Good Things about Being Retired

[Dash man]

"There are no more Sunday nights....."

There is always Sunday night football to look forward to!

 

[thepalmersinking]

This morning I read about hedonic adaptation, which is the phenomena where your mind adapts to change and you return to your normal, baseline levels of happiness. It happens with good things and bad. For example, people who become paraplegic are back to normal levels of happiness in about a year. So are lottery winners.

I figure the same can be true of retirement. One way to counteract that is to remind myself of the positive benefits of retirement -- both the good things about it, and the bad things that I've escaped. So I made a list for myself. It's just off the top of my head, nothing formal, and I'm sure I've left things out.

But I figured I'd share it, in case others might find it interesting. Note, this is my list, so it's tuned to me and my personality. Everyone will have their own list.

Anyway, here's my list of the good things about being retired:


1.When you’re retired, you have more time to devote to modifying the 40% of happiness that depends on intentional choices (thoughts and actions). That’s your leverage point. Happiness does require work of a sort, and being retired gives you the latitude to think more about this, focus on it.

2.All the freedom and free time you have, now that you don’t have to go to work anymore. With all that free time that has been opened up, you are now free to do whatever you like.

3.You have more time to eat well. This contributes to better health, mood, and energy.

4.You have more time to cultivate better thinking habits. Negative drift is somewhat natural for me, so I need to cultivate good attitude and realistically positive thinking, while damping down out the negativity that inevitably sprouts up. This takes time and attention. Retirement affords more of that, and it’s resulted in a better attitude – a healthier, more positive internal climate.

5.You have more time to cultivate friendships. Granted, this hasn’t been easy with the plague and all, so it’s more potential than actualized, but when things return to normal, it’ll be there.

6.More time for stimulating intellectual activity. When you were working, most of your mental energy got eaten up by work tasks. Now all of that energy is available to focus on learning whatever you like. You enjoy a life of ideas, and retirement enables a more stimulating and varied intellectual diet.

7.More time to develop your spirituality. This is very important; I won’t belabor why. Again, this is one of those things that is more potential than actualized, so far, but it is an important value and goal for the future.

8.You don’t have to get up to an alarm clock or according to an external schedule anymore. You can get up when you like, go to sleep when you like, and take naps in the middle of the day if you like (which I do all the time). So, no more days ruined by sleep deprivation – up late because my mind is churning, up too early because of some work stressor, dragging through a day with deficient sleep. That’s a big contributor to health and happiness.

9.You can interact with people you choose to interact with, rather than the people you are obligated to interact with, because of your job.

10. You can enjoy the weather, rather than being stuck inside in an office.

11.More opportunity to explore creativity and projects that are interesting to you, because the majority of your energy isn’t going to work.

12.The wonderful relief that comes from not having to do things – no obligations, no burdensome duties, no “have to’s.” There is a big sense of relief and ease in that.

13.You’re more free to be yourself, to live authentically – to be who you are, to follow your own interests, to say what you think. At work, you are restricted by your career and professional role. You have to stick to the rules. You have to limit your behavior because you have to be concerned about professionalism, reputation, ramifications of someone getting offended or whatever, role boundaries, and even the threat of litigation. Without all those concerns, I feel so much freer to be just who I am.

14.More time for physical activity. That contributes to health and happiness.

15.More time to explore new hobbies. More time to discover new joys in old hobbies.

16.More time for reading. More time for building wisdom and knowledge.

17.More time to devote to friendships, including animal friendships.

18.You can stop and randomly talk to people without worrying about the time you’re spending on it, or what you have to do next. There is a relaxed pace to life. You can just do things for as long as you like, without worrying about it.

19.The ability to not take life so seriously, to just lighten up. The work environment was a fairly serious one, with important consequences at stake, and a lot of push and pull, multiple big agencies involved, sometimes lawyers, egos, and money. Now I don’t have to worry about any of that.

20.Less stress, less worry. That’s a big benefit. Stress of course negatively impacts health, so stress reduction means more health and happiness. It’s a more relaxed lifestyle, by far.

21.I don’t discharge work tension by getting into arguments on the internet, which often came back to bite me in one way or another.

22.The constraints and pressures of work occasionally, several times a year, made me seek relief or mental vacation in alcohol or weed. That desire just isn’t there anymore.

23.More time to commune with the birds and the squirrels.

24.You can tackle projects you put on the back burner earlier, because of lack of time (e.g., home improvements).

25.I can’t over-emphasize the sense of freedom angle. I am high on reactance, so any form of obligation and “have to” produces feelings of constriction and irritability in me. Work was the main source of that. Without work, I have a very expansive feeling of freedom and spaciousness in my life.

