Things I'll miss when retired

[BlueTrain]

I have a lot of interests and one or two activities but nothing I'd call a hobby. I think the thing I'll miss the most is the money.

 

[Macbeth]

I'm retired and I miss absolutely NOTHING!

As they say, "Been there, done that, got the T- shirt!"

I'm a happy guy!

 

[Edward]

I'd be willing to bet that at least 75 per cent of white-collar work done in the 21st Century, regardless of the business or the industry or the sector, falls into that same type of exercise. Move those electrons from one end of the office network to the other, and then move them back again. In the Era people shut down assembly lines and occupied factory buildings for less.

Certainly sounds like 99% of the paperwork that has been invented for me to do over the last few years. Increasingly stuff that was handled automatically, now I have to fill in a form. Virtually all discretion and judgment has been taken away from us in favour of form filling. And can I set up one of these arrangements to run year to year? Can I hell. I have to fill in the verdampt form every single year as if it's never been done before.

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.

The only reason I go to most meeting is in order to be sure I don't miss anything. It's a rare one where I copme out not feeling less informed than when I went in.

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.

Interesting idea.... If I had the money for somewhere in town, or could ever ocuntenance leaving my beloved London (if only Rye were both affordable and in Zone 2!), so it were pratical, I'd be looking at the possibility of putting together a customised van that could be used as a camper but I could also roll a motorcycle into and secure for a journey. Practical transport and accomodation for a trip to the Highlands, then the bike to get aound easily once there.... (I'd also love a nice bike and sidecar combination, but Herself has vetoed the idea of getting into a sidecar!)

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.

If those of us who, broadly speaking, choose to dress "vintage" don't much care to conform to the norm during our working lives, why should we do so after retirement?

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.

I wonder sometimes whether teachers find it easier because they are used to coping with managing their time in a long block of (nominally....) free time across the Summer break?

 

[BlueTrain]

You must read Parkinson's Law.

 

[scottyrocks]

I wonder sometimes whether teachers find it easier because they are used to coping with managing their time in a long block of (nominally....) free time across the Summer break?

Possibly. But I have been working with kids 12 months a year for as long as I can remember, working at camps during the summers. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't.

 

[Edward]

Possibly. But I have been working with kids 12 months a year for as long as I can remember, working at camps during the summers. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't.

MY mother was a teacher, and she struggled with the idea of knowing what to do with herself when she retired, but in the end it worked out well - she says she's busier now than ever. I think what made it work for her was she finally had time to do the things she always wanted to do and couldn't fit in. She does a lot of collectables sales now, something she wanted to do for years, and with two of those a week through the Easter-September season, it takes up a lot of her time travelling and getting ready for them.

 

[BlueTrain]

My wife is also a schoolteacher and is retiring after the end of this term. She has exhausted herself teaching 5th grade. I am 70 myself and still on the job but I also plan on retiring around the end of summer, by which time I will be 71. My late father-in-law retired when he was about 58 and immediately moved out of town to a place they had bought the previous year. They lived there for over 30 years, longer than they lived anywhere. We are planning to move within three or four years but I don't think I'll be in the next house all that long. What to do with myself is the least of my worries.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I'm 62 and now more or less retired. I was laid off a few months back and hope to ease into working part-time with my brother-in-law and sister in their home-based collectible business, though it's been slow to get going. I am very lucky that I no longer have kids in college or a mortgage, and have some money in the bank. After 35 years writing software documentation - which was mostly easy and paid the bills, but had zero satisfaction - I'm ready for something else.

The remarkable thing is that the days still get filled up and pass, even without the Monday to Friday grind...

 

[BlueTrain]

My wife and I talk a lot about retiring and being retired and are slowly developing plans for the day. I was telling her there will be no Mondays when we retire. Every day will be either a Saturday or a Sunday. I will miss Friday, the day I like the most, even though it is often the most difficult day at work (deadlines and so on). I was also pointing out that even though our two children are grown and living somewhere else (no grandchildren yet but only one is married), we still don't exactly have an empty next. But my wife says it's going to take her a year to deal with all of that.

