I got a standing ovation once: when I announced it was my last song

If you think old, ....YOU'LL BE OLD I say!!.......instead of worrying about getting old, or how old you are physically or mentally.....just live life everyday like it was your last.....
I will play & perform professionally till I drop...nuff said.
RETIRE?....not a chance, you'll have plenty of time to rest in your coffin! .... hey..I could have a REAl Job!!!

Carry on..............

Retire does not HAVE to mean REST ... I retired from my day job because I knew it was time to enjoy more of what life has to offer, more often ... Our kids often ask us "where are you off to THIS week?" ... We pretty much do what we want, when we want ... and sometimes that might be just sitting and watching the grass grow ...
I doubt that I will ever RETIRE from doing gigs, but then, the public may make that decision for me ... those times 'between gigs' no doubt will get longer and longer - and if we live long enough it will happen to ALL of us at some point ...

As Donny says "live life..." ... but make sure you live ALL of it ...

Donny, no one is talking about sitting in a rocking chair and waiting to die. What would you do if you didn't drop dead on the job, but instead, had a heart attack or stroke that made it physically impossible to perform? Would you have enough money squirreled away to stay in your home and play with the grand kids? Would you be able to have the same lifestyle that you currently enjoy?

All of those things apparently don't seem important to most full-time musician/entertainers, thus the reason I started this particular thread. I knew so many really great musician/entertainers that left this world flat broke, left their spouses in destitution, and never really were able to take the time to smell the roses because they pissed away every dime they made. Yeah, they lived life like every day was going to be the last one, but those final years were not really much of a life when you put everything in perspective.

Cheers,

Gary

How can you retire if you never had a job?!

I just get paid for doing something I'd be doing anyway... Can't 'retire' from what you love to do!

Retire is a word as other folks see you....usually if you get a ss check you are retired...

Fact: I do the same things I have done for the last 50 plus years..I do what ever I want

I have been fortunate...never had to punch a clock or answer to a supervisor

In reality the question was asked...and the answer ..retire from what?


I still don't know what I want to do ..when I grow up

A little over a year ago, I semi retired. In other words, I opted for early ss and I retired from my church job and my college job. With my church job I had a 403 b which is the same as a 401 k except for a non profit. I had a pretty decent sum in it so I rolled it over into an annuity which will pay me a nice income for several years to come. I was also lucky enough to marry a great woman who has worked as a teacher for many years and so all of my benefits have been covered. I probably wouldn't have been able to have the life I've had without her. And we own several pieces of property, some of which we rent out. The total package looks pretty good. So now I am playing gigs, and only the ones I want to play. We travel a lot. This year we've been to Grand Cayman, the Canadian Maritime Provinces, and I leave for Sedona, AZ on Sunday. Live is good.

Joe

Many of you have been fortunate enough to have music as your only (or main) vocation/profession ... but let's stay REAL ... "do whatever I want???" ... "never punch a clock or answer to a supervisor???" ... As a full time musician with no other income source, I doubt that you are "doing whatever you want", but you are also doing whatever the CLIENT wants ... and as for not "punching a clock", how many times- no matter how much time we allow ourselves to be early - have we 'sweated out' getting to a gig on time because of some totally unforseen occurence? and not "answering to a supervisor", what musician has not answered to a club/restaurant owner or manager, or a bride-to-be, NH Activities Director, or any other client ?!?

Don't get me wrong, being a musician is a WONDERFUL profession because we really enjoy what we do and we help other people have a good time as well, but let's face it - it is not ALL fun and games ... As Uncle Dave has said,call it what you want, but it IS still a JOB!!!

Tony good post......you know my story we had a long discussion on it this week........... I'm on the verge of retiring soon, with some apprehension because I really enjoy my day job work in the IT field, if it weren't for the relocation of our headquarters and the monster commute in the metro Boston area I have I may have stayed on for a couple more years. Bottom line computers became my hobby in the late 90s when the Fortune 500 company I worked for equipped those of us in field sales with laptops. When the opportunity arose at 48 years of age, I took the early retirement program, went back for another degree in the computer support and network sector. Much of the cost of the education was courtesy of the company I worked for, they called it retraining, I liked the program and took it. I've been fortunate getting paid to do my hobby. I'd probably rather play music full time to get paid for it, but I'm real about my talent and/or limitation of talent. There are quite a few fine musicians here, I'm not one of them.

As far as punching a clock the last time I did that was at 18 years old, I do however have account-abilities to the people I work for as we all do in life. Come 2014, I've already had an offer to do remote support on a part time basis for a network consulting company, best part I can work from anywhere in the country, so if we do move south to Florida or any other state in the country, I can work from home and never have to leave the house.

My escape will be with my other interest playing entertaining seniors in NH or assisted living facilities. Working full time has put a damper on that since many ADs were only willing to hire me if I could work during the daytime hours Monday thru Friday. No matter what I do I won't be sitting in the rocking chair for many years to come.

Failing to make adequate preparation for retirement is not failing of musicians only. I ran my own financial services company for 14 years and there are far far more people out there who have not made adequate provision for the retirement than those who have whether they are musicians engineers doctors teachers or scientists. Most people underestimate how much they should be saving each month and most people start saving way too late for their plans to be really effective . The trouble is no one thinks they going to get old and no one thinks that they will need the same money today as they will when they retire.

For many, they realise this error way too late. I have always endeavoured to ensure that the people I have met as a professional adviser but clearly aware of the requirement to save not just for their retirement but in general