26.More time to work with my own thoughts and attitudes. A lot of my mental energy used to go to work. Without work, I have a lot more time and energy to reflect on my own mental processes – attitudes, thoughts, feelings, reactions – and to work with these things internally to improve them. A lot of people don’t do this because they just don’t have time. But this contributes directly to happiness and satisfaction.

27.I can explore what my city has to offer. I didn’t have much inclination to do that, when I was working.

28.More time for adult education classes or discussion groups.


Then you can think about all the negatives you’re no longer subject to…

29. No longer having to deal with lawyers and the threat of deposition or even litigation.

30.No more having to deal with professionals with big egos, narcissism, obsessive compulsive traits, and defensiveness.

31.No longer having to deal with referral sources who have their own personality issues and act out themselves. Same with some bosses and colleagues.

32.No longer having to be the bearer of bad news all the time. No need to push against resistance all the time.

33.No longer being lied to, right to my face, all the time.

34.No longer having to deal with limited resources coupled with high expectations.

35.No longer have to be in a career where political correctness is increasingly taking over. No longer have to worry about offending people’s fee fees. No longer have to worry about being “psychologically correct” in your language, so to speak. No longer have to worry about staying within professional role boundaries. Can just let it all hang out, baby.

36.No more meetings that are a waste of time.

37.No more annoying work requirements that are a waste of time.

38.No more lip service administrative support coupled with no follow through.

39.No more attempts to search for the truth amidst people who don’t want to tell you the truth, for various reasons.

40.No more colleagues trying to make themselves look good or jockey for position/status. No more people on power trips or the petty little power plays or ego strutting.

41.Much lower income tax. No SS tax.

42.No more having to live in that very conventional, restricted world.

43.More time for family, friends, and neighbors.

44.I can waste time without feeling too bad about it.

45.I actually waste less time now – because when I worked, the stress would lead me to seek a relief valve, which often took the form of time-wasting distractions.

46.No worries about losing my job, since I don’t have one. A lot of older people have lost their jobs during the plague. I don’t think that would’ve happened, but at least this way I don’t have to worry about it.


Ok, back to the pluses:

47.More time to get outside and enjoy nature. That’s important.

48.More relaxed drives. Bumper sticker: “I’m retired, go around.”

49.More ability to enjoy small pleasures. A lot of these are no big deal – just 1’s or 2’s on a 10-point scale – but they add up. You have more time to create these moments and attend to them.

50.More walks in the neighborhood. More walks in the park.

51.More time to research nutrition and health. More time for medical checkups.

52.My dog has more fun and lives a better life.

53.The squirrels and birds I support have a better life.

54.The people I come into contact with usually meet a more relaxed and friendly person than they would have before – less tired, less preoccupied, more positive, more open.

55.It probably means more years added to my life.

56.However many years I have left to live, they will be better years than if I’d continued working. My quality of life will be higher. I will be happier and more peaceful.

57.Since I’m able to interact with neighbors more, I get more a sense of community, more a sense of being rooted here. That contributes to satisfaction as well.

#’s 34-40 are about to make me pull the trigger.

 

[audreyh1]

Well, that's even better for us list-makers, then. We are truly made in the image of God, the original Maker of Lists.

I forget what Charleston Heston did exactly, but he transcribed them, right? God didn't burn them into the stone tablets with laser beams, did He? I thought Moses did it with a chisel. Which is some pretty hardcore list-making (or list-transcribing) in itself -- not the wimpy paper-and-pen method we moderns use.

Maybe I should chisel my list of 59 Good Things About Being Retired on stone tablets. I'm thinking it might have a similar impact on the world as the Ten Commandments did.

Nah, that sounds like too much work on my part. I think I'll take my dog for a walk instead.

According to the Bible (from Wikipedia)

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tablets of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.

— First mention of the tablets in Exodus 24:12–13

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

It's been 8 years since I pulled the plug. Most of my then peers are still working. They have bills to pay, they're just not ready, they wonder what they would do all day, etc, etc. Don't you get bored, they ask?

I was 63 then and most of my peers are now 70 or above. Most of them should be financially secure. (Lawyers). Many of them have no hobbies.

I love not working. The list of reasons why is almost endless. Sometimes it would be nice to have a little more disposable income because I hate to go into principal, but then I think it won't make much difference in the long run. Our kids will inherit a bunch of money when we die.

Being retired without any major financial issues is wonderful. Keep making your own lists of how grateful you are for the blessings you have.

