Retired Hardcore Curious Techie/Nerd/Geek-types Question

[Route246]

This is a long boring ramble. Apologies in advance.

Retiring in Sept/Oct 2025 is planned. I confess to be an engineer's engineer. Those of you who are know exactly what this means. Always thinking in terms of optimization, always trying to figure out requirements, always curious if new technologies might be better and more importantly always willing to spend prodigious amounts of time to make sure solutions are elegant, practical and durable.

That said, for those of you who retired do you find yourself keeping up with trends, do you maintain your curiosity for new ideas, are you stimulated to the point of studying new things in order to stay out of your comfort zone?

The reason I ask is brain health issues run in my family. We are relatively fit and don't have history of cancer, heart disease or other physical ailments. I watched many family members deteriorate mentally and I wish to delay that as much as possible in my case through mental exercise, calisthenics and stimulation. I see many friends and ex-colleagues retire to Netflix and the couch. I ask about something simple like, "Have you checked out ChatGPT?" and the answer is frequently no, this being from people I know for a fact if they were still active and working would probably be all over it. Their response is usually I'm really spending my time binge-watching (whatever the heck that means) this or that on Netflix. It's great, you should check it out. Uhhh, I don't know what to say at that point.

I know there are older people who do remain engaged in trends and technology, who do remain curious and stimulated. A dear friend's father was a Cold Warrior rocket scientist and maintained this curiosity and engagement well into his late 80s and was always open to stimulating conversation up until near the end of his life. I had wonderful conversations with him, picking his brain about very esoteric things with him always cautioning me that there are some things that he could not disclose due to NDA, a true Cold Warrior and hero in my opinion, but I learned quite a bit from him and I know he was also enjoying our conversations because most of his friends were gone or lost interest and he always told me he appreciated our talks.

I wonder if my thoughts and sentiments are paranoia, autism spectrum-related or some other quirk. I also believe that the only fountain of youth available to me is my thought and thinking as the body gets older, stiffer and weaker, my brain is the only thing I can hope to retain.

Looking forward to retiring later this year. Huge project in flight now (home renovation) including new ham radio beam antenna. Just trying to put off for as long as possible a sedentary lifestyle, staying physically active and mentally stimulated.

 

[Jimmie]

My family too has history of brain health issues. I retired nearly 6 years ago. I was lucky in that I was already a part-time computer science teacher at our local university, teaching 2 classes per semester with a summer break. I really enjoy it and definitely keeps the juices flowing in my brain, but the best part is interacting with all my students and getting enjoyment watching them grow technically. They help keeping me feeling young. I continue to read about technological advances and attend a conference in a fun part of the country every now and then. The other thing I did right after I retired was to learn how to play guitar. Fully admit that it was one of the hardest things I've ever attempted to do and nearly quit several times during the first year, but it sure exercises my brain and I think it's been helpful in fighting off arthritis (my family history too). Good luck with your upcoming retirement!

 

[TheWizard]

I'm also a retired engineer, almost a dozen full years in.
I don't make any claims to superior brain maintenance but I do difficult sudoku puzzles, the weekly New Yorker crossword and also keep up a bit with tech news in my alumni magazine (Technology Review).

Beyond that, I spend time fooling with finances, planning/researching upcoming travel and cutting/splitting/stacking firewood for two different houses.
It all works out...

 

[joesxm3]

I retired almost 9 years ago. For the first 5 or 6 years I did not want to do much with technology or programming. I think I needed to decompress.

For the past year or so I have gotten more interested. I use Grok and find it is very good at explaining technical topics to me.

I have to admit, though, that I have focused more on finances and a lot of my technical activities could be characterized as supporting the financial activities.

I am surprised how much things have changed in 6 or 7 years.

 

[Koolau]

Not a techie though I enjoy reading about such things. I have heard that keeping fit and keeping involved helps to delay mental decline. I hope posting here counts.

