Am I just a lazy SOB?

[Backpacker]

Those would be the same people that told me "the way you eat your going to be fat at 40... and again at 50". So here I am at 50 still not fat Some people just want to P**s on your parade.

 

[scrabbler1]

I did not retire "to" anything. I just wanted out. End of story. I have been nothing but uncontrollably happy with the results.

All the stuff people said about becoming bored, wasting away, climbing the walls, not feeling useful or fulfilled etc, was just another example of other people not knowing what the hell they are talking about.

Lots of great replies here but this quick one is the one I most agree with.

For me, the best part of retiring was getting rid of the long, exhausting, annoying, and awful commute I was making. Despite having reduced it to 2 days a week for the last 17 months of a 7-year stretch of working part-time following 16 years of working full-time, it was not enough. It was the classic example of "addition by subtraction," in that my life improved by eliminating a negative, not adding a positive.

In those 7 years of working part-time, I had built up a nice set of hobbies and volunteer activities although working had caused many scheduling conflicts and somehwat limited how much I could partake in those activities. Retiring eliminated nearly all of those scheduling conflicts and allowed me to expand the personal life I had first taken back 7 years earlier when I first switched from working full-time to part-time.

I have an easy, everyday life now. It is so easy to do my everyday errands between 10 AM and 1 PM on weekdays when the number of workers in many businesses exceeds the number of customers, my kind of ratio LOL! Traffic and parking are never issues, either.

I like almost never using my alarm clock any more and being able to get my cherished nap every afternoon (like seraphim). Nobody has accused me of being lazy, not that I would ever care if they did.

 

[razztazz]

+1 I actually had our HR person tell me: "You'll get tired of skiing the Alps, wintering in Florida and sailing your boat in the summer...it sounds good, but you'll get tired of it". Uh, no, I haven't! Looking back on it, he sounded kind of idiotic...

People with no imagination! They can't envision another lifestyle.

I always thought it was strange that people thought I would get bored doing things I liked and having control over my life but didn't think I could get sick and tired of going to work and having to jump when somebody else blows the whistle?

 

[razztazz]

I like retirement because everyday is Saturday.

I thought I coined this phrase about 20 yrs ago.

The image evoked by it was how I deduced that I could,in fact, retire extremely early. After an assessment I determined that I was actually pretty satisfied with life overall. All I really wanted was pretty much the same basic life I already had but without having to go to work! Same car, same apartment, same furniture, same food, same friends... but no work. Saturday!

Everybody would try to yank my chain with "So, you a millionaire? You Donald Trump or something?" You gonna have the chauffeur drive you around in a limo?"

I didn't see retirement as requiring a butler and a limo. Just what I already had without the going-to-work part. That takes a lot less money.

 

[audreyh1]

I always thought it was strange that people thought I would get bored doing things I liked and having control over my life but didn't think I could get sick and tired of going to work and having to jump when somebody else blows the whistle?

That always amazed me as well.

 

[Ready]

Boring people are easily bored.

 

[RetireAge50]

Who you are is not where you work.

 

[MRG]

My FIL retired at 42, MIL was SAHM. Someone made an offer that was too good to be true for his business and he grabbed it. Good thing as the bottom fell out of those businesses a few years later. He had a couple of tough years figuring out what he wanted to do. After the initial change, they loved their life.

My dad had a plan for post retirement and it went well. There's no one that can tell you what the right thing is except you.
Best wishes,
MRG

 

[seraphim]

"Everybody would try to yank my chain with "So, you a millionaire? You Donald Trump or something?" You gonna have the chauffeur drive you around in a limo?""

1. Yes.
2. Hell no. I have nicer hair.
3. No, I'm just going to have her stand by the car in that short skirted, tight fitting chauffeurs outfit.

That ought to shut them up...

Addendum: #3 can be be modified depending on the gender/sexual preference of the responder.

 

[Walt34]

I didn't see retirement as requiring a butler and a limo. Just what I already had without the going-to-work part. That takes a lot less money.

That's about where we are with it. Just do whatever we (or separately) want to do that day. Y'know, like Saturday.

No script, no "Gee I gotta get this done today" because tomorrow will do just fine, or go out and play doing whatever is play for you. Or veg out in front of the TV if that's what you want to do that day. And yes, I've done that a few times too. Or take a trip to wherever if that's what you want to do.

I thought that's what retirement was supposed to be like. Isn't it?

 

[sheehs1]

I once had a friend say this and for me it was so profound that I think about it often.

"We are not human beings. We are humans "doing".

I suppose it struck a chord with me because for so very many years, it was "do, do , do" from 5:00 a.m. until midnight day after day, year after year for over 25 years (children years).

Now I am enjoying being a human being again with the ability to choose what I want "to do" for the most part. Now when someone tells me "to do" something they can very easily do themselves, my response is "You can do it if you want". (in various tactful ways!)

 

[HFWR]

I did not retire "to" anything. I just wanted out. End of story. I have been nothing but uncontrollably happy with the results.

All the stuff people said about becoming bored, wasting away, climbing the walls, not feeling useful or fulfilled etc, was just another example of other people not knowing what the hell they are talking about.

Exactly!

