Good Things about Being Retired

[Dtail]

I don't have to work anymore.

And that is it in a nutshell.

 

[Dash man]

I don't have to work anymore.

I can’t think of a single list I’ve made, except for grocery shopping, since I’ve retired. Seems too much like work. But, to be honest, I didn’t make many lists when I was working. As an ISTP, I just went with the flow.

 

[Nick12]

Medical appointments and car repairs are easier to make when no longer working. When before covid, going to afternoon movies at the theatre are cheaper and less crowded. Also going to the local gym during off peak times.

 

[mystang52]

As a counter-point, here's a list of 10 bad things about being retired:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

[Nemo2]

As a counter-point, here's a list of 10 bad things about being retired:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Not wishing to be pedantic, but you missed an important one:

11.

 

[ER Eddie]

I added a few more to the list:

58. My favorite day of the week is now Monday. I see everyone having to go to work. I feel grateful that I don’t. And when I go out, the parks, stores, and streets are less crowded.

59. I have time for a morning ritual, which brings a lot of benefits to the rest of the day. I have time to drink my coffee, relax, read something positive or inspirational, and take a morning walk. I spend a good hour doing this each morning now, and it really gets the day off on the right foot. I never had time to do that, when I was working. The tone of the day got set by work.

60. When I was working, my peak hours (between 7 a.m. and 1pm, let’s say) went to work tasks, i.e., jobs assigned to me by others/systems. Now all of my best, peak hours go to areas of my choosing.

The challenge of a happy and successful retirement is that many people don’t know what it is they want to do when given the freedom to do it.

They often define who they are by their past career. They have spent a lifetime being told what to do and how to structure their work lives by their bosses.

Yeah, I know several people like that, for whom work is a comfortable and familiar way to structure their time. They feel apprehensive about retiring, because they worry they wouldn't have enough to do.

It is important to have an identity independent of your work identity. You have to be confident about your right and ability to make your own life choices. You have to be willing to learn knew things about yourself and let go of the ideas and structures imposed on you over a lifetime.

I mentioned I was high in reactance in one of the entries. For people who don't know what that is, reactance is a personality trait where you're very sensitive to having your freedom constricted. I notice that in myself a lot. I chafe at external restrictions and anything that feels like a "have to."
I tend toward being a rebel -- a nice rebel, but someone who just doesn't like structures being imposed on him and will find ways to shuck them off when possible. Heck, I don't even like structures being imposed on me by me, lol.

Another word for that is self-determination -- not in the sense of fortitude, but in the sense of wanting to call your own shots, to chart your own course, and enjoying that. Some people are high in that trait, and others are low. I'm very high on it. So I always loved the idea of retirement, specifically because of that potential to be more self-determined, to better go my own way.

In fact, I'd say if I had to sum up the main appeal of retirement to me, that is it.

 

[ER Eddie]

As a counter-point, here's a list of 10 bad things about being retired:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

lol

I read a book called The Retirement Maze once, and it was the most depressing book on retirement I ever read. It talked about all the problems and struggles people have in retirement. They talked a lot about people who had been involuntarily retired (maybe laid off), who didn't have interests outside of work, who were struggling financially, who had health problems, who drifted toward meaningless activity or addiction, who were isolated, or who struggled with issues of identity, meaning, or purpose.

So, plenty of people do have significant problems in retirement. I'm fortunate that I'm not one of them.

I honestly can't think of any real downsides. I missed some of my colleagues for a week or two, but that faded. I guess finding new social connections has been a challenge, but that's mostly because of the plague, not because it's a huge problem in itself.

 

[ER Eddie]

I can’t think of a single list I’ve made, except for grocery shopping, since I’ve retired. Seems too much like work.

To each his own, of course, but I've found lists helpful throughout my life. I've got lists for all sorts of things -- my main values, my best experiences in life, my best ideas, major life lessons, reasons to retire (that one is outmoded, lol), reasons to move or not, decisions about relationships, things to be grateful for, things I like about my life, etc.


In fact, here's my list of reasons why I like lists:

1. The process of list-making is intellectually stimulating and helps focus my mind on a particular issue or angle.

2. I'm an analytical fellow. I enjoy thinking about things.

3. Both making and reviewing a list helps activate certain states of mind (in this case, gratitude, appreciation, happiness).

