76 Months and Counting

[Retire52]

290 months y’all!

Over 24 years.

Next year I’ll finally reach Medicare age.

And we have a winner! 24 years, and then medicare, nicely done. To think the average American retires when they can finally reach Medicare. Sad for the vast majority of us who would have like to have joined the retired ranks well before that, especially when we have the benefit of living in one of the richest countries in the history of this beautiful planet.

 

[Retire52]

I retired at 58 and off the 11 years of retirement I have either taught a college class or consulted part time for 8 of those years. That’s been perfect for me as I found full retirement not to my liking. I schedule my own clients and decide when to work so it’s perfect. The only way I will ever quit is if my health requires it.

I sometimes have fleeting thoughts of returning to w*ork. I've had some job offers, and I would break out into a cold sweat thinking about giving up 40-50 hours/wk serving someone else's priorities. Although, if a great part time opportunity presented itself, I would seriously consider it, and teaching has been high on my list. Good to see you have struck a nice balance within your retirement.

 

[Retire52]

This month marks 7 years for me.
7 years of bliss, I am beyond thankful.

I will try to keep up the pace you are setting what a wonderful race.

 

[Retire52]

Started my 20th year of retirement back in August. Very happy overall although I'm starting to deal with some health issues. My attitude is good, I have a wife of 53-yrs who loves me, we want for nothing. Who could ask for more?

I will consider 20 with good health to be a worthy goal for me and my DW. Sorry that you are grappling with that bear. I have made keeping in shape a daily priority, but I know father time wins every time, though i like to make him sweat a little . Congratulations also on your 53 years together; what an incredible story you must both share.

 

[Retire52]

Definitely way, way above my happiness level when I was w*rking! Actually, just yesterday, at the request of my old employer, I went in and changed the password of my retiree-status work email, and was briefly entertained, and then horrified, by the number of general notices and reminders from all sorts of management offices, with titles like "New cost transfer procedures. Effective October 1"

Happiness is not having to review the handbook explaining the new cost transfer procedures!!!

Automated notices will continue for the rest of my life, and beyond, I guess, including a notice of a 30 cent monthly bill for a phone line that was discontinued 10 years ago, and which I tried repeatedly, without success, to have terminated. I think the account paying for it was terminated too, so only the automated notice continues on.

I am eternally grateful to not be run over again by the "great idea" bus at w*ork. All those new and improved initiatives, optimizations, and reorganizations are in my rear view mirror and quickly receding. Wahoo baby!

 

[Retire52]

~130 mos for me and counting. I just "vaguely" remember the days back before retirement. (am avoiding using the word work) . Suspect I'm more than half way through my retirement years but that's ok. I have had and I am having a blast. The picture below best describes how I've been using my retirement days so far.

Great image and I'm in violent agreement with you on that retirement philosophy. I will be pulling for you to break 260.

 

[Retire52]

168 months, grateful for every single day of retirement! Best years of my life.

Great use of emojis �� I too am a devotee to appreciate e-v-e-r-y single day of retirement. Best life hack of all time.

 

[Retire52]

148 months here, life is good…

Retirement (happiness) is what you make of it, why would it be any different than any other phase of your life?

Right life is in part what you make of it. I've enjoyed the path to getting to retirement also, but the last 76 months beat everything prior as an adult, hands down.

 

[Retire52]

Only a year and a half in retirement for me so far.
I don't miss work at all. To take a sports cliche, it's been addition through subtraction. Not having the stress associated from my job has made my life that much better.

However, to now take a retirement cliche, I do believe people need to retire to something not just from something. That something can be anything though.

A tried and true method to reaching increasing levels of happiness for sure. Subtract the things in your life that makes you less happy. For me and many others, financial freedom will do a lot of heavy lifting in that regard.

I'm not too keen on the idea of a purposeful retirement, I just take each day as it comes and look for opportunities for rich life experiences. This attitude has served me well: i've honestly, to resort to a cliche, never got so bored that I wanted to get back to w*rk. A life of leisure suits my inner hobo well.

 

[Retire52]

I'm just about the same 76 months into retirement as you are. Life's great and don't miss working. Too many other activities keeping busy, doing what I want.

Yes, another 76ser... i agree that overall happiness level is probably above what it was before retirement. Less stress, more time. No alarm clock, no shopping on weekends when it's too crowded, and almost every day is open for whatever I want to do.