 

[JDARNELL]

I picked up amateur radio and last year I completed the Extra Licensing exam. My professional work was in the area of economics, intel, satellites, and rocket science. Not that I really understood the last two at the time TBH. At least that is how I felt when I started.

With the ham I can once again deep dive into areas that can easily challenge the mind when learning. This includes space weather, signal propagation, balloons, satellites, hardware, software, electronic repair, etc. It is amazing how much I have picked up and the depth of my knowledge in the area in just a few years. I now have a larger list of topics to tackle than when I first started to include learning morse code. The problem is that I have been so busy I can't get to them.

 

[QG67PK00]

I re-read textbooks from my high school and college days. Offers a new perspective on the things I read and understood (or did not) in the past, but now with a great deal of hindsight to go with!

 

[Koolau]

I re-read textbooks from my high school and college days. Offers a new perspective on the things I read and understood (or did not) in the past, but now with a great deal of hindsight to go with!

I thought about doing that, but since I've been out of school, they've added several more elements. My old text books had only Air, Earth, Fire and Water.

 

[audreyh1]

I did tons of stuff upon retiring, and beyond travel it involved serious mental engagement learning new things which also meant developing some new skills: various branches of science and natural history, languages, photography videography video editing and computer graphic arts. I even learned how to do night sky photography which is quite technical including the image processing and completed a 3 course ornithology program from Cornell. With all our traveling we were hiking a lot and bird watching a lot out “in the field”. More recently I started playing piano again, after not playing for like 37 years and it all came back into a few months and I went much further. Playing an instrument and learning new pieces is serious brain works as well has hand coordination.

But I just let my interests drive this - I wasn’t paying attention to any trends.

I read a lot but I don’t watch much streamed TV and don’t listen to broadcast TV or radio at all.

DH and I are also retired engineers.

 

[Route246]

Thank you for all of the reinforcing responses. It is good to know.

One follow-up question would be did you consciously stay engaged and active to prevent age-related degradation in brain health and fitness or was it just a natural personality trait that continued?

For me, it is a conscious sentiment and fear of what could happen if I didn't keep active in terms of thought and thinking.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I am an engineer and basically a problem solver. My brain is always active as I am wired to always come up with a solution for any sort of "problem" that I see. Sometimes when people suggest wild ideas, my brain would go into overdrive to come up with a path to make it work, and when it does not see a path, I would tell the folks that it just wouldn't work because....

I read and research alot on any topic that interests me at the moment. I "cannot" help myself. I work on a ton of word puzzles and some number/equation driven puzzles each day. Generally I don't watch movies because I have ADD and cannot be focused. I also find them boring and not mentally stimulating. However, I do watch a ton of golf because I am an avid golfer, sub consciously always trying to learn something from them.

It is hard to imagine that my brain will waste away as I age or succumb to brain disease, but who knows.

BTW, my career started in software programming but got into "management" 6 years later and haven't done any programming since then. I have been retired for 9 years.

 

[pacergal]

Not an engineer, but many things can be done to keep your brain active.
I read all kinds of books, do puzzles, have taken college classes online.
Engage in learning something new, get some physical movement every day.

Heck, I can learn new things daily simply by reading here on the Forum!
Many members here have shared:
Start a garden, grow some veggies or fruit, learn to preserve or can.
Bake bread, make soap
Build a house
etc.

 

[audreyh1]

I do consciously choose activities to prevent age degeneration. It doesn’t take a large effort on my part but I am concious of the potential health benefits of what I do.

Physical health is very important for brain health. What you eat matters and avoiding chronic diseases like type2 diabetes is important for brain health (cut out the junk especially sugar and high carb items). Having an healthy metabolism is probably the most critical item for brain health. Exercise also directly improves brain health. Even just daily walking has great benefit although strength training is also critical for maintaining muscle mass. As is eating enough protein.

At 40 I started learning yoga because I thought it might become important as I age - maintaining posture, flexibility, balance, focus, and strength. It’s become a valued resource and I try to keep it up.

