Poll for Retirees: What's Most Important to a Successful Retirement?

[Orchidflower]

If I have health, money and some friends, I'm a happy gal! And if I have to pick the most important, like everyone else, health!

 

[vicente solano]

Not sure which category this fits in, but I think the most important item is the ability to adapt to ER. If you are bored or stressed from guilt it ain't no fun.[/QUOTV

Very cleverly put!

 

[vicente solano]

First, health. Spiritual life and family on the same level of importance.

 

[RonBoyd]

I chose Other as one of my choices and for me that means planning for retirement. I couldn't imagine retiring without significant long term planning for that event. Health and Money were my other choices.

Do you want to know how to make the gods laugh? Have a plan... the long-term, the better.

 

[freebird5825]

Activities, Friends, and Health

 

[Walt34]

Health is #1 for me and DW. Without that, none of the others are enjoyable. Or at least as much anyway.

Money is somewhat important, as someone else mentioned I don't want to be thinking about how to pay the electric bill, but beyond the basics that simply buys more options. But for DW and I, whether a dinner out is at Bob Evans or Bavarian Inn (a pricey German restaurant) does not materially affect our lives.

Family and friends are extremely important to us, and whether the time together is spent at a back yard cookout or a trip somewhere is fairly irrelevant to us. Given a choice we prefer the back yard cookout type gatherings.

 

[Khan]

MONEY
Health
friends

 

[braumeister]

If you have a link or a citation to that study I'd love to read it.

Me, too. I confess I never saw the actual study itself, only a newspaper article about it. It was a prominent topic of conversation around the O club for weeks.

 

[Midpack]

If you have a link or a citation to that study I'd love to read it.

Don't hold your breath (wink wink). My ex-Army CO father who retired 28 years ago and his remaining ex-military friends would be amused by the "study."

 

[Amethyst]

Indeed, "man proposes, God disposes" and we do well to keep that in mind (by not feeling too superior about being a planner!).

Still, He gave us the ability to plan, and (I opine) made the consequences of NOT planning even worse than the consequences of planning.

Amethyst

Do you want to know how to make the gods laugh? Have a plan... the long-term, the better.

 

[Retire2013]

1. Health
2. Money
3. Spiritual Life (does not necessarily mean religious)

 

[grasshopper]

I didn't check Money, but only because it's just a way for me to have the level of Location and Activities which I want. Health is #1, of course.

Sounds just like me. Great health lets me live in the remote place I love, doing the things I like to do.

I am kinda estranged from my family, and I make friend easily. Spirit is a part of my life that couldn't be separated from the whole thing.

 

[devans0]

I chose other to mean engaged and purposeful living. Health...yes. These are the prime two that everything else follows.

 

[Tiger]

I chose money, health and other with other meaning a good partner to share your retirement with.

 

[Moemg]

I chose health, friends ( which to me includes family ) and money . Retirement for me would be very boring without the friends & family to enjoy .

 

[MichaelB]

Three choices are not enough. I also took health, family and money, and I agree that family and friends are kind of interchangeable.

 

[Khan]

Nothing is more important than money.

 

[GregLee]

I thought of choosing money, money, and money, because you know what they say about money buying happiness. But I wound up choosing money, health, and location, since those are the things I have.

 

[kumquat]

I chose:

1) Money: If you can't afford to do what you want, what is ER for?
2) Friends: This may or may not include family. You need people to do things with.
3) Activities: ER is about doing what you want. You need something you want to do, otherwise why not work?

I skipped:
- Family: Family are either friends or they aren't.
- Health: I've always been relatively healthy. If I had had health problems in the past, I might worry more about them in the future.
- Location: That's why God invented airplanes.
- Spiritual Life: Not sure what this means, so not included.

 

[NW-Bound]

I skipped
- Location: That's why God invented airplanes.

I remember that after an airliner crashed, someone wrote that if God intended for people to fly, he would have given us wings.

 

[Meadbh]

I think location is important. But it's related to money. Quite often, the nicest places are the most expensive places in which to live. The nice places also have the best range of activities. If people care about location, either they have to move to the places they like, or visit them periodically. And that takes money.

It would appear that most retirees who answered do not rate location highly. I didn't vote, but I would have given it a medium high ranking, below health, money and friends.

 

[Moemg]

I take location for granted but after a short visit up north I realize that Florida does have many problems but weather is not one of them . It is so nice to see the sun shining and not deal with the gloom of winter .

 

[freebird5825]

I take location for granted but after a short visit up north I realize that Florida does have many problems but weather is not one of them . It is so nice to see the sun shining and not deal with the gloom of winter .

Gloom? WHAT gloom?

I'll be watching the weather very closely to compare East Nowhere (where I live now) to Further East Somewhere (possible relocation to NH or MA) in terms of sunshine/clouds and snowfall rates.
Call me crazy for remaining up north, but the Great Lakes (Ontario in my case) are a huge factor in the weather I have dealt with for 30 years. I drive east to Albany NY and it is a whole different ball game.

 

[ERD50]

... I realize that Florida does have many problems but weather is not one of them.

You mean they got rid of the heat, humidity, hurricanes and bugs and mold that come with hot, humid weather?

To each their own, I'll take 4 seasons.

-ERD50

 

[Moemg]

To each their own, I'll take 4 seasons.

-ERD50

We have four seasons .
Fall - late October -mid December
Winter - late December - March
Spring - March -early April
Summer - mid April -October

The only difference is winter involves jeans & sweaters not boots & jackets and snowblowers.