I have the sort of job that many would find unrewarding in any way, tedious, boring and so on but it has suited me. I've done essentially the same sort of work ever since I finished college and in largely the same sort of environment, working in an office in a small plant. I have mostly had good bosses and good coworkers. My boss for the last 18 years retired last week, and has moved to a consulting basis until a replacement is found. I had been joking that when he went, I would go, too. I discovered they were taking me seriously (for a change) but we got that straightened out. The next few months will be different for sure.

 

[Edward]

Thinking about this, I'm hoping to be in a position to enjoy my job more when I retire by negotiating teaching my class as a pat-time thing, with none of the other responsibilities of the current job! It's not unheard of to do exactly this in academia.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

In a period stretching over 2013 and 2014, I was out of work for 15 months. My 60th birthday was in the middle of this.
Someone once asked, "Are you retired?"
I said, "No, just out of work."
I confess that I had no trouble filling my days with interesting things to do, but I did miss the money coming in.
That's what I'll miss most.

 

[scottyrocks]

We're planning on moving to the midwest when I retire.

My main focus will be my new garage. I want it separate from the house, and on or near the back of the property. It must be able to hold at least two cars and have rafters strong enough to hold one up off the ground (I can build/repair/reinforce that myself). I'm gonna buy a small (3000 lb.) hydraulic lift and a welder.

I plan to spend much of time with my cars, making repairs and improvements that I have not been able to do thus far because of my limited logistics.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I guess this will vary by personality & by profession but just make sure you don't get all your self respect, self worth & friendships from your profession. Once you retire that stuff is all gone. I'm an adrenaline junkie so I'll never give it up completely.

 

[belfastboy]

I have held numerous jobs over my work life from the professional to the mundane. Never strongly identified myself with any one role but as I approach retirement the one concern is coping without "work". Work, regardless of the title or task has been a huge part of my life since I was 12 years old. I know how to work, I am good at it, it is what I do. What will I be without that? I have numerous hobbies and activities but NONE that would engage me 5 days a week, 8 hours per day. Work has been the grist in my mill, to push me up against the world, to force me to become more conscious, more evolved whereas my hobbies acted as respite from all that. The question is, what will replace work as that grist or an even bigger question; does one reach a point in life where it is okay to go without the grist? Is it okay to just put the feet up and coast for whatever years I have left? Things to discover I guess.

 

[Fading Fast]

I have held numerous jobs over my work life from the professional to the mundane. Never strongly identified myself with any one role but as I approach retirement the one concern is coping without "work". Work, regardless of the title or task has been a huge part of my life since I was 12 years old. I know how to work, I am good at it, it is what I do. What will I be without that? I have numerous hobbies and activities but NONE that would engage me 5 days a week, 8 hours per day. Work has been the grist in my mill, to push me up against the world, to force me to become more conscious, more evolved whereas my hobbies acted as respite from all that. The question is, what will replace work as that grist or an even bigger question; does one reach a point in life where it is okay to go without the grist? Is it okay to just put the feet up and coast for whatever years I have left? Things to discover I guess.

No one says you have to retire, especially since you appear to be very flexible in your work talents. I made a decision five years ago to restructure my work life - I work from home for myself - so that I could do it for many years to come. I work less hours and less hard (in the sense of I don't have the constant onslaught a job in Corporate America has today), but have less income (but fortunately, I'm kinda get back there, but didn't plan for that to happen) and security. For me, it's worth the trade off as I am much, much happier.

A friend's dad "retired" by selling his business and became a draftsman for an architect firm (he took some courses and now does preliminary design) as it's something he always wanted to do. He can somewhat manage his work load, has no desire to "advance," makes a modest income and is happier in his seventies than he's ever been.

My girlfriend's father retired and now builds boats and furniture purely as a hobby - something he's always wanted to do and wants no part of "work," or a "job."

My modest point is you can define it however you want. If you still want to work, but maybe, less hard or less hours or at something else - try to find a way. If you don't want to work at all, in addition to hobbies there's charity and foundations - my girlfriend's mother "retired" to that world.

You sound to me like someone who will enjoy some kind of work after you "retire," the challenge will be finding the opportunity that gives you the flexibility you want. It takes time, but I bet you will get there.

