The Best "Simple Things" in Retirement?

[RunningBum]

Doing recreational activities when I please, rather than fitting them around work. A big part of this is to fit it around weather. Cold weather? I can run mid-day. Hot? I can run in the morning, without worrying about having to fit it in before work. Rain in the forecast? I can work around it. And no more missing first ski tracks because I've got work to do in the morning.

 

[Music Lover]

I love having a leisurely breakfast while I read emails, forums, and news sites. Prior to retirement, I would take a thermos to the office and eat a bagel at my desk.

Today I enjoyed another simple pleasure...I'm one of those crazy guys who likes shoveling their driveway. In the past, it was a quick pass to make a path, and it would be finished when I got home from work. We're digging out from our first winter storm and today I enjoyed my leisurely breakfast and then was able to take my time shoveling the driveway and sidewalk.

 

[OnTheBeach]

7 Months retired.
Still get up at 6 but now get the kids ready/drop off at school then come home for coffee and watch CNBC.
Shopping when everyone else is working
Going to the gym when it is quiet
Getting projects done during the day and relaxing at night instead of working all day and doing house projects at night.

 

[Meadbh]

I enjoy many of the benefits already mentioned. The one that came first to mind is the aroma and taste of freshly brewed coffee in the morning, enjoyed at leisure in my pajamas, while catching up on the news on my iPad.

Stepping back, I have recently realized how much I appreciate being able to act the introvert that I am. I love my alone time. After decades in a profession where I was expected to relate to people constantly, I now realize that my outward self at work was a facade, the maintenance of which was a major cause of work related stress for me.

 

[BradM]

You all are awesome! Maybe I'm not supposed to reply here since I'm maybe 9 years out (23 years in the same company so far since college) but I love reading your posts and it sure is motivating!

 

[eleighj416]

Getting up at our convenience and taking a 5 mile mile walk without thinking about work. Actually now that is getting colder, the wife and I are going to use the hot tube after exercising in the morning. The stress has come off of me in layers since 09/12/2016!

Ed

 

[scrabbler1]

My list echoes what others have posted here.


Losing the commute is my #1 benefit of ER. Even when it was as little as 2 or 3 days a week in the last 4 years of my career, I still hated every minute of it, from the crowded trains to the increases use of cell phones on the trains. And it was expensive, costing me $20 per day. I get a small thrill when I listen to the transit (and traffic) reports on TV or the radio and think to myself, "I am SOOOOOO glad I don't have to deal with that CRAP any more!"


Similarly, the morning routine getting ready to face the lousy commute was lousy. Eating breakfast at a leisurely pace every day is very pleasant. Losing that awful hour in the morning before I had the 75-minute trip on the trains is also a simply wonderful gain.


Being able to do my routine errands on weekday mornings between 10 AM and 12 noon is nice. It's easy to get a parking space. The stores are not terribly busy. Going to the bank, for example, is easy because the bank employees usually outnumber the patrons, so there is usually no wait on line. And at that time of day, staff is usually in a good mood. They had their first cup of coffee and aren't stressed out by excessive noise or impatient customers.


I often read my books late at night. Not having to wake up in the morning means no alarm clock and no set time to go to sleep. When I get tired of reading my book, I go to sleep.


Starting in the 1990s, I rarely went out in the evening on a day I had to work. I got home too late and was too worn out. Now I can do things in the evening because I very rarely wear myself out during the day.


That's plenty for me!

 

[athena53]

Not setting the alarm except on very rare occasions.

Not commuting in the snow.

Being able to visit family without figuring out how many vacation days I have left. Just got back from a whole lovely week with DS, DDIL, their new baby and my wonderful 2-year old granddaughter.

Right now- just being selfish. I lost DH 3 weeks ago to acute myeloid leukemia. He was my best friend and I can't count how many times in a day I think, "I'll ask DH about this, tell DH this" and realize he's gone- but I haven't lived on my own for a long time and have never lived on my own without having to work for a living and I think I'm going to like it.

 

[W2R]

In my 8th year of retirement I still set an alarm, because sadly I never actually learned to awaken without one when I was younger. If I don't set it, I gravitate towards 25 hour or 26 hour days, and end up sleeping when others are awake and so on. That can be terribly inconvenient for a multitude of reasons.

So, I have an alarm that is just the sounds of birds chirping softly. It awakens me gradually, and I can laze about and drift off briefly but it does gently awaken me within about ten minutes. I like this approach.

One of the best simple things about retirement, is not having to dress in work clothes. I love wearing comfortable, somewhat sloppy retiree clothes.

Another great feature of retirement is not having to go to bed unless I want to! It's a teenager's dream come true in that respect. Since I do get up at the same time each day, usually I want to go to sleep about 8 hours beforehand. But if I don't, then I don't have to and I just assume that I don't need as much sleep that day.

