Cambria, California
Ages: 69, 67 Year Retired: 2009
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PAGE 64: TITLE PHOTOGRAPH B Y LISA ROMEREIN; PAGE 66: LOCATION, JOHNSON’S FLORIS T & GARDEN CEN TERS
THE RECESSION JUMP-started Mary
and Jerry’s retirement—and so far
they couldn’t be happier. When the
bottom fell out of the California
real-estate market, they shut their
realty business. But they had made
some money two years earlier,
selling a coffee shop they owned.
Plus, Jerry has put money into retirement accounts for most of his
adult life, and the couple expect
to make a profit when they sell their
house soon. Then comes the fun
part: they’ll hit the road in the
motor home they bought after
selling the coffee shop.
“We don’t need
a house anymore”
Right now they’re planning to
travel for five years, crisscrossing
the country—reconnecting with old
friends and visiting their four far-flung children—“provided our health
stays good,” says Mary.
“Then we’ll see. Maybe we’ll want
to stop—but we’ve run into people
in their mid-80s who have been
doing this for 20 years!”
Of course, the recession has
required some adjustments. “We
live on our Social Security and in-
vestments, and they took a big hit,”
Jerry says. “But I thought, ‘Hey, I’ve
earned this.’”
Even sharp increases in gas
prices haven’t shaken the couple’s
confidence in their plan. “Sure, the
coach gets between 6. 5 and 8 miles
per gallon. But people don’t realize
that when we travel, we often park it
for two or three weeks at a time—it’s
not like we drive it to work every day.”
