Topic: Thinking of selling out....anyone made a big life change by choice?

[Stev-o]

Hey Scott.... I can relate to downsizing the house and the "toy box", start looking for smaller homes and see if you can find something that suits you better, that may help you make that decision.

I've had a "toy car", a Honda S2000. I bought it as a celebration to myself after a big promotion about ten years ago.  I loved that car, had it 7 years but only drove it occasionally. I sold it and have no regrets.

The bike hobby can consume your time, especially if you are working on multiple projects at the same time.  Sell a couple, it wont hurt [I've done that too].

Good luck....

[Duke McDukiedook]

My 'retirement' plan consists of croaking at whatever #$%*ty job I happen to have at 5:01pm on Friday so the wife can get a full day's pay from that week if I am fortunate. If I live to be past useful working age I will just rob a bank to get 3 hot squares, a place to sleep and all the sex I can stand. 

[FunJimmy]

Scott,

Thanks for posting your story. Based on all the replies you're obviously not alone.

My situation isn't all that different than yours except for the plethora of old bikes. Ive been employed by the same company for 28 years and do pretty well financially. Don't particularly enjoy what I'm doing for work but can't see making a change at this stage. I have my sights on (hopefully) retiring in the next 6 years. The youngest of our two kids will be starting university around the same time so there's likely to be a little financial burden still. We have a nice 2600 sq ft house with a single car garage (Lab) in the city that has become our major retirement fund.

My 2015 New Years resolution was to live a simpler life with less clutter. I wanted to be able to come home from work and have so little to worry about that I could just throw a leg over the Interceptor (or one of the other 2 bikes) or jump on the Cervelo and enjoy an evening of two wheel freedom. I still have a need to tinker (that's why the Interceptor is constantly evolving in small ways) and sometimes I consider getting another project bike but not at the expense of freedom. Last thing I want is to look up from a pile of projects to discover I have no time left to enjoy them.

[vfourfreak]

Goodness how this is so reminiscient of what I did 12 years ago. I had a well thought out and researched plan and took the plunge. Some wheels fell off the trolley in the meantime, but they were ones that were always (in hindsight) going to and there are no regrets in that respect. It was the collateral damage done by an ex that hurt.

ffs don't get me started on that.

As the proud owner of a veritable mansion, and an ornamental RC30 crying out for completion of restoration, and in my 58th year, I see the logic of getting the big garage and the smaller house. Feck it, I have more implements with internal combustion engines than motorbikes. That's the wrong way round.

PM me if you want a life's worth of wisdom (!!)

Kev

[Redline it]

I've learned, as far as GF and committing to something even if she does adore me, I'll only go as far as a commitment of a ride on my bike, maybe. And that's not every time I ride either.

They can say "I love you, and only you and I don't want to share, don't ever change, and I want to be yours forever,promise" and they will, just until they think you believe that, at about the same time, they start to realize "they didn't mean it, they didn't know what they wanted." If you're only into it for a ride, you can always drop em off.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Just did a month in Panama. Scouting trip  While I don't think I'd settle in the concrete jungle of Panama City or even Panama the cost of living and the laid back life sure are appealing. Took the 18 yo daughter off to college with a $40,000 scholarship. That was my new beginning. It is my intent to begin anew my life once this occurred. She tucked tail and ran back home to her mother. I gave her a chance and now it's my turn. Costa Rica is my next scouting trip. I will say I met a wonderful Colombian lady in Panama and we had 3 wonderful weeks. It seems there is a different standard and expectations in relationships with women from central America and it is VERY refreshing!

Currently I am finishing out the basement of my house as an investment in the equity with an eventual sale. In the mean time I am looking at a condo in the mountains as a base for US operations once my house is sold. I have way more years behind me than ahead of me. I no longer ask why. I ask why not! Time to spend the kids ex-inheritance. She had a hell of a good shot at her architectural degree and I don't intend on allowing her to spend my hard earned retirement funds on herself or her mother.

