Go to the local dog pound and save another one.
I retired in 2019, with my wife and I moving to a new city at that time. I had similar struggles for until early this year, which I blamed on pandemic-related problems in establishing routines. I had planned to take a year off, then return to work. That was scuttled by health conditions that increased our COVID risk, and limited remote opportunities related to my experience--plus my own discomfort with a fully remote job.Hey all. I’m 8 months beyond my job and struggling a bit. I know so many of you are deeply satisfied with early retirement, but I’m having difficulty finding my way to the "new normal."
After a year, I realized we were never going to be big travelers, I don't enjoy woodworking, golf, gardening, etc. DW has a bunch of hobbies so likes retirement, but I wasn't adjusting well.
There were parts of the job I enjoyed, so I negotiated a part time position where I can work from home and mostly just do the fun part of the work. Keeps the health insurance, pays some bills and gives me some structure. Maybe I will feel different later in life, but a bit of work is a better balance for me right now than either full retirement or full time work.
Everyone has to find their own path, don't feel pressure to do any one thing.
Another big problem I have with retirement is that, thus far, I no longer have a tribe. As a former teacher, my work family and the lives of my students took up a lot of my emotional energy. Probably why I spend too much time on this board! I get together with former teacher friends once a month for lunch, but that's about it. My husband has 3 infirm golf buddies. He just retired this year, and frankly, I still find it odd to be spending so much time together. He doesn't seem to miss his work family at all though his ailing golf buddies were all part of that group, so he has some contact.
Yeah I definitely see the difficulty in making new friends. My former "work" friends haven't turned out of have any lasting rapport, and my "real" friends are all busy with kids & jobs etc.
We are exploring New England at the moment, but when I get back home I may try some meetups or something. I have taken a couple cooking classes and that hasn't yielded any connections. It's tough for sure.
I was just telling a friend today that I don't think I could have been happy with retiring much earlier than I did, at 60.As an aside, I agree with some other posters that there are some folks who can "kick back" and enjoy relaxing for most of their days, without the need for a "purpose" in their lives. My early retirement at age 50 taught me I am not one of them. Good luck on finding what suits you!
It seems ironic that I felt like I had won the game and had finally received my reward for decades of hard work and sacrifice only to “fail” miserably at retirement in 18 months.
I was just telling a friend today that I don't think I could have been happy with retiring much earlier than I did, at 60.
Working part time at something you basically enjoy doing allows you time to decide what you want to do with your time when you do retire.
Part-time is a good way to develop the rest of your life outside of work, while still having structure and the social contact that work provides.
I have never considered a PT job after one has retired from their career job as unretired. If you won the game than retirement is about doing what you want to do and to have new challenges and do different things. It is all about what makes you the happiest. If a PT job is something you want to do and enjoy it that is great and I see it as you are a retired person doing a side gig, nothing about failing in ER.I retired 18 months ago at the tender age of 49. I’m divorced with no children and had allowed work to fill in all the gaps over the years. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until after I was home for a few months. I agree that a lack of structure and purpose had left me feeling empty and a bit like the greyhound that caught the rabbit.
My former employer had kept in touch and called again a month ago. Offered me part time work (24 hours/week) with a generous salary and full benefits including health insurance. We negotiated a deal and I started back this week. It solves the insurance need for awhile and gives me time to (re)consider what I really want out of life… and maybe get a “do over” on retirement.
It seems ironic that I felt like I had won the game and had finally received my reward for decades of hard work and sacrifice only to “fail” miserably at retirement in 18 months.
I have never considered a PT job after one has retired from their career job as unretired. If you won the game than retirement is about doing what you want to do and to have new challenges and do different things. It is all about what makes you the happiest. If a PT job is something you want to do and enjoy it that is great and I see it as you are a retired person doing a side gig, nothing about failing in ER.