Happier in retirement?

[anothercog]

For those that have pulled the ripcord, are you happier in retirement, the same or less so?

What changed specifically that altered your happiness?

I'm 50 and still several years away. I think retirement will make me happier but I'm not sure. My job is definitely not toxic but it also doesn't spark joy. My job pays very well and doesn't require a ton of my effort or time but I still dread Mondays and the end of vacations.

Hard to say how much of my anxiety is job related or if it is just me.

 

[MichaelB]

My sense of happiness has been increasing steadily since I quit my job.

 

[Navigator]

I definitely don’t want to go back to work, so in that sense I am happier. My day to day level of happiness seems to be the same as before, though.

 

[Dtail]

I am clearly happier in retirement.
I did like my job, although it was high stress levels. I couldn't find another job after taking a package, so not entirely an apples to apples comparison.
Nevertheless, I love waking up everyday and for the most part doing anything I like and having minimal stress.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm definitely happier. Similar to the OP, I had a pretty good job. Good money, good people, and could have stayed there longer. Also, since, like the OP, I wasn't really "in love" with my job, it seriously just came done to time being greater than money. I would have had to give at least another 5 years and probably 10 to materially change my financial status in retirement. I mean, socking away another million wouldn't have changed my retirement life style. Certainly would have created some additional cushion. May have even allowed me to do something like the snowbird thing, but in the end, I'm much happier now than when I had to go to work most every day. No comparison at all.

Bottom line is that it's a personal decision/experience. I'm happy with my decision and the experience so far as I finish my third year in.

 

[Dash man]

I haven’t had a night in nearly eight years where I dreaded getting up the next morning. I’m definitely happier!

 

[travelover]

For those that have pulled the ripcord, are you happier in retirement, the same or less so?.............

Much happier in retirement, going on 14 years. Much less stress, no jerky bosses, no weekend work / calls, no performance reviews, no office politics, no commute, no more scrimping and saving for retirement.

 

[jollystomper]

I am definitely happier. That is not to say I was unhappy working. I was very happy working. A "ridiculous" salary with bonuses to mostly do things that were more like a hobby to me. World wide travel with many perks. A prestigious title. Some "fame" from speaking at technical events, publishing white papers, and contributing to/co-authoring several technical books for Megacorp. Popular at work, with management and trusted me enough to mostly let me do my own thing . But... at this stage in my life, my priorities became time, and having flexibility to choose how I spent all of my time.

Adding to my happiness was leaving on my own terms. Happy to fade away into the background of life, doing whatever I wanted to do. Especially while I still have very good health. I have too many friends from Megacorp who had to retire due to health issues and did not last long. I hoped not to end up like that, and feel very fortunate, since health is all downhill from here.

 

[Nick12]

I've lost weight, go to the gym daily to work out with my fellow gym rats and have the freedom of planning my day. The stress of being a manager in a pressure cooker Mega Corp is gone.

 

[anothercog]

I am definitely happier. That is not to say I was unhappy working. I was very happy working. A "ridiculous" salary with bonuses to mostly do things that were more like a hobby to me. World wide travel with many perks. A prestigious title. Some "fame" from speaking at technical events, publishing white papers, and contributing to/co-authoring several technical books for Megacorp. Popular at work, with management and trusted me enough to mostly let me do my own thing . But... at this stage in my life, my priorities became time, and having flexibility to choose how I spent all of my time.

Adding to my happiness was leaving on my own terms. Happy to fade away into the background of life, doing whatever I wanted to do. Especially while I still have very good health. I have too many friends from Megacorp who had to retire due to health issues and did not last long. I hoped not to end up like that, and feel very fortunate, since health is all downhill from here.

At what age did you retire? Sounds like my gig is bit similar. I'm very much left alone to do my own thing. I doubt I can find another job like this so I don't even bother looking anymore. A lot of people seem to stay for a long time. Nobody seems to get pushed out the door until maybe they hit 70 and even then they may be offered some cushy side gig like consulting or board memberships if they want.

I think part of my anxiety is guilt that the job is so easy.

 

[Out of Steam]

I wasn't quite sure the first year, but several months into the second year, I'd say yes.

The pandemic has made developing new routines difficult, and the jury is out on the success of our retirement move, but neither of those changes my answer.

 

[unclemick]

After 27 years WORK! is an alien concept.

Heh heh heh - AND never ever volunteer. However one must accept the fact that on occasion a person gets nailed.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I'm not any happier, because I loved my work(self emplyed) and didn't stop until the work essentially ended. The timing was perfect. But while I'm no happier, I feel more content and now that Covid has confined us it's nice not to "have to do anything," that we don't want to.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I'm not retired yet but I've also questioned if/how retirement is going to make me happier. So thinking in terms of removing things that make me unhappy while increasing the things that do make me happy:
I've got all this job related axiety too; dealing up issues, meeting deadlines, handling various types of conflicts, etc. Outside of work hours, I'm trying to think of solutions, replaying how I could have managed things better, etc. And I have the Sunday night dreads of needing to jump back into the fray again on Monday morning. Looking forward to retirement to drop all these problems.
However, I love travelling and even with a lot of vacation time, I don't have enough time to travel. So, looking forward to re-purposing my time.