I already know that my language learning is a great brain exercise building new synapses. This has been a lifelong hobby of mine, so I enjoy it already.

Color me skeptical but I don’t believe that puzzles and repetitive games are that helpful. I believe you have to learn new things (new information, skills) to build new synapses - that’s how a neurologist explained it.

My instrument playing and particularly resuming piano was a deliberate choice because I knew it would seriously engage the brain (also memorization) as well as exercise all my fingers/hands. So I consider it an anti-aging hobby.

Traveling keeps us active and engaged, especially overseas where we’re constantly having to adapt to new situations.

 

[big-papa]

Engineer with 40 years in the semiconductor industry before retiring. I stayed an IEEE member (you get a fee break as a retiree) and still read a few journals. Fix stuff around the house. Play with my retirement spreadsheets. I don't think that the technical, problem solving part of my brain came with an off-switch.

 

[Koolau]

It is hard to imagine that my brain will waste away as I age or succumb to brain disease, but who knows.

Yeah, my mom was truly brilliant. She could add rows of figures and get the right answer. She sight read music. She skipped 2 grades in school. She was an executive secretary for a defense plant manager.

She got Alzheimers and passed at 87. Her last years were in a memory car unit. It was sad and hard to accept that someone so smart could end her days in that way. I fear that end as well. Here's to both of us never facing that fate.

I'm sure there are things we can all do to put off dementia, but I'm guessing most of it is in our genes. I don't think it's a slam dunk that I'll get it but I think about it a lot. YMMV

Heh, heh, if I start repeating myself here, maybe someone should let me know.

 

[FIREd_2015]

As an ex-engineer I still dabble in diagnosing and repairing various electronic/mechanical systems around the house (computer, automotive, cell phone issues, etc.) Over the years, my interests have shifted from electrical and mechanical systems to a more complex system which is the human body. I see the body as a very complex engineering system that I can apply my engineering skills to help diagnose and prevent/solve problems that may arise. I'm relatively healthy but have genetic predisposition for some diseases so I order my own lab tests a couple of times a year to try and stay ahead of it. There is a recent Netflix documentary on Bryan Johnson, an ex tech CEO, who spends millions on longevity every year. I consider myself to be the poor man's version of that where I spend $1-3k/yr trying to stay healthy. One of my issues with our health care system is that doctors are incentivized to treat symptoms rather than solve the underlying causes. These days, I spend a lot time reading and researching how different body systems work and very little time keeping up on high tech stuff. That's how I keep my mind active and mentally challenged.

 

[GrayHare]

Throw away your GPS. A large scale study found that people who think how to travel to places, such as taxi drivers, develop Alzheimers at a much lower rate than others.

 

[Koolau]

^^^^^^^

I feel much better now. I've never owned a GPS!

 

[jollystomper]

I still program in various languages. I maintain a home computing lab with various applications (though it is about half the size of when I was working). I have a couple of cloud accounts that I test out various applications I am curious about. I take technical courses of interest - there are an overwhelming number of free courses, not even counting the paid ones. When something around the house, auto, or property has a problem, I check YouTube for how to fix/repair the issues, and more often than not I find a solution that not only can I implement, but I also learn something from it.

In short, in 6+ years of retirement I have plenty of avenues to keep mentally sharp and focused. I have not even mentioned the various games (card, box, and online) that are mentally stimulating. Or the volunteer work I do which involves interesting (to me) data analysis. Being retired, I do them at my own pace and desire.

In terms of ChatGPT, I have used it very little as I am more interested in "how does it work behind the scenes" instead of the user interface. On my list of tech things to do is a course on machine learning/dat modeling for AI. That is where my interest lies.

So... there are no shortage of ways to keep the brain engaged. You just have to choose to do this, and not get sucked into couch or non-productive computer activities .

