I was working for retired and I didn’t have any more horses to civilize,” Kathy says.
Money
The couple lives off their retirement accounts and savings.
“Our company had an option where I could take an annuity or lump sum,” Jim says. “I took a lump sum and rolled it into an IRA.”
The reality of retirement
There are risks when it comes to retiring as young as Jim and Kathy did. According to a recent study distributed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, men who retire at 62 have a marked increase in mortality. The researchers evidence points to unhealthy changes in life style that often accompany retirement, such as watching more television and becoming sedentary.
The lack of preparedness — including mental preparation — can be detrimental to a retiree’s physical and mental health.
That hasn’t been a problem for these two.
Both Jim and Kathy had interests separate from work and developed hobbies that kept them mentally and physically challenged before they retired. That helped them avoid feeling lost or depressed once they stopped working.
“That can be an issue that bothers a lot of retirees, we planned for it in advance,” Jim says.
They volunteer with Ruritan, a civic organization in rural areas, work at the church library and are part of a community watch group. Kathy belongs to Daughters of the American Revolution. They were also devote more time to exploring things they were passionate about.
“I went back to school to do something I’ve always wanted to do — work on an airplane myself,” says Jim.
For her part, Kathy has dogs — an Australian Shepherd and a Collie, both rescues — and shows horses in competitions.
“We live out in the country. Right now I have one horse and I show him in local shows, I go to Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina.” The horse’s name is Impulse For Gold, but his barn name is Pockets. Kathy’s horse has gone on to recognition, and last year he earned merits in several categories.
And Jim has his airplanes. “I have a small twin engine airplane that we own. I teach people how to fly, and get their private license.“
“These probably aren’t the two safest hobbies we could have picked out,” Kathy says with a laugh.
Recently, through a course at a local college, Jim worked on assembling an airplane from the 1940s from scratch. Someone had given the plane to the college, Jim says, it was all in pieces, and they wanted to display it at the entrance to a new college building.
“All we had to go on were a few of the original drawings of the airplane. It’s quite a process!” The class was all ages, ranging from high school graduates who wanted to be plane mechanics to recent retirees.
Despite being involved in hobbies that can be somewhat dangerous, they’re both in good health, “knock wood,” Kathy says.
“Jim is a runner and has been all his life. The horses keep me out and busy, lifting hay and lifting saddles,” she says. “When I was younger and looked at people who were 65, they weren’t doing the kinds of things that we and our friends are doing now.”
Spending
They splurge on their cars and eating out. “When it’s time to buy a car, we buy what we want, Jim says. “But we keep a car until it goes 150,000 miles or 10 years. We have two pickups and two cars.”
And they’re cheap on “everything else,” Kathy says. “The furniture in my family room we bought in 1979, and the bedroom and dining room furniture is in need of replacement. But if it’s fixable, we’ll do that instead of buying something new.”