Age 64, divorced 2011. Still working, but only very part-time-ish, usually about 1/4 time. It keeps me busy and delays drawing on my retirement funds.
Divorce wasn't my idea. I loved my ex dearly in spite of all challenges, but over time she changed A LOT and decided I wasn't for her any more. I'm lonely and I sorely miss sharing my life with a loving partner.
Decades of self-employment (working at home) and being married to an introverted hermit means I don't have a big circle of friends. I've dated some over the years, had a few that got pretty serious but fell apart for various reasons.
My friends tell me I'm a helluva catch -- I'm tall, good shape, intelligent, considerate, good sense of humor, etc. I'm a pretty good cook and I work magic with chocolate. When I was married I did nearly all the cooking, housework, child care, etc. But most women who were interested in me, didn't interest me.
I think it's really frustrating to be "in the market." I've done the online dating thing, and I felt it was mostly a waste of time. I would spend hours scanning through profiles and crafting personalized responses, and maybe 5% or 10% would bother to respond even to say "no thanks." I know women get swamped on those sites, but it means it's a pretty frustrating exercise for the guy. There was a matchmaking service in town that was really great, and I met some nice women there, but then they suddenly shut down and vanished.
meetup was better. I made several good friends at a few meetup groups, and some near-miss dating situations.
But I haven't done ANYthing since Covid hit. I have cancer -- treated, doc says I'll die of old age -- but it kneecaps my resistance to Covid. I have to avoid most direct contact with people. That makes it tough to have ANY kind of social contact, let alone anything close.
Maybe once Covid clears up I can find someone, maybe a travel buddy, but for now I'm pretty much enforced single.