Downside of retirement

[W2R]

For me, when I see young people hitting the happy hours downtown after work, especially on Friday, I wish I were one of them.

You know, in my entire life I have never seen people of any age "hitting the happy hours" after work. Not that there is anything wrong with that! We just live in such very, very different worlds.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

For me, when I see young people hitting the happy hours downtown after work, especially on Friday, I wish I were one of them. But I think that is mostly age. As far as purpose, I have purpose outside of work, mostly in family and right living, courtesy, treating people right.

Just curious why you don't go to the happy hours? We do that sometimes, especially combined with Taco Tuesdays around here. In our area many restaurants have $3 - $4 Margarita specials and $1 - $2 tacos, so it is a cheap night out.

 

[haha]

Just curious why you don't go to the happy hours? We do that sometimes, especially combined with Taco Tuesdays around here. In our area many restaurants have $3 - $4 Margarita specials and $1 - $2 tacos, so it is a cheap night out.

I do go, for sure. Maybe it's all the young women, not just the happy hours that makes me feel nostalgic.

Ha

 

[MooreBonds]

Not saying that this applies to most folks here, but there's been another recent thread where someone with 10s of millions net worth in his 40s and had been retired for 2 years and was a bit unhappy/depressed.

Darrow Kirkpatrick's blog post addresses some issues and concerns that some folks have with regard to retirement.

The Downside of Retirement - Can I Retire Yet?

omni

Had to chuckle in reading Darrow's post:

At 3:00 am in the morning my wife tearfully packed boxes in the living room, while I drove 30-gallon garbage bags to the dumpster at the nearby convenience store.

Contrasted with his bio statement of:

Early retirement has been good, in general. I reached my goal of financial independence after years of frugality and hard work.

Mmmhmm....nothing like stealing from others to reach ER, with however much money he had. Perhaps he writes another blog with a reference to an "emotional" anniversary dinner at a steakhouse, and making a side comment about leaving no tip for the waitstaff?

And funny how people claim to "not being able to find meaning in retirement" when they are free to do whatever in the hell they want....then resort to blogging about finding meaning Kind of like a 10 year old child complaining they are bored out of their minds during summer vacation, then making hours and hours of YouTube video commentary about how they are utterly bored out of their minds with nothing to do!

 

[HadEnuff]

Retirement has made me realize the ride is coming to an end, and that doesn't create happiness as I realize every wasted day is gone forever and 1 more step toward the final destination. A real annoyance is there are some things out of my control that will waste away various amounts of days.

I do appreciate NOT shopping on weekends, renting redbox movies during the week, eating lunch at the restaurant at 1:30 (no crowd), and probably most satisfying is realizing that "I made it" and all those worries when younger are gone.

I think there's an element of confirmation bias. How many people are going to admit, even under an assumed name, that they reached a goal that has been almost a singular focus for years, and it turns out that it's not all it's cracked up to be?

For me it's very much like that article. There are many moments when I am so thankful, and I certainly would not want to go back, but it's not nirvana. It's another stage of life that requires work to build.

Sunset and misshathaway, your posts reflect very closely what I'm experiencing. I'm only 8+ months into it, and I have no desire to return to the workforce, but I do feel as though it is an adjustment period. I shouldn't expect it to always feel like the afternoon school lets out for the summer. It does feel that way sometimes, though.
DW will retire March 1, 2017, and I'm more excited about it than she is. I think this at least partly because I'm farther down that road of adjustment, and she sees it looming ahead. Or she is just focused on all of the crap she has to get done before March 1.

 

[Danmar]

You know, in my entire life I have never seen people of any age "hitting the happy hours" after work. Not that there is anything wrong with that! We just live in such very, very different worlds.

Indeed we do. We sometimes stay at our condo in downtown Toronto, within a few hundred yards of the main financial district. On occasion I am there around 5pm and I must admit, miss the excitement sometimes. The hustle and bustle, meeting people for drinks or dinner. Rushing off somewhere. Not enough to want to go back to work, of course, but still.

My working life wasn't all terrible and my retired life not all perfection. Still on balance I like retirement a lot better than working. Points of view are filtered here as it is,after all, an early retirement site.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I do go, for sure. Maybe it's all the young women, not just the happy hours that makes me feel nostalgic.

Ha

Good to hear. DH had a long commute and we had kids with soccer practice and other activities after school so for us being able to go to happy hours again is a lot of fun. Sometimes we go to events in the city where we'll be the oldest people there and the only ones not wearing skinny jeans and hoodies but we don't care.

 

[haha]

Good to hear. DH had a long commute and we had kids with soccer practice and other activities after school so for us being able to go to happy hours again is a lot of fun. Sometimes we go to events in the city where we'll be the oldest people there and the only ones not wearing skinny jeans and hoodies but we don't care.

Yes, it is fun. Glad to hear that you also enjoy this experience. I went before I got a girlfriend, and we go together now. We especially like oyster bars. We know the bartenders at places we like, and thoroughly like the experience.

Ha

 

[Teacher Terry]

We do the happy hour thing too because drinks and food so cheap. Never did it when working. First I had kids to go to and then I was tired after work.

 

[Koolau]

11 years in now and the only time I entertained the thought that ER had been a "mistake" was 20 months after when Megacorp offered a generous package. Dang! I missed it. I quickly talked myself out of it because I recalled why I pulled the plug when I did and also about the travail my former w*rk mates went through during that 20 months. Many folks were forced to play "musical chairs" with their positions (applying for their own positions or applying for the remaining positions that had not been deleted.) Those who found positions had to move 50 or 100 miles (or commute) once the dust had settled.