[flatlander]

i guess my life has developed the opposite way to most people's here. since i live in amsterdam which is now 11 years, i've worked in regular jobs, the current one quite stable (but you never now...) and decently paid. all my life before i never had a stable income, hardly owned anything but enjoyed great freedom. my girlfriend was a bit more mainstream but also somewhat of a hobo.

the good thing now is that we're able to bring in some hay for the winter, so to say. we have a nice home in amsterdam, can go on nice holiday trips and generally don't need to watch our expenses too much so life is pretty good. still we don't accumulate too much stuff and try to contain our (financial) dependencies to a necessary minimum.

i think a "settled" life most of the time leads to an accumulation of a lot of clutter if you're not careful. getting rid of the stuff that's not needed creates a lot of freedom. the other thing is to cut down obligations (insurances, mortgage, loans, etc.) to a reasonable minimum and reduce dependency on the banking system.

then the big question for me always has been: if i do this/don't to this, will i regret it the day i die? that's how i've made most "big" decisions so far.
it may lead to some seemingly unorthodox choices. for me at least, it's also gotten me to more consciously favour experiences and values over material things. if i can have 100 awesome bikes but no time to ride them, vs. only 1 so-so bike that i can take on trips for the rest of my life - the choice would be clear.

[Scott S]

My 'retirement' plan consists of croaking at whatever #$%*ty job I happen to have at 5:01pm on Friday so the wife can get a full day's pay from that week if I am fortunate.

 It's funny you say that. Well, actually, not funny at all....

 One of the many things that has me thinking this way is what happened to a co-worker recently. "Duke" was one of the funniest, most easy going guys in the whole place. Never saw him angry at anyone. Always quick with a joke or funny story. Did his job well. He'd greet you when he walked in the door with "Fine!!! And, you?!".

 Duke had some health issues. Heart problems. He already had a couple of stents in his leg and heart. He took a Thursday off to go to the dentist and had another appointment on Friday for another stent.
 His adult son heard his alarm going off that Thursday morning and went to wake him so he wouldn't be late to the dentist. You see where this is going....
 Dead, in his bed. Literally....LITERALLY....worked until he died. He'll never draw a penny of his retirement. Never hit another golf ball or drink another beer. He had just gotten a watch for 40 years of service two days before. He was 58 years old.
 That hit me hard.

 Surely, I wasn't put here to work, pay taxes and die.

[Trevor from Warragul]

An acquaintance of mine had a beautiful, immaculate prolink CBX, with an awesome Pipemasters 6 into 6 exhaust.  Won quite a few awards, not a speck of dirt on it.  Then his kidneys failed.  He was really close to dying.  At the last second, he had a transplant, and made a full recovery. And the CBX?  He now rides the crap out of it.  It is no longer immaculate.  Life is truly short...

[chewbacca5000]

I agree with Cal 100%.  Lifestyle output is much more important to me than stuff.  I want to be able to do what I want, when I want and with whom I want.  Choice is much more precious than having another trinket IMO.  You only go around once.  Let some other guy get the gold watch while you live a life of rich experiences. 

[flybox1]

Dead, in his bed. Literally....LITERALLY....worked until he died. He'll never draw a penny of his retirement. Never hit another golf ball or drink another beer. He had just gotten a watch for 40 years of service two days before. He was 58 years old.
 That hit me hard.

 Surely, I wasn't put here to work, pay taxes and die.

This is the lesson you need to learn the most, Scott. Make the change today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Preach!
My 'almost needing resuscitation' near-death experience was the catalyst for my life changes.

[Duke McDukiedook]

Hey Jerry,

You might want to talk to Tommie (motocyconomad) about Costa Rica. He could give you a few insider tips.

[strynboen]

i sold all my moped stuff ..and only keeped a fev mc..vhen i sold my farm..and ve got a "normal"family house...but after a few years ..i start baying..just the same stuff as i sold......and now i sit in the same #$%* of old mopeds motorcycles and have even more then before selling..
.i keeped my vife..no need to thange her aut..a thange to new is more expensive.. they all ends looking the same after a few month...and dont kosts 50% of your fortune,,if you keep the old ..

so moral is.
...vhy sell your stuff..just becorse you gets 50. and starts panic...you vill end baying all the same stuff again ..ina few years..so keep the Honda...and vife.(.ok some are to krazy to keep)...
but take 2 month free this summer ..and ride the  Amerika raund..and get new energi for live and work

[NobleHops]

It's cool to see so many of us in violent agreement. Pull the pin, make the changes is what I'd do, what I did. Three years ago I lived in Boston, headed up a company I founded 18 years ago, had a nice home on a lake, a ski house up north, making way more money than I needed. Tons of friends and family and connections and and and. But my head was about to explode.

I sold both houses at the worst possible time, took a bath, moved to California, having disposed of half of my stuff, then finally sold the company to my long-time partners, and moved here to Arizona, very nearby one of my brothers, and a warmer climate that my wife loves.

