Things I'll miss when retired

[GHT]

FF, did you never attend a meeting for the sole purpose of setting the agenda for the next meeting? Meetings, bloody meetings, they drove me mad.

 

[sheeplady]

My current plan (if my husband and I are so lucky to retire) is to buy a little RV and travel the US and Canada during the summers/ winters. Not one of those bus-size RVs, but a medium-sized one. We'll attach a Model A on a trailer on the back and travel around to all the national parks and other places of interest... drop in and visit our kids when they'd like (staying out of their hair at the local RV park) if they are still within a drivable distance. The model A will be the perfect size to travel around on day trips, go get groceries, etc.

But in reality, I hope to work (at least part-time) for the rest of my (hopefully long) life. I've been out of the workplace before, I did not enjoy it. I also doubt we'll be able to financially retire fully. Right now I'd like to adjunct teach a little bit in my elder years. One of my favorite professors in college was teaching at 95 (he was a fantastic gentleman), so why not? I have his magic recipe to success: a massage followed by a dirty gin martini every Friday. (He credited his long life to these, along with having built his wife an artist's studio over the garage to get her out of his hair...)

So, long story short: if you see a medium sized RV pulling a Model A painted purple (or possibly orange) 30 or 40 years from now, that's us.

 

[GHT]

My current plan (if my husband and I are so lucky to retire) is to buy a little RV and travel the US and Canada during the summers/ winters. Not one of those bus-size RVs, but a medium-sized one. We'll attach a Model A on a trailer on the back and travel around to all the national parks and other places of interest... drop in and visit our kids when they'd like (staying out of their hair at the local RV park) if they are still within a drivable distance. The model A will be the perfect size to travel around on day trips, go get groceries.

That's not too dissimilar to our lifestyle. I kept one of my delivery vans when my brother and I wound up our distribution company. There's a company that converts both new and used vans into RV's. We hook up a flat trailer, load up the MG and go off to classic & vintage events around the country.

 

[LizzieMaine]

FF, did you never attend a meeting for the sole purpose of setting the agenda for the next meeting? Meetings, bloody meetings, they drove me mad.

In my reporter days, the City Council's "agenda setting meetings" were often the most entertaining of the week -- because the only agenda was setting the agenda, anything could happen and often did: councilors getting into fights and storming out of the room, papers being thrown across the table, doors being slammed. One night a man showed up and sat in the audience dressed in a full chicken costume. Didn't say anything or ask any questions -- just sat there in his chicken suit and stared inscrutably at the councilors, and left before the press could ask him what his deal was.

 

[Fading Fast]

FF, did you never attend a meeting for the sole purpose of setting the agenda for the next meeting? Meetings, bloody meetings, they drove me mad.

Yes. And of course, too many of these: a meeting that was a recapping the last meeting, discussing the current status of issues (go around the room and everyone says what wonderful things they did since last meeting) and then on to planing the next meeting.

 

[scottyrocks]

It's not exclusive to small town Kansas, dressing down is the norm across the globe. You want to wear what you like? Then wear it, and wear it with confidence. My supermarket and it's staff and patrons, had never seen spectator shoes, fedora hats, aloha shirts before I retired, they do now.
What I missed about working was work. Silly though that sounds, but I found that working freelance just on the odd day or two, gives me the purpose that I missed. My pension gives me enough to live comfortably, thankfully I have no mortgage or any other debt and I have savings in the bank, so I'm not at the beck and call of the alarm clock. Therefore, cherry picking the work that I want to do, makes it or the more enjoyable.
For those who really enjoy work, I think retirement would be better if it was phased in, like reducing your hours, bit by bit. I did find it really tough,on the other hand, I do hope HoosierDaddy comes on to comment, because he relishes retirement and can give you the benefit of his experience.

Now that I am at a point where I have a retirement date, I have begun to think more seriously about life post-work.

I stopped dressing like a child years ago, and will not go adopt the common practice here of sports (team) gear on middle-aged men. I wear collared shirts, trousers, and shoes 99% of the time. Regardless of what I do post-career, I will continue to dress like most men used to dress until the sneakers and sports jersey phenomenon took over.

 

[GHT]

Now that I am at a point where I have a retirement date, I have begun to think more seriously about life post-work.