4. It's a way to clarify and organize my thinking.

5. Putting things down in writing feels different, more objective somehow, than just having thoughts rolling around in my head.

6. It's a way of reinforcing ideas or decisions.

7. You can't hold more than a few bits of data in your head at one time (working memory limitations). Writing things down enables me to greatly expand the scope of what I'm considering.

8. It's a wonderful way to briefly encapsulate valuable information I've accumulated over a lifetime, and to remind myself of things that happened years or decades ago, which otherwise I would just forget. I'm referring here to my lists of my best experiences, best ideas, or major life lessons. I've kept lists like that for decades, and they are very valuable to me. If my house were to catch on fire, they'd be the one of the first things I'd rescue, after my dog.

9. I've always liked expressing my thoughts in writing. I joke with people that spoken English is my second language; written is my first. I find it very natural and easy to put my thoughts on paper. I can't identify with people talking about it feeling like "work." It's not work at all to me. It comes very naturally and easily.

 

[Nemo2]

I've got lists for all sorts of things --

DW's daughter, very competent/capable, is a list maker.....her husband swears that she makes lists of her lists!

 

[Lewis Clark]

As a counter-point, here's a list of 10 bad things about being retired:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The only bad thing about voluntary retirement I can think of is the loss of income. I'd love to have the income if I didn't have to work for it. : ) This should not be an issue for most who have planned well when choosing to retire. Certainly, the folks on this board who have chosen to retire (as opposed to being forced out, or due to medical/family reasons) should be fine without the income.

Loss of income might be a serious problem for those forced to retire involuntarily.

 

[Letj]

This is such a wonderful list. I love not having to be accountable to anyone and my time is controlled only by me. It’s the happiest I’ve been and I’ve always been a relatively happy person. Despite having several different skills that can bring me gainful employment, I refuse to do anything that would make me accountable to anyone. I can’t imagine why people continue to work when they don’t have to. Sometimes I think for some people it’s less about work and more about some sort of OCD (for some people it might be work).

 

[Music Lover]

Retirement gives me more time to do the things that I enjoy. I'm still doing the same things I did before retirement but they're no longer squeezed into evenings and weekends.

 

[Dash man]

To each his own, of course, but I've found lists helpful throughout my life. I've got lists for all sorts of things -- my main values, my best experiences in life, my best ideas, major life lessons, reasons to retire (that one is outmoded, lol), reasons to move or not, decisions about relationships, things to be grateful for, things I like about my life, etc.


In fact, here's my list of reasons why I like lists:

1. The process of list-making is intellectually stimulating and helps focus my mind on a particular issue or angle.

2. I'm an analytical fellow. I enjoy thinking about things.

3. Both making and reviewing a list helps activate certain states of mind (in this case, gratitude, appreciation, happiness).

4. It's a way to clarify and organize my thinking.

5. Putting things down in writing feels different, more objective somehow, than just having thoughts rolling around in my head.

6. It's a way of reinforcing ideas or decisions.

7. You can't hold more than a few bits of data in your head at one time (working memory limitations). Writing things down enables me to greatly expand the scope of what I'm considering.

8. It's a wonderful way to briefly encapsulate valuable information I've accumulated over a lifetime, and to remind myself of things that happened years or decades ago, which otherwise I would just forget. I'm referring here to my lists of my best experiences, best ideas, or major life lessons. I've kept lists like that for decades, and they are very valuable to me. If my house were to catch on fire, they'd be the one of the first things I'd rescue, after my dog.

9. I've always liked expressing my thoughts in writing. I joke with people that spoken English is my second language; written is my first. I find it very natural and easy to put my thoughts on paper. I can't identify with people talking about it feeling like "work." It's not work at all to me. It comes very naturally and easily.

Well, there are two lists I do my best to follow, but they were written by others. The Ten Commandments and The Beatitudes.
These keep me focused on the important things in my life.

 

[scrabbler1]

One good thing about being retired I hadn't anticipated when I retired 12 years ago was this: When I had some health issues 5 years ago (and was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes) including a 12-day hospital stay, I was able to devote 100% of my time and effort toward getting better. This included the ease of making doctor appointments and dealing with insurance companies and pharmacies. Not having to worry about fitting these important (and often annoying) activities around going to work, even part-time work, was very, very helpful.

