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The Time has come, but do I want to do it?

Congrats! I'm about 80% retired, and will probably hit 100% at the end of this year. I'm teaching a class in November (really a segment of a year-long class), and that might be the end.

My "retirement" bass is actually my least expensive--a Squier Sonic Precision that lives at our place in FL. I wouldn't mind adding a P5 to the herd, but, like almost everything these days, there's no rush. ;)
You have/had some beautiful instruments. Play them, enjoy them. No need to give your family more to dispose of down the road.
That is the truth! We live in a townhouse with no basement, so we can't accumulate the massive amounts of stuff you see in many suburban homes, and after helping my parents downsize, I'm very conscious of keeping it under control. I don't want our daughters to be burdened with loads of junk.
 
Congrats on the retirement! I still have a couple of years yet. The good news right now is that my daughter just graduated from college last month and I feel like I am financially free! Truth be told, her school expenses were pretty much 100% paid for the last 2 years, but somehow it was still costing me a lot of money.
 
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I retired a while back, and I had Skip make me a "retirement bass" in the process (Knuckle Guitars). I still love it. But I went back to work only five months later, working with (mainly) 12 county school districts plus some charters and some private/parochial schools. More than a decade later, I am still working part-time, and my salary is great. Right now I am helping districts upload required state reports.

But I have truly enjoyed the "free" time I have found since retirement. Grab a guitar or bass any time I want, take the wife to the movies whenever we decide to go, more vacations, etc. Congratulations, and your second act is just about to start. If I were doing it over, I might skip the retirement bass, especially since I like what I already have.
 
Congratulations on your retirement Doc. No matter what you decide, have fun. Being retired leaves lots of options and flexibility without the "work" responsibilities governing your plans. I'm not gonna lie, there's been more than once I've spent the better part of the day with "oh look... a squirrel" and been quite pleased to do so.
 
Wait, what!!!??? No urge to buy another bass? Who are you and what have you done with our friend the Doctor?

Congratulations on retirement. I will be working for another few years, but my feelings about musical instruments and playing is the same. I'm happy with what I have and don't have any urge to buy anything. If anything, I should start unloading. The only GAS I have is the urge to keep what I have, not add to it. We are both likely to be banned from TalkBass for thinking that way, though. See you on the motorcycle one of these days if we both get excommunicated from here for failure to obey the N+1 dog math that's required.
 
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Wait, what!!!??? No urge to buy another bass? Who are you and what have you done with our friend the Doctor?

Congratulations on retirement. I will be working for another few years, but my feelings about musical instruments and playing is the same. I'm happy with what I have and don't have any urge to buy anything. If anything, I should start unloading. The only GAS I have is the urge to keep what I have, not add to it. We are both likely to be banned from TalkBass for thinking that way, though. See you on the motorcycle one of these days if we both get excommunicated from here for failure to obey the N+1 dog math that's required.

My bike has been out of commission for a while and I need to get it up and running so I can be like you again!😎
 
I am finally done with obligations at work. I even finished my week of grading exams for Advanced Placement. I have been contacted by my pension and I am definitely going to be doing better than when I was working. More to the point, I have the time to play as much as I want and I am going back to the basics to upgrade the level of my playing.

The funny thing is that my urge to get that final “retirement bass” has faded significantly. I just don’t want to spend a lot of money on a bass because what I have works well already and I am more worried about the quality of my playing than what I play.

I will probably get something, but I am enjoying the freedom to play more than actually running out and buying something new.
Save the money, play what you have.
 
Congratulations! I’m near there.

The wife and I bought a 11 acre largely forested ex mushroom farm in the Olympic mountains foothills.

So I’m already at the “retire to” phase. It’s making me NOT want to buy things. Also moving out of the city has me seriously examining what I’ll need.

Pretty much retired from bands so what do I need the stage amps for? The PA? Just to store them? So the parlor amps, studio, instruments go with me. The big stuff? Fire sale!

Lucky for me the big gear is still desired by tube amp enthusiasts!

I weigh in on the experiences side! Get great lessons, focus time on playing.
 
My bike has been out of commission for a while and I need to get it up and running so I can be like you again!😎
My bike was out of commission for quite a while, too. Both of them were. I dropped the Triumph in the driveway a few years ago, then took a long time to replace the damaged plastic. By then, the battery was stone cold dead. That was OK because I was riding the DRZ. Then a valve spring broke in the DRZ. How does that happen? I don't know. But it took forever to repair because the replacements turned up defective, too. So more waiting. Now both are running happily, and I'm riding again, happily.

And for the record, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be like me. Most people don't once they figure out that it's a little like having a pachinko game rattling around where there should be a brain.
 

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