It's good that you are giving your impending retirement serious thought. Had I had the opportunity I would have reduced my working week gradually, both in the number of days per week, and in the number of hours per day. As it was, circumstances forced me into immediate retirement and it felt more like unemployment.
Thinking it through will help you enjoy your retirement to the full. Initially it's different, you might vow that you won't change, I remember friends saying that before they had children, but circumstances do change you. It's how you deal with it that is the making of an enjoyable retirement. For example, my wife used to get hang-ups about still being in bed at eight in the morning, But she is at her most creative, making her clothes, and mine, until the early hours. It took a change in her outlook to realise that she's not answerable to anyone, and if that means not being up at the crack of dawn, so be it. Enjoy your retirement, remember, you've earned it.

 

[Atticus Finch]

I have to admit it. I was very apprehensive about retiring. I'd been going a hundred miles an hour for decades and I had absolutely no definite post-retirement plans. While prosecuting is rewarding, it isn't exactly low-stress. I was more than a little worried about the rapid (violent?) decompression of being put out to pasture.

Well...its been almost six months...and life out here in the pasture is good. Very good, actually. I occasionally miss the court room, but I miss very little about the rest of the job. I still represent family and friends in minor traffic matters, but I seldom collect a fee. And I generally don't accept any case I can't complete in a day. More importantly, I don't let anything interfere with my boating time or "teatime" at our little club.

AF

 

[scottyrocks]

It's good that you are giving your impending retirement serious thought. Had I had the opportunity I would have reduced my working week gradually, both in the number of days per week, and in the number of hours per day. As it was, circumstances forced me into immediate retirement and it felt more like unemployment.
Thinking it through will help you enjoy your retirement to the full. Initially it's different, you might vow that you won't change, I remember friends saying that before they had children, but circumstances do change you. It's how you deal with it that is the making of an enjoyable retirement. For example, my wife used to get hang-ups about still being in bed at eight in the morning, But she is at her most creative, making her clothes, and mine, until the early hours. It took a change in her outlook to realise that she's not answerable to anyone, and if that means not being up at the crack of dawn, so be it. Enjoy your retirement, remember, you've earned it.

I can't do a gradual retirement, or wean myself off of work. I'm a teacher, and my life is a schedule. But within the system in which I work, there is lots of help with retirement planning. And because it's not right around the corner, I have time to prepare psychologically, as well as financially and every-day-lifery.

 

[kaiser]

I have to admit it. I was very apprehensive about retiring. I'd been going a hundred miles an hour for decades and I had absolutely no definite post-retirement plans. While prosecuting is rewarding, it isn't exactly low-stress. I was more than a little worried about the rapid (violent?) decompression of being put out to pasture.

Well...its been almost six months...and life out here in the pasture is good. Very good, actually. I occasionally miss the court room, but I miss very little about the rest of the job. I still represent family and friends in minor traffic matters, but I seldom collect a fee. And I generally don't accept any case I can't complete in a day. More importantly, I don't let anything interfere with my boating time or "teatime" at our little club.

AF

The decompression thing worries me as well. I work in the automobile industry and the speed here is high as well, I have about 5 years or so to good and am now starting to try to slow the pace a little and adjust the focus more to private things. I am also looking into options of doing some consulting inorder to keep my mind active, and also have a little more spending money.

 

[GHT]

I was more than a little worried about the rapid (violent?) decompression of being put out to pasture.

Decompression, what an inspired analogy, but it's so true. My late Grandfather was a middle ranking police officer, he retired from the force in 1937. He joined a security company and worked for them, apart from the war years, until his mid seventies. After that, always a keen gardener, he kept an immaculate garden, he also kept and tidied four of his neighbour's gardens, and he did that until he was almost 90. Then one of his former police colleagues told him that he shouldn't be doing all that manual work at his age. The silly old fool believed him, retired to his armchair, and waited for God. He lived for another nine years in which time he completely lost the plot. Grandmother, on the other hand, went on cooking, cleaning, shopping and keeping their home clean and tidy, kept her marbles right up to the end. They were both 98 and died a few months apart. Had Grandfather just kept doing what he enjoyed, he might not have lived any longer, but the quality of his final years would have been so much richer. My Grandparents married at 18, they didn't have my mother, their only child, until they were 30. They celebrated their 80th anniversary just before Grandfather passed away.

 

[BlueTrain]

I am planning to retire no later than August next year. I'll be 71. My boss is the exact same age as me and he's thinking of sometime late spring, about a year from now. I'll actually probably leave about then, if only to avoid having to break in a new boss.

