Congrats Bob..enjoy! Good luck at the docs...steer well clear of any casinos..only trouble lives there..☺

Congratulations on retirement, and I hope you manage to resist the casinos.

I have a number of vices, but gambling isn't one of them. My luck at any kind of game--whether it be backgammon or poker or the stock market--sucks, so I just don't go there. Full retirement looms in early February, 2020, but since I'm self-employed, we'll see if I actually do call it quits then. I say that because my current "semi-retirement" often looks a whole lot like working full-time. LOL

Oh, how sad...but, some people play hard when they are younger, spending money "unwisely", perhaps thinking that they only live once, etc. Some people also like instant gratification...gambling, drugs, women, shoes, whatever...I think you can save sensibly and balance now and the future. I was lucky enough to have a mentor that got me saving a little each week when I was young. I would like the freedom from worry to be able to enjoy my retirement years when they come...so, congrats on making it to a milestone!

There are a riverboats with gambling offered within driving distance, but Illinois supposedly not a legal gambling state. But now it seems like every bar is installing those poker machines! It's a pity that they don't install them along the outer walls of homeless shelters, so that at least the money could be doing some good.

I wish I could retire. A simple life would be enough.

I know that we have freedom to chose what we do with our resources....

With the horrific amount of poverty in the world, I can not justify games of chance just for fun. I guess I am on a different wave length than others.

so thankful I never caught the gambling bug

The casino doors are not locked, you know?

I think you should learn some math making casinos illegal will not get rid of gambling.. Since an addict is an addict is an addict..the movie casino explains this.. It's a situation obviously set up to drain money out of you unless you have a special gift for probabilities statistics and a superior logic and math abilities.. I have known people like this who manage to beat the casinos..

Well, congratulations to you and your mrs. You spoke your sanity. I am brother to a gambling addict and she is among the casino VIP's. When we attend music events, we got reserved VIP tables, drinks, etc. (only way you can get me in the casino is to dance salsa). She is one of the "great losers chairmen" I her. I simply do not have that gambling gene. My son works for a casino in Vegas. I stay in Maryland about 6 minutes from a casino. Maryland Live. Nothing like retirement. Did it as soon I could at 62. You guys did it right, both at it. Everybody I know get pissed at me because they have to go work. There is even a lady in my life on and off for a long time that we won't have a chance long she is not retired, just the way it is. Well, I got rid of the "slave gene". I don't mind dying broke while retired.

Yay retirement. Keeping casinos out does not prevent addiction. Addiction will manifest somewhere else & keeping casinos is punishing folks who do not have an addiction. What someone decides what to do with their life is their choice. There is treatment for the addictive personality. Restricting those who do not have this affliction is not the solution. The addiction will appear in over spending, hoarding, drugs such as tobacco , alcohol, opioids. People will manifest addiction even in the bond folks have to each other. We can not punish the innocent for the crimes or the addictions of others.

I try to only bet on sure things.....

Last time I was in a casino was 17 years ago. I lost 50 bucks at the blackjack table in less than five minutes, got up and walked out the door and never walked back in again.

The old "Don't bet the farm" sadly rings true for many. I, as a self-imposed rule, do not bet but have been in many a casino (great food and sometimes educational seminars are held there). In any event, one of the saddest things I have ever noted was a young man feeding dollars into a slot machine at the rate of ten bucks per seven second interval. The desperation and urgent fervor for a holy redemption on his face showed me, like a drug addition, he was loosing all and had no choice but to feed his demon.

I

Pathetic I know, I like spinning things watches bicycle wheels numerical patterns.. I collect recyclables for money but can't stand the screeching gadget noises and severe claustrophobia on noise ridden busses..

I

Pathetic I know, I like spinning things watches bicycle wheels numerical patterns.. I collect recyclables for money but can't stand the screeching gadget noises and severe claustrophobia on noise ridden busses..

Hmm the simple life is not so simple retirement is a soul crushing boring affair accelerated decrepitude... As the body and mind disintegrate it's not that fun at all

I

Pathetic I know, I like spinning things watches bicycle wheels numerical patterns.. I collect recyclables for money but can't stand the screeching gadget noises and severe claustrophobia on noise ridden busses..

If you have so little imagination that is indeed a problem perhaps anti depressants could help you or intensive psychotherapy could help you..

If you have so little imagination that is indeed a problem perhaps anti depressants could help you or intensive psychotherapy could help you..