+2

 

[Chuckanut]

I always thought it was strange that people thought I would get bored doing things I liked and having control over my life but didn't think I could get sick and tired of going to work and having to jump when somebody else blows the whistle?

You must be talking to that guy in that Cadillac commercial. No doubt he keeps his minions working hard so he can afford the nice home, the fancy car, and get his arrogant ego stroked. N'est-Ce Pas??

 

[Options]

If you're a lazy SOB, then I'm totally jealous and wishing I was you (only 45 weeks to ER)...

 

[Alan]

I know you have to retire "to" something but do you HAVE to take on a "jobby" to feel like your life is still fulfilling? Will I be asking myself "now what?" a year or 2 into ER?

If you have to retire to a "jobby" then you really are in the "do-do"

 

[Miranda]

DH and I love retirement--his is more focused and achievement oriented and mine is more flexible and "let's try this." I am sure the OP will settle in nicely.

I am curious about announcing it to family 20 months ahead of time. Perhaps the family felt you were asking for their opinions, as that seems a pretty long advance notice about anything.

Well I guess it may have come off as an announcement, but I meant it as more of a sharing of our happiness, excitement and relief during a family get together. After 28 years of keeping our heads down and LBYM (which I wasn't always happy about at the time), it was soo great to run the numbers and see the light at the end of the tunnel. The loss of DH's father recently really drove home the feeling that life is precious and short. I think I couldn't contain myself. The reaction I got really took the wind out of my sails. It isn't out of the norm for family members to be more competitive and critical than supportive; I guess I should've known better.

I really am relieved by all of the experiences relayed in this thread, as most sound right in the ballpark of what I hope the "essence" of my ER experience will be...

Thanks very much everyone.

(Edited to remove a few too many "I guess")

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Ready]

A lesson I learned early in life is that when I'm doing what others generally do, it usually turns out to be wrong. So if others are telling you that an early retirement doesn't make sense, that should make you feel very good.

 

[Ronstar]

Miranda - you don't sound lazy to me. Sounds like you have plenty of interests to keep you busy. I have 5 work days left and my coworkers are really amping up the "what are you going to do all day" comments. I have so much to do that I don't have time to make a list.

There are a lot of people that don't understand how someone can keep busy without a job eating up at least 8 hrs a day. Don't let those people and their comments lead your retirement plans astray.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I always thought it was strange that people thought I would get bored doing things I liked and having control over my life but didn't think I could get sick and tired of going to work and having to jump when somebody else blows the whistle?

Well said. Why do people keep saying we'll get tired of doing what we want to do and keep encouraging us to stay working and do the things we don 't want to do? Why does anyone think this? It makes no sense.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My coworkers ( some of whom buy fancy houses in their 40s when the kids are grown and gone) are universally jealous to walk away next year. I just wish it could be tomorrow.....

 

[audreyh1]

Well said. Why do people keep saying we'll get tired of doing what we want to do and keep encouraging us to stay working and do the things we don 't want to do? Why does anyone think this? It makes no sense.

Definitely! Makes you start to wonder about brainwashing........

 

[timo2]

All the stuff people said about becoming bored, wasting away, climbing the walls, not feeling useful or fulfilled etc, was just another example of other people not knowing what the hell they are talking about.

Actually, those are the attributes I apply to most jobs people do just for the money.

 

[truenorth418]

All the stuff people said about becoming bored, wasting away, climbing the walls, not feeling useful or fulfilled etc, was just another example of other people not knowing what the hell they are talking about.

Someone once asked me: "You're retired? At such a young age? What do you do all day? Don't you get bored?"

I replied: "Oh yes, I do get bored sometimes. But NEVER as bored as I ever got in business meetings, conference calls, commuting, answering emails, working on powerpoints, sales meetings, annual reviews..."

 

[Bestwifeever]

Well I guess it may have come off as an announcement, but I meant it as more of a sharing of our happiness, excitement and relief during a family get together. After 28 years of keeping our heads down and LBYM (which I wasn't always happy about at the time), it was soo great to run the numbers and see the light at the end of the tunnel. The loss of DH's father recently really drove home the feeling that life is precious and short. I think I couldn't contain myself. The reaction I got really took the wind out of my sails. It isn't out of the norm for family members to be more competitive and critical than supportive; I guess I should've known better.

I really am relieved by all of the experiences relayed in this thread, as most sound right in the ballpark of what I hope the "essence" of my ER experience will be...

Thanks very much everyone.

(Edited to remove a few too many "I guess")

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Early Retirement Forum mobile aapp

I think it is great that you're on track for this, Miranda, but families can be weird, especially in-laws (I let dh be the main communicator with his family even though I am very close to them). Sometimes people think because they can't do something that no one else should, or they feel threatened by others' accomplishments. So just come here to share good news and we will cheer you on!

 

[HFWR]

Someone once asked me: "You're retired? At such a young age? What do you do all day? Don't you get bored?"



I replied: "Oh yes, I do get bored sometimes. But NEVER as bored as I ever got in business meetings, conference calls, commuting, answering emails, working on powerpoints, sales meetings, annual reviews..."

I get bored, but going to w*rk has never been my solution...