 

[engineernerd]

The reason I ask is brain health issues run in my family. We are relatively fit and don't have history of cancer, heart disease or other physical ailments. I watched many family members deteriorate mentally and I wish to delay that as much as possible in my case through mental exercise, calisthenics and stimulation. I see many friends and ex-colleagues retire to Netflix and the couch. I ask about something simple like, "Have you checked out ChatGPT?" and the answer is frequently no, this being from people I know for a fact if they were still active and working would probably be all over it. Their response is usually I'm really spending my time binge-watching (whatever the heck that means) this or that on Netflix. It's great, you should check it out. Uhhh, I don't know what to say at that point.

Sounds like you have two separate concerns. One is your fear of getting a brain health issue like others in your family. The other is fear of losing respect for yourself if you turn out like the friends and colleagues you now view with contempt.

Seems to me your best bet for solving the first issue is learning as much as you can about what might cause these brain issues. If possible, try to see what your family members might have done "wrong." Ideas about health are evolving fast, and a lot of what used to be thought of as healthy is now being questioned. The best diet for heart health, for instance, may turn out not to be the best diet for brain health. The good news is most scientific papers nowadays are "open source" so you can read them without having to pay.

As for the second issue, hopefully you have at least a couple of friends and former colleagues with whom you can maintain rewarding relationships in retirement. If not, you will have to find new friends, perhaps by developing a new interest.

 

[skyking1]

I am not an engineer. I do however enjoy tech and building servers and learning applications for them, having started with FreeBSD2.x back in the windows 95/98 days.
I fell out of it for quite a few years now.
I am so excited to install DC lighting in the new house! It has a Raspberry Pi as the brains of it, and it will emulate several different systems and integrate with various applications. I spent an hour on the phone with them tonight and we are doing it.
This old dog will learn some new tricks.

 

[sturbridge]

Another retired engineer, but engineering wasn't the sole focus of my life like it is with some. I do a lot of Cousera classes online and instead of getting better/deeper at stuff i already know, i usually go for the stuff i missed along the way: basic science, art,music, history. I also exercise a minimum of an hour, cleaned up my diet, keep an eye on blood numbers. I recently added classes through an Osher life long learning program and made a number of friends through local groups. Isolation seems to be correlated with poorer aging outcomes.

 

[big-papa]

^^^^^^^

I feel much better now. I've never owned a GPS!

Not even a mobile phone with a GPS built in?

 

[Midpack]

I am an engineer and basically a problem solver. My brain is always active as I am wired to always come up with a solution for any sort of "problem" that I see. Sometimes when people suggest wild ideas, my brain would go into overdrive to come up with a path to make it work, and when it does not see a path, I would tell the folks that it just wouldn't work because....

I read and research alot on any topic that interests me at the moment. I "cannot" help myself. I work on a ton of word puzzles and some number/equation driven puzzles each day. Generally I don't watch movies because I have ADD and cannot be focused. I also find them boring and not mentally stimulating. However, I do watch a ton of golf because I am an avid golfer, sub consciously always trying to learn something from them.

It is hard to imagine that my brain will waste away as I age or succumb to brain disease, but who knows.

+1. I could have written this post, with one exception. And I’d add I am on my desktop Mac every day, after retiring 13+ years ago. Also as for books, I read non fiction exclusively, it’s been decades since I read any fiction…

 

[audreyh1]

Folks trying to follow research/breakthroughs on dementia including Alzheimer’s probably want to follow this guy. There are several other people worth following but this is a good start. These two videos cover some of the latest most promising information.

Nick Norowitz is an expert on metabolism and dementia PhD and now also a medical doctor MD. He regularly publishes videos on the topic. Here are a couple of his videos.

On the new revelations that inhibiting a certain enzyme in the brain lets the brain heal from even extensive damage:

And various things to stave off dementia and even if you have the genes that make it more likely:

Bonus: If you go down this big rabbit hole you will keep your brain seriously engaged and exercised for quite a while!