I also love not working... Nothing beats having almost total control of your time to create things, enjoy books, get outside to hike, goof off with friends, and- best of all- doing nothing at all whenever I want to!!!

In the white collar professions, on balance doctors and lawyers appear to work longer than many others.
Not sure why.

I've already lost some doctors due to moving or retirement, so I chose a pcp who is in her late 40s, I'd say. I'm hoping she doesn't ever move!

#’s 34-40 are about to make me pull the trigger.

That's mostly what did it for me- pointless activities serving other peoples' silly needs. That, and DH reminding me we have enough to live to over 120.

Hard to argue with either.

 

[FREE866]

I also love not working... Nothing beats having almost total control of your time to create things, enjoy books, get outside to hike, goof off with friends, and- best of all- doing nothing at all whenever I want to!!!

Totally. This can't be overstated. I absolutely love not having to go to work.

 

[Escapevelocity]

good post OP. I really like this one from your list:

You can interact with people you choose to interact with, rather than the people you are obligated to interact with, because of your job.

I've always had amiable and positive relationships with nearly all my coworkers, but it's forced and artificial because everyone is on their best behavior because of their career reputation and motivation to stay employed or advance in their career. I want more real interactions that are a result of real life and not artificial interactions

 

[Blue531]

No. 25 The overall sense of freedom for me is incredibly humbling and greatly appreciated. I never liked "having" to do anything or be anywhere. Constriction and oppression at work rubbed me wrong constantly. The feeling of freedom is still quite surreal. Now that I have my freedom I cannot imagine life without it.

 

[FREE866]

No. 25 The overall sense of freedom for me is incredibly humbling and greatly appreciated. I never liked "having" to do anything or be anywhere. Constriction and oppression at work rubbed me wrong constantly. The feeling of freedom is still quite surreal. Now that I have my freedom I cannot imagine life without it.

Spot on. I could talk about this for hours. Freedom, I never grasped the true meaning of the word until January 2017. Probably another thread, but I still get flabbergasted looks when I tell people I'm retired. It is as if being in a job for 40-50 hours a week is so enmeshed in peoples psyche they can't fathom any other way of living!

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I love this list! Sounds like you worked for the same company as me.

The only thing I'd add to my list is I'm enjoying wearing things I couldn't because of my job. Right now I have green nail polish on. I've thought about doing something radical with my hair, but that's a lot more permanent than nail polish!

I love many of the things you do about retirement. I expected at least a tiny bit of regret, but there has been none. Retirement is awesome. I highly recommend it!

 

[doneat54]

Spot on. I could talk about this for hours. Freedom, I never grasped the true meaning of the word until January 2017. Probably another thread, but I still get flabbergasted looks when I tell people I'm retired. It is as if being in a job for 40-50 hours a week is so enmeshed in peoples psyche they can't fathom any other way of living!

Yep. Yep. I love not having to "do" anything, but I am pretty much always doing something. I tell people that I can sum up retirement with 2 words: "I decide". And people that know me well never said "so what are you going to do?" To this day, I still have far more interests than I have time for. And that is a good thing.

BTW FREE866, I retired 2 days before you, 1/4/17, 22 days before my 55th birthday.

 

[FREE866]

Yep. Yep. I love not having to "do" anything, but I am pretty much always doing something. I tell people that I can sum up retirement with 2 words: "I decide". And people that know me well never said "so what are you going to do?" To this day, I still have far more interests than I have time for. And that is a good thing.

BTW FREE866, I retired 2 days before you, 1/4/17, 22 days before my 55th birthday.

ha! awesome!
my most recent "hobby" is that I signed up for Great Courses Plus--they have hundreds of online courses and lectures--I'm watching one on WW2. Just fascinating!

 

[Freedom56]

We are six years into early retirement and we are getting bombarded retirement planning professionals to help us prepare for our retirement. Even Fidelity, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade where we have a substantial holdings, contact us regularly regarding retirement planning. I just wonder what will happen when we reach retirement age.

We have no regrets regarding our decision to retire early but the concept of early retirement appears to be an anomaly among these so called retirement planning professionals.

 

[6miths]

We have no regrets regarding our decision to retire early but the concept of early retirement appears to be an anomaly among these so called retirement planning professionals.

Oh I think they get the concept but they aren't going to be encouraging people to actually do it. The concept that they never forget is that they have to 'help' you 'manage' your money or they don't get paid. I hardly ever interact with a real person at the bank anymore but it never fails that they all ask me why I don't have a 'personal banker' as it is such a great 'free' service.

 

[Out of Steam]

Everything I have to do, from medical appointments to raking leaves, is easier because I can do it in the middle of the day.