Dave, regarding Rhodes, sometimes upgrading or crossgrading is not really that. Last year's (UVI) version of NSK was just fine, more or less covering the same instruments, but thanks to UVI's lossless compression you only needed 2 GB of disk size, while the new studio version needs ten times as much. And a few years back, there was that Kontakt version George Duke was so happy with. So you see ...

Dave and others.  Thanks for your kind words,
 
Off topic, but about retirement. The scary part was getting up to the point and maybe a month after. All the momentum from decades of frantic work doesn’t stop just because it’s not there anymore. Lots of time for music, but where’s the stress, insanity, burn out, lack of sleep blasted by caffeine and sugar to keep going. All the paranoid effort to stay out of trouble and stay employed. Took a couple months to even start to unwind and realize that I could watch the waves for a few minutes and not feel guilty about not doing something at light speed.
 
Me and the wife got married in our 30’s, had both been heathen missionaries with the Ananda Marga organization in separate parts of the world. Came together penniless while all our friends had gotten established in careers. Like Bit said, living in areas where extreme poverty exists is an eye opener. We used to laugh about the concept of recycling anything, because the real utility of the plastic bottle is in reuse, not recycle. Every piece of string, every scrap of paper. Makes low income life now not a problem since been there done that.
 
Human need is really minimal. Some food, water, clothing shelter and tools of the trade. Oh yeah, and some beer money. I’m starting to even question what use is money beyond the minimum necessities if everything else mentally and spiritually is in order. As far as I can see, going into the retired phase, there has to be enough to live clean and simple. There are 3 major unknowns however that can destroy any budget. Home repairs, car repairs and health expenses. Even without major events, no budget will ever hold true. Certainty is that the uncertain will happen.
 
John

Great words on reusing instead of recycling. And on uncertainty. In the end, no amount of money will be enough to withhold or surpass the inevitable. Come to think of it, this capitalist system isn't so bad sometimes, as long as you're not a capitalist yourself. Just let most of them spend their money on things that aren't essential for a good life, and you'll be fine. As such, most things that are essential for a good life aren't really expensive. You have to eat, drink, love and make music. Everything else is either too expensive or not worth it. Just don't get caught into thinking you need stuff you don't. 

Due to some very poor financial choices I made (even in low-mid six figure income for 10 years) it's unlikely I will ever "retire". If I can actually start collecting SS in ~23 months it's just gonna be augmented income at that time.

I'm retiring at the end of this year. The first thing I'm doing is throwing away all my clocks.

A lot of the issue is basic survival. If you can find a way to be housed, eat and have some level of transport and entertainment, Capitalism is quite good. (Self censored). As Fleer says being content with what you have helps.
 
Over on VI, i asked people to show music they made with free or relatively free instruments and there were a number of quite nice examples. Really at the level of plugs most people talk about here on the software and sales forums, music can be made to a significant level. Sonar itself is nothing to shake a stick at as far as tools for music making goes.

I just celebrated (and I *do* mean "celebrate" in the sense of "joyous observation") the 3-year anniversary of my retirement on March 1.  The strange thing is that it actually seems like no more than about three months have elapsed, not three years.  Make no mistake, being retired *so* doesn't suck!  But at this perceived rate, I'll be at death's doorstep in seemingly no time at all, even if I mange to make it through another couple of decades.

Deep stuff on the transition from you guys, because also the transition out of work heralds the transition out of life next in line. Rite of passage bringing the full circle one step closer. Got to be ready for the big event and all to follow.
 
First thing I did also was throw out the clock by my pillow that had tormented me for too many years. Now just wake up to morning light. Also the truth that time flies by fast. Subjective perception for all of us is that the further we exist through time, the faster it seems to pass. Pink Floyd's remark about 10 years gone by in a flash.
 
Wake up call for me last year was in the hospital doing a discharge counsel for some poor 71 year old dude with shot lungs. No fix available and zero quality of life to look forward to until death liberates from the suffering. Instead I got counseled. He looked at me crawling in to get him crawled out. Asked how old I was and what the hell am I doing still working with nothing to gain in the bigger picture.
 
The guy told me that at 65 he could have retired as a trucker, but figured to work till 70 to stash the last cash and get ready for the golden years in better comfort. He worked till 70 and his health went south and can't enjoy anything. His advice, to get out of the insanity while I still have the strength to crawl around on all fours.
 
Took the advice.
 
John
 
@Bapu...  I wouldn't worry about anything in your case. You can probably sell off software licenses and live like a king until you're a hundred and fifty.

not that i am retired as such, but due to some fortunate circumstances, some of my doing and some just pure luck, i haven't had to 'work' for quite some years, and won't have to again this side of the grave. i'm lucky enough that i can do what i want when i want, if i want something i can buy it, and 100% of my time is my own, (well apart from when i have to sleep, haven't conquered that yet) even so, at the end of last year i decided i have enough plugins and instruments, i have almost all drum vst's, including everything for everything (at that time) but i'm not buying anymore (except bfd expansions as the are released) i wont purchase another non bfd pack, and will only purchase another drum vst when there is something that i consider better than bfd3, been doing well, passed up on the new ezd2 releases. same with amp sims, i pretty much have everything software wise, and everything of everything, but until something comes along that i consider better that BIAS, the only amp sim type product i will purchase is expansions for bias etc.
 
same with daw's, got all i need, until something comes along that i consider better than studio one 3 pro, i'll only be upgrading to it's next gen. (already have sonar platinum lifetime, so that's covered for a while, i will keep up with reaper as well even though i rarely use it)
 
plugins, i got enough, more than enough, only if something is outstanding will i consider purchasing it, will keep updating to newer versions of what i have like all the izotope stuff etc, but new purchases have and will slow right down, just don't need anything.
 
hardware though, well that's a different matter, just ordered bias head and bias rack, i'll keep buying guitars and basses periodically, maybe upgrade my e drum kit at some stage, and computers and computer hardware is on going by nature, but time to get off the software/plugin round about. it's been fun, but when you go looking through thousands of plugins and you come across stuff you didn't even remember you had, and even worse purchase stuff you already own because you forgot you already brought it, well it's time to slow down or stop.

Great posts on this thread, and it really rings true as I countdown the days to retirement. I will likely have to work some, but hopefully doing more joyous type of work (like music). And the idea that John got when "counseling" the patient was exactly what I decided--you cannot possibly know if ages 66-70 will be healthy ones, and so I traded a few dollars more for a few more years of making more of my own choices. It's different for everyone, and if I absolutely needed the $$, or was already doing joyous work in my day job, I would keep doing it, because I do believe that work, or at least some form of purpose, is essential to keep us healthy and happy.
I intend to pursue my passions from now on, as others in this thread are doing or would like to do. While that definitely will include a new (hardware) piano for my new post-retirement location, I am slowing down the software binge to a trickle at best.  Time to focus on creating melodies, harmonies, and exploring the creative potential of the most advanced system ever--our brains.