Lots of good information and advice. I appreciate folks taking time to share their experience.
I'm feeling more comfortable about the decision today. My health insurance premium is
covered as part of the retirement "package" so to speak. I go the the gym everyday. I have a hobby from home that I could turn into a small time business and I've been offered a couple of jobs from friends in the community.
I think things will be OK. Just a big change after being in one type of work for so long.
Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback.

As for the screen name, I had a small dog about 30 years ago that
would jump all over the furniture, from piece to piece. Someone referred to the dog as being
like a mountain goat and started calling the dog "goatboy". I sure miss that dog.

Read your post and immediately thought of this song. Dang good one too.

I would rather see you retired than ambushed by some low life POS and not make it home. There are a lot of other things you can be doing. Welcome to retirement!

my only advice after having been forced to retire at 55, DO NOT PULL YOUR SS till you are at full retirement, longer if you can afford to wait.

I lost about 550.00 a month having to take mine at 62, not worth it at all imo.

do what ya have to do but go to the ss site and do the comparisons on what you can draw at 62 vs. full retirement.

I'm just looking forward to working if I want doing what I want! Hopefully in the mountains somewhere

Have someone carry your commission and just do some off duty here and there.. Pays better and leave way more time for activities

I was like you on this Hops. Having said that I've heard that in the long run you'll get more overall money out of the system starting your payoff at 62. I was interested in more per month. Just gotta live longer than the pencil pushers expect . . . beat the averages.

I was planning to retire at full retirement age but due to Covid I retired 2 years early. Since I was laid off due to Covid I received extended unemployment benefits and TAA paid a large chunk of Cobra. I started SS a year early. I could have waited until 66 but with my stock market gains taking it at 65 has been a good deal. They fact that I earned max credits and draw almost twice the average helps a lot.

Thanks for your service

It's a tough decision. Built a chart for a buddy who is close to 62 to help him understand the different payouts for him. Hard to see, but he would be ahead in total dollars by taking at 62 till he turns 76 to 77 years old, then waiting starts crossing the 62 line. If he waits till 70, it would take till he's 80 or 81 till he catches up to the total dollars from taking at 62.

like you I had no choice due to circumstances, having been off work for 7 yrs. due to the work comp bs really screwed things up even more. no way I can make it on just ss right now, just glad I paid up everything for the next yr. before the inflation and all the krap hit.

When covid started the firm I worked for closed permanently. I am 57 and have been "retired" since then even though I could find a job tomorrow if I so desired. Call it good timing or divine intervention but I really enjoyed practicing law right up until the last couple of years prior to covid, at which point I couldn't stand it and loathed going to work everyday. I will most likely go back to work after the first of the year but my time off has given me some insight into what I think I really want my retirement to look like and offer the following perspective. I take care of my elderly parents, 90 and 87 years old, both of which absolutely loved their careers and worked until they could no longer physically do so, one due to stroke and one due to age. Now that they are retired they are home bound and are unable to do any "normal" activities associated with retirement. This has driven home to me that I do not want to work until I am unable to do so and that there are things more important to me that I would like to while I still am physcially able to do so.

So if you are okay financially and have aspirations beyond work, get out while you can, and don't look back.

Lastly this may not be what you want to hear but being off work these last almost two years I have had so much time to fish and prefish for tournaments like never before and my results still have NOT improved much!

That’s a very pretty chart sir