What "phase" of retirement are you in?

[steady saver]

I just came across this recent TED talk where the presenter suggests that there are 4 phases of retirement:

Here are the phases, roughly paraphrased:
Phase 1 - Vacation phase
Phase 2 - you feel loss and feel lost
Phase 3 - a time of trial and error, trying out new things
Phase 4 - a time to reinvent and rewire

Having retired at the beginning of the pandemic, I feel like Phase 1 completely slipped by without feeling that sense of "vacation" at all quite frankly.

I'd put myself at Phase 2, trying my darndest to get to Phase 3. It's been a touch Phase 2 in general and I'm ready to start enjoying things a bit more.

I know there are those of you who started out in Phase 1 and are still there...Or who jumped from Phase 1 to Phase 4. My hat is off to you!! Tell me your secret!!!

So how about you? Where do you fall? And, if you experienced Phase 2, how long would you say you were stuck there?

 

[523HRR]

Ten years in…still stuck in Phase 1. Must be doing it wrong.

 

[Car-Guy]

Finishing up phase 4 now but I think I may slip back to phase 2. Maybe I just got them in the wrong order...

 

[stepford]

Simultaneously Phases 1 and 3 here - never seemed to have a problem with Phase 2 or feel the need for Phase 4.

I am a deeply, deeply lazy person. Sitting on my fat ass pursuing my various hobbies has felt just fine to me for the past 7 years and I see no reason for that to change.

 

[Souschef]

13 years and well into phase 4 went directly from phase 1

 

[Ronstar]

Phase 2. I run out of things to do by mid afternoon and feel lost the rest of the day. So I take a nap.

 

[razztazz]

Retired 26 years. Still in Phase 1

 

[REWahoo]

Approaching year 18, I went from phase 1 directly to phase 5 - no longer having the need to label any part of my retirement as a phase.

 

[steady saver]

I'm envious all you Phase 1 people!!!
In all honestly, this past year and a half has brought so many challenges that I wish we could just start all over.

Now, there's a thought...

 

[MichaelB]

Approaching year 18, I went from phase 1 directly to phase 5 - no longer having the need to label any part of my retirement as a phase.

+1

 

[Aerides]

defining phases sounds like project management to me

 

[MarieIG]

- collapse mode
- babysit mode
- recovery mode

- next will be back to babysit mode

- we will try to visit one of our DSs this fall, but it depends on how DGD is doing.

- probably no appreciable vacations prior to next year.

 

[MC Rider]

Still in the Wannabe phase.
Good video though. Thanks.

 

[Dtail]

Have never been in Phase 2. Never bored.

 

[Midpack]

Approaching year 18, I went from phase 1 directly to phase 5 - no longer having the need to label any part of my retirement as a phase.

+2. Don’t know or care, life is good, that’s all I know. I did watch the video a while back, and thought who cares then…

 

[Gumby]

I hope I am fortunate enough to live one third of my life in retirement. I was ready for retirement the day I left work and I have not a single regret. This is the greatest time in my life. I am not lost for things (old and new) to amuse myself and I see no need for reinvention. I just enjoy every single day as it comes and I do what I want to do when I want to do it.

 

[finnski1]

I hope I am fortunate enough to live one third of my life in retirement. I was ready for retirement the day I left work and I have not a single regret. This is the greatest time in my life. I am not lost for things (old and new) to amuse myself and I see no need for reinvention. I just enjoy every single day as it comes and I do what I want to do when I want to do it.

well said as usual.

 

[W2R]

I just came across this recent TED talk where the presenter suggests that there are 4 phases of retirement:
[...]
Here are the phases, roughly paraphrased:
Phase 1 - Vacation phase
Phase 2 - you feel loss and feel lost
Phase 3 - a time of trial and error, trying out new things
Phase 4 - a time to reinvent and rewire

Having retired at the beginning of the pandemic, I feel like Phase 1 completely slipped by without feeling that sense of "vacation" at all quite frankly.

I'd put myself at Phase 2, trying my darndest to get to Phase 3. It's been a touch Phase 2 in general and I'm ready to start enjoying things a bit more.

I know there are those of you who started out in Phase 1 and are still there...Or who jumped from Phase 1 to Phase 4. My hat is off to you!! Tell me your secret!!!

So how about you? Where do you fall? And, if you experienced Phase 2, how long would you say you were stuck there?

I think the speaker on this video is having a terrible time adjusting to retirement! My retirement has not been like that at all. The first year (or two, or three) I was busy shedding layer after layer of work stress, sort of like peeling an onion. There was a lot more work stress to shed than I realized. But hey, shedding it was SO much more fun than accumulating it at work had been. After I got done with that, I pretty much just jumped into retirement feet first, and have been having a wonderful time - - enjoying each day to its fullest, and having a great time doing what I want to do, when I want to do it, every day.

If I experienced phase 2 at all, it was about 30 seconds long on my retirement day back in 2009, while I walked from my workplace to my car right after turning in my badge... I admit a tear fell down my cheek. But once I started my car I knew I was on my way to the life I had always wanted. For a day or so I didn't exactly know what to do with all the oceans of wonderful free time, so I felt a little bit like a fish out of water. But that was over as soon as I decided to start each day by going to the gym.

Since then, like REWahoo, I haven't felt the need to label my experience into phases.

Approaching year 18, I went from phase 1 directly to phase 5 - no longer having the need to label any part of my retirement as a phase.

 

[FREE866]

no offense to the OP, but I always find these type of videos silly...


reminds me of those nonsensical tests I would have to take when I was working to find out what my "personality" was and how that could help me attract a certain type of client, blah, blah , blah blah , blah


I was in the happy phase when I retired 5+ years ago and I'm still in it today...retirement for me is an indescribable feeling of freedom...thats the phase I'm in!

 

[punkinhead]

I didn't bother watching the video because the idea of phases seems silly. Is the presenter claiming that all retirees go through these phases? Because based on the responses here and my own experience he's wrong. If his claim is "these are the phases I went through" then that's fine but not worthy of a Ted talk.

 

[rk911]

we keep it simple...we're in the "still vertical and aware of it" phase.

 

[harllee]

I am in the phase where my body is falling apart and I am trying to patch myself back together. What phase is that?

 

[TheWizard]

I'm in my tenth year of retirement and, starting over a year ago, I'm now in the Financial Excess phase of retirement.
That's right, after starting SS at age 70, I no longer withdraw from savings for expenses and actually put a few thousand a month into my taxable account.

So, yippee...

 

[38Chevy454]

I'm mix of 1 and 3. Certainly think the steps are missing the "retired and happy - no changes needed".

My biggest WTF is the reinventing yourself step 4. I am perfectly happy as i am, no reinventing myself BS.

 

[RobbieB]

I think I was in phase 1 for 8 years and then hit phase 3 when we bought the "big boat"

After we sell the big boat, we'll be in phase 4