To be honest with you, I am not sure I would take that route again.
To you and the others who are semi-retired or retired what would you do if you had to do it all over again starting today?
I think I would look at things i can do well and am interested in. I would get a job at a company that does that, or get to know people that are in that business. I would learn the business, not only to learn the ins and outs, but to see if I like it.
If you hate what you are doing, no amount of money will make it better. For a decent portion of my life I traded my passion for a paycheck and a pension, it was not a fair trade.
The trades can be good since you cannot offshore an electrician or plumber. You have to work at it. i hired a Plumber to pipe in my standby generator. He does good work, but he is an #$%* and is always broke. I know a drain cleaner and while he looks like a hillbilly, he is a canny businessman who can put $70K into restoring a Chevelle.
My Son chose to become a Cop, gets paid very well and has good benefits. I tried that for a while and found the senior guys, burnt out, demoralized, angry, and mostly divorced. I advised him to not get into the "life". We shall see. You can;t live your children's lives for them.