You said it. All the things you mentioned are what makes my new life of the near rich and not so famous, so enjoyable. One factor that has played bigger than I ever suspected was the huge decrease in stress. I started to sleep better and relaxed, unhurried and just felt better physically. No more performance anxiety on Sun afternoons gearing up for the battles to come in the bowels of the Pentagon on Monday when I last w*rked.

 

[Retire52]

I’m retiring at Christmas age 57.5 and so looking forward to not being sat at a desk frazzled by emails. Anticipate I will have a period of “giddiness” and hope like you that happiness is still higher after that than while working. Definitely ready to quit the rat race after 40 years of working.

God speed to you. 40 is more than enough time on the chain gang. You reminded me of all the mind numbing emails I had to wade through each day in the office. It was crazy, literally near a hundred each day. Mostly read and forget, but there were nearly always a few doozies that would wreak havoc on my day. Sometimes I would sit for hours and hours staring at a screen trying to drink from the fire hose of emails. I feel your pain, and when i hear a bell, i will know another w*rking troll has got their wings. Merry Christmas!

 

[Time2]

Hey that's making lemonade out of lemons--congratulations post hurricane. I've also seen some good hard w*rking people never get the chance to enjoy ER bc they either OMY themselves to death, or got surprised by some life tragedy.

Just to fix an important missed word.



"62 months, I have not been counting until this thread.
I would have retired sooner but we had a small business and I could not convince my wife to retire, luckily a hurricane destroyed our business and did $90k of damage to our home. That convinced her. "


It must have been early when I wrote that, error filled paragraph.

 

[ychuck46]

117 months of blissful retirement. Lots of travel, lots of work around the house, lots of investing, etc. Life is very good. Stay safe, my friend.

 

[FREE866]

Will be 7 years for me in January. I love it, I really do. I have a wonderful, yet very simple life that , on most days, I cherish.

 

[Getyoung]

Will also be 7 years for me in December. I still pinch myself everyday for this incredibly liberating time of my life. After 34 years at the corporation, there is nothing about my past career that I miss; the work, the politics, the mind numbing meetings, even the people.

Each morning when I get up, I look forward to the freedom that each day brings!

 

[Koolau]

Can't believe it's been 215 months. Where did the time go? TOO MUCH FUN I guess. Anyway, even though the body is beginning to fail (maybe the mind too?) I think I'm happier now than at virtually any time in my life. Would I like to have a younger body? Of course, but not if it meant going back to Megacorp! YMMV


Congrats to all - no matter your number of months. Here is hoping that the best is yet to come!

 

[Retired Expat]

Number of months I've been retired. It took me 30 years to get 30 months paid vacation during a 30 year career in the Army. Only 6 years and 4 months later, I hit 76 months in retirement. What a sweet deal! Nearly every day, at some point during the day, I become aware that I'm no longer in the rat race and just [emoji2].

I've found Hedonic Adaptation, the tendency to quickly return to our normal levels of happiness after both positive and negative external events, after retirement did not apply in my case. I acknowledge I came down from the giddiness of the early months post retirement, but my normal level of happiness has been much higher.
I suspect I'm not unique and that people with the exception of the minority of us who love their work, would find similar outcomes.

I loved my work! Found it interesting, challenging and lucrative. For the most part liked the people I worked with and was well appreciated by clients, and colleagues alike. But in all honesty retirement is MUCH BETTER!

Now 12 years retired and healthier and happier than ever. Still not yet 66 or FRA and appreciate and give thanks every day for the life I have built. Retirement, or I should qualify, a well funded retirement with a wonderful partner is fantastic!

 

[street]

Been 90 months for me. I loved my career and it the hard decision to retire at 58. I'm healthier and have enjoyed my stress-free life as much as my working years. I don't miss the politics, meetings and the everyday work-related issues and problems at arise.

It has been a wonderful 7 years and I cherish each and every day that I have left. Money is one of the furthest things from my mind, but I know I have enough.

 

[Venturer]

It is 53 months for both my DW and I. I am a year older than her so kept working an extra 15 months waiting for her. Since then we are "Joined at the hip" according to our DD., and thats ok because she is my highschool sweetheart and with our dating life included we have been together 664 months and counting!

 

[Eagle43]

I retired from the military in 1981. Then hired on with megacorp and retired in Jan 2003. So, actual retirement is 21 years. Life is good.