<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/11/2005 1:43:36 P.M. Central Standard Time, atodd@uh.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2>Just wondering how many of you have started thinking about retirement. I <BR>kn= ow there's at least 2-3 out there who are close to that age! :-)<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>I've been thinking of retiring for years. The problem is, I'm not old enough yet to do it. When I took the job here at UA, I needed to work for 10= years to get vested, which means the state will match my contributions,= I'm in my forth year, so I need to work at least 6 more years. I'll be 66 by the= n. Between what the state will give me, my investments  and SS, I should b= e able to coast. I'll probably want to continue doing some work, but my wife a= nd I also want to do some traveling. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The work might not be tuning, although I'll probably continue to do som= e of that. I might go to work for Sears or Home Depot. A friend of mine, (not in = the piano business), retired several years ago and is now working for Sears. The= company understands how retired people like to take extended vacations. So t= hey have a real nice policy. When ever you want, you can take a couple of weeks of weeks of vacation, and still have a job waiting for you when you get= back. I just read where Home Depot has the same kind of program. It give the= retiree something do, a little extra cash, and still be allowed to go v= isit the grand kids when ever they want. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim  </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>