I'm retiring. What next?

[Andie]

I did it. I set a retirement date. On 1 Jan 19, I'll leave the Air Force after almost 23 years. Yikes! So many choices ahead, it can be overwhelming. Financially, we are pretty secure. My husband will probably retire in the summer or fall of next year...we'll pick a date in the next few months.

Our combined pensions will be over $100k annually. We have investments in retirement accounts. We own a rental property in northern Virginia outright with no plans to sell. Currently trying to sell another property in northern Virginia. The proceeds of that sale could be used to (1) fund a move back to the east coast to be near family or (2) pay off the principal on our current residence here in Colorado. Earlier this year, we decided to move but are currently suffering from second thoughts. Financially, it's not the best move but there's more to life than money. Either way we'll be able to maintain our standard of living.

For several years now, I've been very focused on the money side of retirement. Now that it's near I'm more concerned about the non-money side of my retired life. I've come here hoping to learn from others' experience. I've spent almost my entire adult life being told where I will live and what job I will take (this is an oversimplification, I had lots of choices along the way).

In some ways, I feel like a high school grad...I can go anywhere, do anything. Also an oversimplification...I have a daughter in middle school with strong opinions about moving and I have strong opinions about school quality. My husband has opinions, too, of course. Ok, I'm not an unencumbered 18 yo...but I have more choices than I've ever had before. My "dream" has been to be financially independent. Now what?

When you first retired, what went well? What do you wish you had done differently?

 

[MBAustin]

Welcome Andie, and thank you for your service! If you haven't found them already, we have a helpful list of things to think about in the next few months:

Some Important Questions to Answer

Congratulations on being FI - as you noted, that's really the goal. Since your DH won't be retiring right away, my suggestion would be to take a couple of months (or more) to enjoy being a mom (get involved at her school, etc.) and relatively unencumbered, and use the time to try out new activities, research relocation options, and just decompress.

There is lots of great information here and also a lot of friendly folk when you have questions. We look forward to hearing more from you!

 

[kgtest]

Congrats! I'll save the Hooah for the new year! Time to have some fun and enjoy the freedoms you earned!

 

[braumeister]

My husband has opinions, too, of course.

What does that have to do with anything?

Seriously, welcome to our world. There are a number of retired USAF members here, along with many from the lesser services.

You should be in good shape financially, and now you're wrestling with one of the hardest and most common problems: where?

Use the search function on the site here, but feel free to bring up any specific questions. You'll get lots of answers, many of them good!

 

[MichaelB]

What does that have to do with anything?

Hey! The illusion that my opinion matters is one of my most important fantasies. don't ruin it.

I did it. I set a retirement date. On 1 Jan 19, I'll leave the Air Force after almost 23 years. Yikes! So many choices ahead, it can be overwhelming. Financially, we are pretty secure. My husband will probably retire in the summer or fall of next year...we'll pick a date in the next few months.
./.
When you first retired, what went well? What do you wish you had done differently?

Andie, welcome aboard. Exciting times ahead for you. Your last question is a common topic of discussion here. A couple of recent threads might be of interest

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/did-you-retire-to-what-you-thought-you-would-92735.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/friends-and-family-can-t-relate-92752.html


Retirement is different that what I envisioned. It's much better.

 

[Walt34]

Welcome to the forum!

Retirement is a huge change and usually irreversible so it is normal to have some anxiety about it. As others said, before you dive into anything that will take up a lot of your time, take at least a few months to just absorb the change and figure out what (if anything) you want to do next. Lots of the members here just take one day at a time. Note the tagline:

 

[Bamaman]

Congratulations to your impending change of life.

We made the move to downsizing when our daughter was 15 years old. We overestimated her ability to make changes, and it was our biggest mistake ever. 15 years later and she has never got over the move.

You are still young. Just take it day by day. There's worse things than owning Northern Virginia real estate investment wise.

 

[97guns]

That’s the great thing about retirement, everything becomes spontaneous and impromptu, don’t feel like doing the laundry today? Do it tomorrow, feel like driving down to Los Angeles for the weekend? Jump in the car and go. No scheduling of any kind to adhere to.

 

[DrRoy]

Congrats on the $ side. You also need to have things to do. Socializing is always good. For me, travel and photography fill lots of time.

 

[Dawg52]

I'm retiring. What next?

Enjoy life. Living in CO should make that easy I would think. Biking and daily hikes would be at the top of my list. Oh....and golf.

 

[blueb]

My first EVER post: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/hi-from-cuernavaca-mexico-92792.html

Spend some time on location it's really important. And I do mean spend some time. It's so easy to make a bad decision.... better to spend time and money, determining your next step.