Beyond work, I've got other problems too so it's not like retirement is going to solve all those as well. But I feel I have more control in avoiding stepping into those holes in the first place and will have more time to tackle them versus running around with my hair on fire.

 

[Silver]

Sooooo much happier!!

I cannot believe I'm this lucky to have been retired 10 years and have such a great life.

 

[tmm99]

Are you kidding me? Of course, I'm happier! LOL!!!

Obviously, you cannot escape from yourself, so there's always that, but not having to deal with bosses, respond to people as if I care, get up early every morning, etc, is rather nice.

One thing that went away with retirement is the high feeling I used to get Friday afternoon or when my vacation was about to start. I felt almost euphoric. I do miss that high feeling, but I know I would have to work long hours and take a lot of sh*t to get that high, so I'm OK without having those moments. It's a trade-off. I don't feel euphoric, but I feel blessed.

 

[Aerides]

FMy job is definitely not toxic but it also doesn't spark joy. My job pays very well and doesn't require a ton of my effort or time but I still dread Mondays and the end of vacations.

Hard to say how much of my anxiety is job related or if it is just me.

If you can call it anxiety it's probably you, but probably better without the stresses of work. Still, better to explore now that for your own wellbeing.

Overall, definitely happier, but I will say that, as the depths of work-horror-despair go, so also do the super gleeful moments of respite from the pain. Like that immense relief feeling on a friday afternoon heading into a long weekend with a holiday like labor day, well, you don't get that anymore because it doesn't matter, there is no rush of an escape valve anymore.

 

[jollystomper]

At what age did you retire? Sounds like my gig is bit similar. I'm very much left alone to do my own thing. I doubt I can find another job like this so I don't even bother looking anymore. A lot of people seem to stay for a long time. Nobody seems to get pushed out the door until maybe they hit 70 and even then they may be offered some cushy side gig like consulting or board memberships if they want.

I think part of my anxiety is guilt that the job is so easy.

I retired at 60. I also knew i could never get something was well paying as what I had. I had interviews discussions with recruiters and headhunters in the years before I retired and at best it would require (in my view) taking on a lot more responsibilities and activities (like close to 100% travel, been there, done that, never again) for little or no increase in pay.

I never had "guilt" about how easy the job was, just more astonished, particularly since I not a "keep all secrets to myself" type and was mentoring training others on my work survival techniques. The stuff I liked so many found a challenge, which surprised me.

I just noticed you are 50. I was technically eligible to retire at 51 from my job at 51, including a pension, but I would have to have found another job, even part time, to support the lifestyle I wanted. I worked until 60 to ensure that in retirement I could choose whether or not to work again, and if I worked not be concerned about the pay.

 

[Nemo2]

When I was much younger there was a tongue in cheek question along these lines: "As a guy, would you rather make love to a beautiful woman, or have your testicles nailed to a tree?"

Things don't appear to have changed all that much, I guess.

 

[razztazz]

Happier not working

 

[Souschef]

Much Happier. My BS bucket was full. Here is what I have been doing:
https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/10-years-retired-95602.html

 

[2017ish]

DW and I both loved our jobs, were good at them, and were well paid. BUT, the jobs prevented us from seeing much of each other, limited leisure travel egregiously, prevented us from planning to do things on most weekends, and were generally all encompassing.

We both have loved retirement, with about 3.5 years in. Even this year, we have traveled at least 6 times more than we were ever able to do when working. (13+ weeks away, versus the then norm of 1 and the rare max of 2 weeks). Combine that with being able to work out every day that we are home and having time to do things like new recipes and just sitting and reading for hours at a time. No question that it is a great thing.

FWIW, we retired at 57/56.

P.S.--as an observation, I don't think this forum is going to give you a balanced sample of responses!

 

[Green Papaya]

DW and I both retired at 60. We had 9-to-5 jobs with good salaries, nothing glorious. On hindsight we could have retired earlier based on NW and projected retirement budget but wanted to wait until the youngest child graduated from college. On a normal day, we do whatever we feel like doing that day and time just goes by quickly. Yes, we are happier (and healthier).

 

[iloveyoga]

I have never been happier. I was not unhappy when I worked, but the freedom of these last 7.5 years has been wonderful.

 

[brett]

Much happier. Had stress at work, long hours... now gone. At 58/59 nine years ago. Loved my jog, worked with good people.

Had a large home that required lots of upkeep, sold it and gave away much of the furniture in it.

Got rid of the suits, jackets, ties, dress shirts, etc

Much healthier. Lost weight, we cut out all the processed foods. Less meat, more fresh veg, lots of fruit. No fast food. We both believe that this has made a big difference.

Traded 'things' for experiences. Lots of pre covid (and hopefully post covid) travel....often last minute and for a few months at a time.

It is all good.