While I agree with folks who suggest retirement isn't everything, it certainly beats w*rking for me. I still get a thrill for folks I know as they anticipate their own retirements. Go figure! Naturally, YMMV.

 

[kcowan]

Indeed we do. We sometimes stay at our condo in downtown Toronto, within a few hundred yards of the main financial district. On occasion I am there around 5pm and I must admit, miss the excitement sometimes. The hustle and bustle, meeting people for drinks or dinner. Rushing off somewhere. Not enough to want to go back to work, of course, but still.

I used to work 120 miles away but whenever I was in town on Friday (or any day), I would drop into the watering hole to interact with my peers. It developed networking relationships that were invaluable. And it had very little to do with drinking.

(Now it seems to be coffee shops anytime of day.)

 

[kcowan]

Those who found positions had to move 50 or 100 miles (or commute) once the dust had settled...

When I retired at 49. I stayed on for 2 months to assist with the transition. Then I had a one year contract for one day a week while I worked other contract positions. Observing what was left, I was REALLY happy that I did not stay.

 

[Danmar]

I used to work 120 miles away but whenever I was in town on Friday (or any day), I would drop into the watering hole to interact with my peers. It developed networking relationships that were invaluable. And it had very little to do with drinking.

(Now it seems to be coffee shops anytime of day.)

The watering holes downtown (Ki,O&B,Jump,Canoe, Irish Embassy, various Dukes, and Firkins) are absolutely jammed Wednesday through Friday). Starting to get busy on weekends too as more people are living downtown. Seems to have quite a lot to do with "drinking". Kinda exciting but wouldn't be for long. Nice to visit but wouldn't want to live there.

 

[kcowan]

Ah memories! Also used to drop into to one north of the highway where another whole group meet. Keeping the connections alive (force of habit).

 

[sengsational]

Happy hours (lowered drink prices early in the evening) are illegal in North Carolina

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Happy hours (lowered drink prices early in the evening) are illegal in North Carolina

That is too bad. Here they pick up again at 9pm for late night happy hour. I guess that is really just a different way of pricing what the market will bear and making the prices higher for the after work crowd.

 

[RobbieB]

Happy hours (lowered drink prices early in the evening) are illegal in North Carolina

Bummer. Do they make it up with free appetizers?

 

[haha]

i deplore drinking too! I do, I do! I deplore fun, levity, flirting also!

Ha

 

[Danmar]

Happy hours (lowered drink prices early in the evening) are illegal in North Carolina

That's ridiculous. Prices generally aren't lower in the popular places in Toronto just lots of
"Action"

 

[palomalou]

I've theoretically been retired for 2.5 years, and could easily fill each day with good things to do without working. But I work 3 days a week. I have in-laws, and now, possibly, Trump.

 

[RunningBum]

That's ridiculous. Prices generally aren't lower in the popular places in Toronto just lots of
"Action"

I was in NC when that become law. The reasoning behind it was to discourage heavy drinking in a short amount of time to take advantage of temporary lower prices. Not saying that I agree or disagree, just giving their rationale. They can have all day specials, but not shorter than that.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I'm still a few years away but one thing that kind of concerns me about retirement is the loss of social interaction during the work day. "Off hours," there's still time with the missus and friends but the missus likely won't retire until a decade after me (due to the handcuff of a nice DB plan) and the majority of my friends are at least another 5 years, apart from the ones that own their own businesses and looking to ease up a bit.

I interact with a lot of people in my role and 98% are absolutely great to work with. Even though these are just "work" friends and relationships, I feel they are an important aspect of my life. While I don't consider myself a social butterfly at all (eg. I normally wouldn't be so bold to randomly strike up a conversation with a stranger) and appreciate some down time alone, I do think it would be important for me to replace at least some of these interactions. Not sure with what though. I think about volunteering, joining an organization, or taking some course for fun but nothing jumps out at me yet.

What are your experiences regarding getting enough social interaction during retirement?

 

[Ronstar]

....What are your experiences regarding getting enough social interaction during retirement?

Being an introvert, I found that I had too much social interaction at work. Overall social interaction is down in retirement because I don't have work mates with me all day long, but we seem to get together with our group of friends more now as they retire.

 

[Walt34]

What are your experiences regarding getting enough social interaction during retirement?

We're both introverts and homebodies anyway so it isn't all that hard for us. Family visits, going to the gym (more like "acquaintances" there than friends) walking around the neighborhood, etc. suffice for us.

I've taken a bunch of photography classes at the community college, that got me out some. If I wanted more interaction I'd volunteer at a local animal shelter, but I'm afraid I'd be captured by a pair of pretty brown eyes there and want to bring one home. DW is allergic which is the main reason we don't have a dog.

 

[Danmar]

I was in NC when that become law. The reasoning behind it was to discourage heavy drinking in a short amount of time to take advantage of temporary lower prices. Not saying that I agree or disagree, just giving their rationale. They can have all day specials, but not shorter than that.

Yes, I understood the rational, just think it is still ridiculous. In Ontario the provincial govt controls all liquor sales and used to have all kinds of rules, like no booze on Sundays, no sales, etc. Eventually they figured out it was a loosing proposition.

By the way generally speaking liquor, wine, and beer are much cheaper in the US than Canada. Not sure if you have more drunks? Don't think so.