The biggest thing I'll miss, probably, is getting out of the house everyday. My wife is an elementary school teacher and seven year younger than me. Her job is more than a little stressful, at least it is this year, and my staying home might introduce a little more stress into the equation. However, I'm still looking forward to it, for what it's worth.

I'm not sure what I'll do, however. I have more interests than what you would call hobbies, and what I was doing ten years ago to have fun outside with no longer are as easy to do and besides, I don't think I'll be allowed to really go anywhere. I don't enjoy travel, either, in spite of my mention of Paris in another post. I did get to see one of the things I especially wanted to see while I was there, so I'm happy for that. I probably have another fifteen years left.

 

[St.Ignatz]

Will have been retired two years june 1st. The thing I miss most is the knot in my stomach but in a good way.

Tom D.

 

[Kirk H.]

Decompression, what an inspired analogy, but it's so true. My late Grandfather was a middle ranking police officer, he retired from the force in 1937. He joined a security company and worked for them, apart from the war years, until his mid seventies. After that, always a keen gardener, he kept an immaculate garden, he also kept and tidied four of his neighbour's gardens, and he did that until he was almost 90. Then one of his former police colleagues told him that he shouldn't be doing all that manual work at his age. The silly old fool believed him, retired to his armchair, and waited for God. He lived for another nine years in which time he completely lost the plot. Grandmother, on the other hand, went on cooking, cleaning, shopping and keeping their home clean and tidy, kept her marbles right up to the end. They were both 98 and died a few months apart. Had Grandfather just kept doing what he enjoyed, he might not have lived any longer, but the quality of his final years would have been so much richer. My Grandparents married at 18, they didn't have my mother, their only child, until they were 30. They celebrated their 80th anniversary just before Grandfather passed away.

Yes the decompression thing is real. I have been to several funerals within the last two years of police officers who trained me when I came on. There was a study done years ago that stated that the average life expectancy of a police officer was 5 years after retirement. I think that has changed somewhat due to officers taking better care of themselves. All the years of always being on alert and going from 0-100 at the drop of a hat, and then it suddenly stops has a profound effect on a person both physically and mentally. I have 3.5 years to go until I can retire from the force. I am looking at several options on what to do next, but I do plan to stay active and keep my hand in the game so to speak by teaching law enforcement courses.
That is a wonderful story about your grandparents. And a good point to be made, life is for living, not existing.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

It's good that you are giving your impending retirement serious thought. Had I had the opportunity I would have reduced my working week gradually, both in the number of days per week, and in the number of hours per day. As it was, circumstances forced me into immediate retirement and it felt more like unemployment.
Thinking it through will help you enjoy your retirement to the full. Initially it's different, you might vow that you won't change, I remember friends saying that before they had children, but circumstances do change you. It's how you deal with it that is the making of an enjoyable retirement. For example, my wife used to get hang-ups about still being in bed at eight in the morning, But she is at her most creative, making her clothes, and mine, until the early hours. It took a change in her outlook to realise that she's not answerable to anyone, and if that means not being up at the crack of dawn, so be it. Enjoy your retirement, remember, you've earned it.

Excellent observation~

 

[GHT]

That is a wonderful story about your grandparents. And a good point to be made, life is for living, not existing.

Excellent observation~

Thanks guys, I have to admit that, due to no longer being fully retired, I'm not keeping up with all the threads. A local company has enlisted my help to cover their annual leave, sickies and temporary vacancies. I'm loving it.

 

[BlueTrain]

One thing I won't miss, to be sure, is driving in bad weather. However, the roads around here have been attended to in a much better and more timely fashion for the last few years when it snows, so that isn't the serious problem it used to be.

 

[belfastboy]

I shall miss "days off". What will it be like when everyday is a day off? I savour my "holidays" as they are different from the "work days". Will I savour them as much when every day is a day off and every day is a holiday. Will I miss the yin and the yang of it all?

 

[ChiTownScion]

I can only speak for myself... but having been officially retired for nearly 4 years (and not even working out of my home since December) I can describe retirement with one simile: you are 11 years old again, and every day is like that warm June morning that was the first day of a long 3 month summer vacation.

 

[Touchofevil]

Only fifty years old and having taught just twenty-six years, I am a long way off from retiring, but oh do I look forward to it. Maybe it has something to do with teaching summer school, but most likely not. I really enjoy what I do. The kids are a lot of fun and the staff is great, but I do not think that I will really miss it. I have plenty of hobbies and not nearly enough time. Free time cannot be beat.