 

[belfastboy]

My wife left her career one week ago. It has been interesting observing her in her first week of leisure. One interesting aspect is jettisoning "thoughts" she will never need think again. She was in project implementation and her last project was "P3". Her mind wants to continue processing aspects of "P3" but she catches herself and remembers...."Oh, I never have to think that thought ever again." I is quite freeing for her as thinking those thoughts have dominated her waking hours for many years. She is going to sleep, knit, listen to music...repeat .....for the next few weeks until she can quiet her mind and slow her body and then look at the "what is next?"

 

[belfastboy]

My wife left her career one week ago. It has been interesting observing her in her first week of leisure. One interesting aspect is jettisoning "thoughts" she will never need think again. She was in project implementation and her last project was "P3". Her mind wants to continue processing aspects of "P3" but she catches herself and remembers...."Oh, I never have to think that thought ever again." I is quite freeing for her as thinking those thoughts have dominated her waking hours for many years. She is going to sleep, knit, listen to music...repeat .....for the next few weeks until she can quiet her mind and slow her body and then look at the "what is next?"

I am now just a site technician rather than project manager and just working 3 days a week. Now my life is much less stressful as I don't need to "manage" anything other than myself. When my day's work is done I am truly done. There is nothing to take home with me. At this pace I can indeed work into my 70's as even though the work is somewhat physically demanding have extra days to recover really helps. But there is the desire for my wife and I to travel. There are some screaming good deals on flights if one has flexibility. We desire to take advantage of that and want to create space to drop our routine at a moments notice and take off wherever the cheap flight will take us. That is tough to do and still be employed. I will work this year and then recalibrate to see what comes next.

 

[Bamaboots]

I retired in 2007 at age 50 after 25 years in municipal law enforcement. I had planned on five more years but another upcoming administration change, the political climate surrounding law enforcement, plus the city was offering to pay for the health insurance of recent retirees. I left without a single look over my shoulder.

I do miss some of the people I worked with and the excitement of the job. I spent 15 years on the SWAT team. The day to day drudgery and the petty complaints ensure that I don't miss it much.

I've had a couple of jobs since I left, even went back to work for some family members for awhile but I soon found that I don't take orders very well anymore, nor do I take things quite as seriously as others. So long on that job creates a perspective that others don't often get. Plus, the job causes problems. I've never met anyone who spent the biggest part of their lives in emergency services that didn't come away with some issues. The national average of the life expectancy for retired police officers used to be somethimg like 5 years. Not sure where it sets now. I worked with a number of folks that didn't make half of that, so I think I left when I should have.

 

[belfastboy]

I retiredd in 2007 at age 50 after 25 years in municipal law enforcement. I had planned on five more years but another upcoming administration change, the political climate surrounding law enforcement, plus the city was offering to pay for the health insurance of recent retirees. I left without a single look over my shoulder.

I do miss some of the people I worked with and the excitement of the job. I spent 15 years on the SWAT team. The day to day drudgery and the petty complaints ensure that I don't miss it much.

I've had a couple of jobs since I left, even went back to work for some family members for awhile but I soon found that I don't take orders very well anymore, nor do I take things quite as seriously as others. So long on that job creates a perspective that others don't often get. Plus, the job causes problems. I've never met anyone who spent the biggest part of their lives in emergency services that didn't come away with some issues. The national average of the life expectancy for retired police officers used to be somethimg like 5 years. Not sure where it sets now. I worked with a number of folks that didn't make half of that, so I think I left when I should have.

I have a belief that in most things we need to develop the trust in ourselves so that we acknowledge when we are "done" with something and have the good sense to walk away at that point and not linger until it truly becomes toxic for our soul.

 

[BlueTrain]

One thing I will not miss is waking up at 2:00 AM worrying about something at work. I know worry isn't supposed to help but actually thinking about it does. Sometimes, anyway. Since my boss retired week before last, I'm doing more of that.

However much I might miss the nice people at work and all the other nice people I come in contact with around where I work, I will not miss the commute. It's 20 miles one way. It isn't bad in the morning, although there is still an awful lot of traffic at 5:30 in the morning. The evening commute is a lot slower to be sure. But the mild winters we've had helped the commute as well as the fact that the roads are being cleared better when it does snow now. I'm 70 now and I'm afraid that it's too late to do the things that make retiring worth doing.