Lessons from My First Year of Retirement

[ER Eddie]

I realize there is another aspect to this -- another factor that influences how we each experience the transition to retirement differently. You might read on if you're trying to set your expectations for how retirement will feel. It's one other factor to consider.

It occurred to me that when I listen to other people talk about their retirement experience, I often hear a "set loose" theme. They feel a large increase in their sense of freedom and free time. They feel liberated, set free to do things they just didn't have time for, previously.

I'm different (what's new), in that I've always valued freedom and free time very highly, and so I've passed by many things (marriage, children, promotion, big house, etc.), because I valued my freedom and free time more. My only real obligation is to a dog, lol. In addition, in the 6 years leading up to retirement, I was only working 20 hours a week. That added even more free time.

So, prior to retirement, I already had abundant freedom and free time. I had arranged my life that way. I had tons of free time. When I retired, my free time increased by about 20%. That was nice, but it wasn't a big change. I had plenty of freedom and free time prior to retirement, and afterwards, I had a bit more. But it didn't represent a major change in my lifestyle.

In fact, I have often remarked to myself, "My life in retirement isn't all that much different than my life before retirement." And it isn't. Prior to retirement, I was doing pretty much what I liked, when I liked, for as long as I liked. After retirement, I have 20% more free time, which is nice, but it's not a big shift in lifestyle. My life isn't much different now than it was before.

For other people, though, it's going to be very different. They have more marital and family responsibilities than I do; they work full time; they have more stuff to take care of; more work responsibilities, etc. -- and so, they have less free time to just do what they want, when they want. For them, the increase in free time in retirement is going to be much larger, probably an order of magnitude larger, maybe a 200% increase or more, compared to my 20% increase. And so, they will experience retirement as a liberation and a huge expansion in free time.

Since I'm a big fan of freedom and free time, I can easily imagine how that would lead those people to feel a long-lasting sense of happiness and satisfaction about retirement, especially when they think back on how things were before. The change in lifestyle for them has been dramatic. For me, it's been relatively small. Like I say, my life hasn't changed all that much, really.

If you're setting your expectations for retirement, you might consider this angle. How much freedom and free time do you feel right now, in your current work and family life? How much additional free time will retirement grant you? If you're like me and had abundant freedom and free time prior to retirement, then retirement may not feel like a big change. If you're like others who live very busy, responsibility-filled work and family lives, then retirement is going to feel very freeing. Enjoy.

 

[ER Eddie]

One more lesson. I was reviewing my 2018 and 2019 journals today, and I saw repeated entries about how stressed I was at work. Even though I was only working 20 hours a week, and I wasn't particularly busy, I was still feeling quite stressed. It's just the nature of the work.

It would often affect my sleep on workdays, so that I would go through the days sleep deprived, which messed with my mood and mental acuity. It would take me Saturday to recover.

I'd forgotten all about that. In retirement, I have hardly any stress at all. Things are remarkably calm and peaceful. I've got very little to worry about.

Anyway, so that was one more lesson I forgot -- that retirement is remarkably stress free (knock on wood).

 

[martyp]

I was well aware of my stress due to work and I actively did things to relieve it. It was only when I retired that I realized that I was only relieving 10% of it. That first month of ER was a huge burden off my shoulders.

 

[vafoodie]

Appreciate this so much. I retired from public school teaching. Freaked out at how much sad ruminating I was doing and went back to teaching at a Catholic school. It seemed to be the perfect balance then Covid hit, and it stopped being fun. I’m signed on to continue this school year but am terrified. Will have more in place and ready to go for when I reretire. I feel like I need some work as I’m just no good at keeping busy without a job, but I need the flexibility to travel when rates are cheap and it is possible to do so again.