 

[kcowan]

Since life is an extended "vacation", when we travel, we have to set alarms, make deadlines, pack, travel in traffic and all the other awful items mentioned above. As a result, we always try to make our trips at least 3-4 weeks.

I am reminded of the cartoon: "What did you do today? Nothing! That's what you did yesterday? I didn't get finished!"

"What do you do all day? Anything I damn well please!"

I do put up with some things. DW likes the wife, I put up with her husband. Especially if he retired from an important job! Hey buddy we are all the same now. Your ex-job is no more important than my ex-job!

But I know a couple who are in their late 80s. Aside from the elections, there is little that disturbs them anymore. Cool!

We pride ourselves on not getting dressed before Noon except when there is Yoga Class or ROMEO group walk. I don't put on long pants unless:
1) it is cold, or
2) we would be embarrassed by being the only ones so undressed.

When I am reading a book or watching a movie, I don't feel bad abandoning it when I realize I am not enjoying it. There are plenty of other choices and there is no compulsion to complete anymore.

In PV we love watching the planes take off and the cruise ships leave port because all those people are under self-imposed deadlines.

I could go on but there is plenty of fodder here for the unretired. I have other interests to pursue right now.

 

[Racer X]

For me it's a culmination of a lot of the things already posted here.

1) Chores are better because they can be done on my terms. They're not something that I'm rushing to get through after work before it gets dark. There's an actual pleasure from mowing the lawn or blowing the snow from the driveway and doing a good job of it. Also having the ability to stop and do maintenance on equipment, or being able to address "scope creep" jobs like noticing a shrub needs trimmed or weeds need to be pulled. Having the snow blower assembled, tuned, and ready to run before the first snow of the year? That's a first!

2) Work outs are better because, again, I'm not trying to cram them in around a work schedule. Feeling good and want to push for an extra mile or two? No problem - I've usually got time to do that. Not feeling good and want to skip lifting today? No problem - I can lift tomorrow. There's no chance of a late meeting or other emergency at work that's going to derail that plan.

3) My hobbies are better because I am better prepared. I race TaG and shifter karts, and started doing noticeably better when I retired. Not just because my equipment was better maintained, but also because I was better organized and prepared. Instead of scrambling at the track to get my kart ready, it rolled off the trailer ready for qualifying. I could socialize with friends, have a coffee, and generally relax. If a problem did occur during the day, I knew I had the right tools and parts well organized and I could get about fixing it. Instead of panicking about "do I have a replacement tie rod?" or "where the heck is my 13 mm wrench?" I knew I was covered. This mental peace has translated in to better decisions, faster lap times, and better results.

 

[jjquantz]

For me it's a culmination of a lot of the things already posted here.

1) Chores are better because they can be done on my terms. They're not something that I'm rushing to get through after work before it gets dark. There's an actual pleasure from mowing the lawn or blowing the snow from the driveway and doing a good job of it. Also having the ability to stop and do maintenance on equipment, or being able to address "scope creep" jobs like noticing a shrub needs trimmed or weeds need to be pulled. Having the snow blower assembled, tuned, and ready to run before the first snow of the year? That's a first!

2) Work outs are better because, again, I'm not trying to cram them in around a work schedule. Feeling good and want to push for an extra mile or two? No problem - I've usually got time to do that. Not feeling good and want to skip lifting today? No problem - I can lift tomorrow. There's no chance of a late meeting or other emergency at work that's going to derail that plan.

3) My hobbies are better because I am better prepared. I race TaG and shifter karts, and started doing noticeably better when I retired. Not just because my equipment was better maintained, but also because I was better organized and prepared. Instead of scrambling at the track to get my kart ready, it rolled off the trailer ready for qualifying. I could socialize with friends, have a coffee, and generally relax. If a problem did occur during the day, I knew I had the right tools and parts well organized and I could get about fixing it. Instead of panicking about "do I have a replacement tie rod?" or "where the heck is my 13 mm wrench?" I knew I was covered. This mental peace has translated in to better decisions, faster lap times, and better results.

+2 out of 3

A lot to agree with in this post. Re chores - before we bought our current house, DW asked, "Are you sure you want to take care of a yard again?" It's no fun when you are spending many of the few leisure hours that you have in running a lawn mower, etc., but now that I have the time, I do get some pleasure out of the process.

Can't agree with the 2nd point, sadly, although I see the point. Throughout much of my working life I had workouts built into my commute. I had many years of bike commuting, sometimes I would run home, etc., walked to work several years. One of my adjustments has been trying to instill some discipline into my exercise, my success waxes and wanes.

To the third point, although I don't race karts, I have had the same type of change in my music making. I have time to practice and I'm more relaxed overall so my playing is better and I'm getting more opportunities.