Now I am busy making a (very) small fortune much smaller with the startup of my new business, working my ass off, waking up in the night with ideas and things to do in my mind, but in an excited, happy state. And as much as I LOVED the company I founded, and the people I worked with for so many years, the responsibility for 25 families' well-being really was wearing on me. Now my lightness has returned, some anxiety I was experiencing is gone, and I am tons healthier and happier.

I left a lot of money on the table - with the sale of the houses, and the sale of a business that was solid and profitable and still growing, and the moves and re-buying of household stuff I more or less gave away when we left Boston, but like other people that have taken the plunge, I don't have a single regret. I desperately wanted another distinct chapter of my life, a new challenge personally and professionally, change, learning, personal growth. Some people can get all that sitting in the same place doing the same things I suppose, but not me.

Everyone is different, and needs different things to make themselves happy, so it's not for me or anyone to say what exactly is going to make the difference for you, but I will say that if it's a change you seek, go get it. A change is as good as a rest many times. Go get it.

N.

P.S. I left out a pretty big part of the story I realize - a sudden and potentially life altering illness in 2012, followed by a complete recovery. I wanted change for a long time prior to that, but the illness was a massive dope-slap about the truth that I was not going to live forever. If I ever get a tattoo, it will say, "If not now, when?", as that's been my mantra ever since.

[Gene]

.i keeped my vife..no need to thange her aut..a thange to new is more expensive.. they all ends looking the same after a few month...

Bwaaahahahaha - that made me laugh.

[mrbreeze]

Seems to be quite a few people here that have come to realize that being rich brings lots of stress and it may be better to trade in for a simpler life. I'm not very rich right now but I can look back to 5 years ago and realize how much stress has left my life. I have been selling off material things for quite a while now. What used to be so valuable in the past all looks more like baggage now. If I find that I really need something I can always go down and get it.

[faux fiddy]

Downsize the house while upsizing the garage. A garage with a house attached is my goal. Garage space is typically cheaper than living space per sq ft., that way you can keep the toys since you're dealing with a lesser mortgage! 

Move to the place with the least tax burden on property. And probably this was a good place to propose your changes in life.

[GammaFlat]

What you miss is the passion.  NobleHops touches on that.  I've always been very pleased that I've enjoyed my jobs/businesses.  Sometimes in retrospect, I've been less than complimentary of my "career decisions" but while in the moment, I had passion.  I think all "things" on earth wear out. 

As we get older, we have less pi$$, vinegar and healthy parts to enjoy our existence.  The answer truly is God.  At the end of the day, what really has value? 

I gave away most of my CB collection.  I am now trying to develop passions in my children - oddly, trying to drag my daughter into the garage on a project car.  With my son, I coach football and work with him on wrestling.  School projects are also great fun.  When they're on with their own lives, my wife and I will need to find passions together - if it's up to her, it will likely be dancing of some sort. 

The thread that weaves through it all is God.  If you are not a believer, I'd encourage you to reach out to someone who does.  If you do, seek growth. 

It's obvious, you are uncomfortable but I'm quite impressed that you are reaching out for ideas.  That is rare, awesome and 90% of the indication that you will find things to fill your voids. 

[Bankerdanny]

I think Cal has it right, don't think of it as downsizing, think of it as right sizing. You are just bringing everything into proper balance for where you are today.

[demon78]

Well I'm in a slightly different spot and it looks like I'm going to have to down size, whether I want to or not which as you would expect grinds my gears and it is tale full of sloth and remorse, you see I have a house on 4.5 Acres and I can't, couldn't keep up with it , it was different when my wife was alive, but when she died I went into a period of blues and stuff that needed doing never got done so the plant wild life started to take over and get fat and sassy.I kept saying that I'll manage next spring but I didn't get any more able I'm OK but at 76 if I work in the garden for 2 hours I or on the "grounds" I have to take a 3 hour nap, so any work on the house (it's not finished) has to wait for ambition and money now the house if I throw money at it maybe 15 grand it will be done but of course being old means I'm on a tight budget (Canada Pension) which in my case is just enough to live on. Now the problem is I've got 6 bikes all in various stages of repair from full rebuild to put it back together with fluids in it a Ct 200 reassemble , a ke 175 engine needs sorting a CL 77 a full rebuild frame and engine, a Kaw 750 twin Electrical problem, my 6.50 Honda four, a dohc 650 partially wrecked and c 65 for parts no ownership. Now I am an old bike mechanic so there is nothing that I can't handle, but it's kind of overwhelming particularly since that shop is not completed and because of breathing problems I cant work in the cold any more. Anyhow with my recent heart glitch I can't stay by myself for a bit so now I'm living at my daughter's a distance from the house and shop and I'm not supposed to drive by my self. This means everything is down the road   a bit before I'm capable, if I get there if I don't not my worry. Now next week I have to close my house up for the winter so that I can afford to keep it (heating costs). I guess the main thing you can all take away from this is don't let life get in the way your bike because it will sneak up and steal your enjoyment leaving you like me , with poor choices and not much of a future, and a way to correct it. Sorry about the massive Whine.
But take away that life is short and unsure. So put your enjoyment in what you like whether it be family, bikes and sieze it now.
Bill the demon