 

[JustCurious]

Likewise I can take as much vacation as I want (or can afford) without having to schedule around work projects and when others might be on vacation.

Vacation from what? If you are retired, isn't everyday a vacation?

 

[travelover]

Vacation from what? If you are retired, isn't everyday a vacation?

Yea, that is one for the bad things about retirement list. No vacations, no weekends off, no overtime pay, constant retirement 24/7, with no breaks. It is relentless.

 

[RunningBum]

Vacation from what? If you are retired, isn't everyday a vacation?

OK, travel.

 

[LarryMelman]

To each his own, of course, but I've found lists helpful throughout my life. ... In fact, here's my list of reasons why I like lists:

I have found that I can't survive with mental stimulation and challenge. My work specialty does exactly that. I tried retirement briefly about a year ago, because I wanted more control over my time and I had a toxic-boss situation. I found crossword puzzles and sudoku's to be a weak substitute at best. So when a job offer came along after a few months, I took it.

Covid and the ability (requirement!) to work-at-home has been a godsend for me. The work challenge is back with no commute, and much more time flexibility (yes the hours have to be put in but outside of a few core hours each day, I can work when I want to). And unlike Sudoku's, I get pay and benefits.

I suppose it helps if you basically enjoyed your work.

 

[ER Eddie]

I have found that I can't survive with mental stimulation and challenge. My work specialty does exactly that. I tried retirement briefly about a year ago, because I wanted more control over my time and I had a toxic-boss situation. I found crossword puzzles and sudoku's to be a weak substitute at best. So when a job offer came along after a few months, I took it.

Covid and the ability (requirement!) to work-at-home has been a godsend for me. The work challenge is back with no commute, and much more time flexibility (yes the hours have to be put in but outside of a few core hours each day, I can work when I want to). And unlike Sudoku's, I get pay and benefits.

I suppose it helps if you basically enjoyed your work.

Yes, I'm the same way -- love learning, love thinking about things, need intellectual stimulation. Fortunately, I find a lot of that in my reading and on various discussion forums. Before the plague, I used to take classes and participate in discussion groups as well. That will return eventually. I also do some blogging. Even videogaming is a source of intellectual stimulation of a sort (more along the lines of flow, although some problem-solving and puzzling can be involved). I also like watching long-form discussions on Youtube sometimes; it can be a sort of "seminars on demand" for whatever topic interests you.

I found my work intellectually stimulating, but after a while, it felt repetitive to me, like I was using the same mental gears to do similar mental tasks, over and over. I greatly prefer the flexibility in retirement to focus exactly on what I find interesting, then drop it when I want to shift to something else. I get a lot more cognitive range and variety, that way. Fortunately, I'm a pretty curious fellow, so I have a lot of different interests that keep my mind stimulated.

Larry Bud!

 

[Music Lover]

I have found that I can't survive with mental stimulation and challenge. My work specialty does exactly that.

I got lucky with a hobby that provides that. As an amateur musician I look for musical opportunities with players that are better than me. That forces me to step up my game and be on my toes when playing.

 

[ER Eddie]

Well, there are two lists I do my best to follow, but they were written by others. The Ten Commandments and The Beatitudes.
These keep me focused on the important things in my life.

See, lists can change the world. Where would we be now, if 3000 years ago, Moses said to himself, "Eh, I don't feel like making a list. That's too much effort." lol

 

[Nemo2]

See, lists can change the world. Where would we be now, if 3000 years ago, Moses said to himself, "Eh, I don't feel like making a list. That's too much effort." lol

Not religious, me, but I understand that the lists he supposedly received were prewritten.

 

[Dash man]

Not religious, me, but I understand that the lists he supposedly received were prewritten.

Correct! They were not written by Moses!

 

[Koolau]

Correct! They were not written by Moses!

Yeah, I saw the movie and read the book!

 

[Retire2013]

Great list. #52 rings true - I made a vow that if I had to walk the dog, I'd do it at the beach. Dog's life is good... and mine is too.

Completely agree with you. I have a dog now in ER; she lives a great life, multiple walks and play sessions at the parks and the dog beach. It makes me sad thinking of the dogs we had (they're in Rainbow Bridge now) back when we worked long hours.