 

[Music Lover]

For me it's a culmination of a lot of the things already posted here.

I agree on all 3.

1. It's nice doing chores on your schedule and not fitting them in around w*rk or darkness. And, there is time for maintenance.

2. It was easy to miss a workout before if I had plans post-w*rk. Now, there is always time to work out.

3. I play in 3 bands and am constantly learning new songs at the last minute...partly my fault for not getting to them, and partly the fault of not finding out until the day before rehearsal that I need to learn 3 or 4 songs I've never played before. It's nice to have the day to learn songs where I have to time to work on the nuances rather than just learning the basic structure in the hour between supper and rehearsal.

 

[sengsational]

A simple thing for me is, at the end of the day when I realize that something I planned to do didn't get done, I don't care!

I don't care because I did what I wanted during the day. I did what I found interesting at the time. There's always a list of accomplishments, it's just that I get as much out of unplanned accomplishments as planned ones.

 

[Racer X]

A simple thing for me is, at the end of the day when I realize that something I planned to do didn't get done, I don't care!

I don't care because I did what I wanted during the day. I did what I found interesting at the time. There's always a list of accomplishments, it's just that I get as much out of unplanned accomplishments as planned ones.

That was a huge lesson I needed to learn when I first retired. The first week of my retirement, I about worked myself to death. It was like I was trying to accomplish EVERYTHING the very first week. I was exhausted.

Once I learned to pace myself, things got better quickly.

 

[Dash man]

Now that both of us are retired, there are certain pleasures we can enjoy any time we feel like it!

 

[marko]

That was a huge lesson I needed to learn when I first retired. The first week of my retirement, I about worked myself to death. It was like I was trying to accomplish EVERYTHING the very first week. I was exhausted.

Once I learned to pace myself, things got better quickly.

Retirees in our neighborhood have a "two hours a day max" work rule for chores or errands.
Strictly enforced!

Only exceptions are work on boats or other hobbies.

You can apply for an exemption if you need to work more than two hours --emergencies do happen-- but you have to make up for it the next day by doing nuttin'

 

[FIREmenow]

I saw the perfect retiree "task" about ten years ago in my neighborhood. I was coming home from w*rk and one of my neighbors (obviously retired) was.....

...carefully applying Armor All to the rubber strip at the bottom edge of his garage door!!!!

I remember thinking to myself - Man, I want to wake up one day and have that as my highest priority task to achieve!

 

[marko]

I saw the perfect retiree "task" about ten years ago in my neighborhood. I was coming home from w*rk and one of my neighbors (obviously retired) was.....

...carefully applying Armor All to the rubber strip at the bottom edge of his garage door!!!!

I remember thinking to myself - Man, I want to wake up one day and have that as my highest priority task to achieve!

My long-retired neighbor (now deceased) would go out with his shop vac and vacuum the cracks in the sidewalk.

 

[Brdofpray]

Upon retiring, my father-in-law gave me some wise advice. He said, "remember, you only have to do one thing per day, pace yourself." Some days I get up, make the bed, then throw my hands up and declare, "I'm done for the day!"��

 

[misshathaway]

People, so soon you have forgotten ... NO work holiday anything! No awkward wasteful Secret Santa or other gift exchange thingy. No Christmas party.

At the last place I worked the managers thought it would be nice if "everybody brought a dish" for a Xmas potluck. (Cheap too!) This was in a place where about 50% of the employees commute by public transit and there were 2 refrigerators that were already too small to accommodate everybody's lunches.

Do not miss.

 

[travelover]

My long-retired neighbor (now deceased) would go out with his shop vac and vacuum the cracks in the sidewalk.

My XDW's grandfather used to paint the inside of his unfinished, detached garage, yearly.

 

[MRG]

I saw the perfect retiree "task" about ten years ago in my neighborhood. I was coming home from w*rk and one of my neighbors (obviously retired) was.....

...carefully applying Armor All to the rubber strip at the bottom edge of his garage door!!!!

I remember thinking to myself - Man, I want to wake up one day and have that as my highest priority task to achieve!

My late FIL, retired at 42, with no plan. He loved to garden, hunt and fish. When future DW and I started dating she asked if I would help him with putting a fence around his very large garden. Wasn't a big job, several hundred feet of painted 1"x3" wire fence.

Later future DW told me her DF had been working hours on the fence every night after dinner. I asked what he was doing all the time. Apparently the fence was just galvanized and DF chose to paint one wire at a time with a model airplane brush!

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Between working, commute hours and raising kids we probably easily had at least 100 hours out of every week booked up between us. I enjoy having free time now. It's great.

 

[eyeonFI]

Just hanging out with my kids on days they have off school (random teacher professional development days, snow days) instead of desperately scrambling for childcare all the time.