[Don R]

  Here's what I did. Changed my attitude as much as possible and continued to do what was best for my wallet. I mentioned my unhappy work situation to friends in the business and landed a job at a shop where they appreciate a good foreman. I ended up working the same job, good money and a couple of my former apprentices were at times, my new boss. No problem. Once my pension was an option I retired to begin a third career. That position didn't happen so I'm now just retired.
 A friend in the race car business and I rebuild a funny car now and then in my small shop, I still occasionally flip a bike although I've kept most of them. My 40 chevy and 69 firebird are both in rough shape but I've finally got time and money to work on them.
 My wife had a high pressure job and she retired when my social security began, Now I help her sell real estate from time to time and work in the shop when I want to. Our house is a little big but it's paid for and in decent shape.
 All this time I kept our family drag car going, this year we led the points for a good part of the year and finished third.
 Right now I go out to the shop for an hour or two and call it good. I'll get interested  again some time soon.
 Hang in there, if you need to downsize do that first. Thin out the toys but keep your favorites. Mine would be the ones I can't really replace although they would bring the most money. Get healthy and sock away what you can. Retirement's awesome for me.
 The things you own end up owning you. So, I'd rather be owned by some nice things. Trust your heart but play your finances close to your vest.

[DaveBarbier]

I'm only 31 and have no advice. I'm actually just here to try and gain some wisdom from all you old timers, haha. This is probably not a great post to read on the train while I'm heading to my job in NYC which is almost a 3 hour commute one way.

[fastbroshi]

   So assuming you sleep 8 hours every night, you're saying you spend only 10 hours M-F not working or sleeping?  Given the high cost of living in that area, I don't understand why people give up so much time of every day commuting.  It's like a double whammy.  High cost to live, and you have to spend more of your free time away from your home just to afford it.  So if you look at it in a sense of $$ per hour spent at home, it's even more expensive than say, a home in North Dakota.  You could take a pay cut and move somewhere else and afford the same standard of living. 
  That's the big reason I moved away from S. California.   You have to put up with so much bs just to live there, it just wasn't worth it to me.  Nowhere to park, taxes for breathing, rude people, driving anywhere sucked if you were commuting or not.
  Anyway, sorry for the hijack Scott. 

[DaveBarbier]

   So assuming you sleep 8 hours every night, you're saying you spend only 10 hours M-F not working or sleeping?  Given the high cost of living in that area, I don't understand why people give up so much time of every day commuting.  It's like a double whammy.  High cost to live, and you have to spend more of your free time away from your home just to afford it.  So if you look at it in a sense of $$ per hour spent at home, it's even more expensive than say, a home in North Dakota.  You could take a pay cut and move somewhere else and afford the same standard of living. 

I normally get about 6.5 hours realistically. Get up at 4:45am, get home around 9:30pm to be in bed by 10:30. It hasn't burned me out yet but I like my job and the people I work with and I'm freelance technically so I can refuse work (never happens) and also work from home every once in a while (like tomorrow ). The money is good and I'm single so it works for me, haha. But hearing what everyone is saying, especially reading what Scott is going through just makes me think a lot more.

I think it's rare for a kid my age to be getting insight from this many...ahem...mature people .  I'm just soaking it all in and keeping it in the back of my mind.

Carry on geezers

[DaveBarbier]

I think it's rare for a kid my age to be getting insight from this many...ahem...mature people .  I'm just soaking it all in and keeping it in the back of my mind.

Carry on geezers

Astute Whipper-snappers Piss me Off! Oops, wrong thread 

Haha

Just trying to not suck at life over here.