What do you enjoy/hate about retirement

[Deleted User]

What are the things that you enjoy about being retired or even hate about it.
I enjoy;
Not having to get up at 05.30.a.m. for work
Seeing my grandchildren growing up
Having time to talk to friends and neighbours
Looking out of the window at the rain and knowing I haven't got to be out in it
Going to Adult-education classes
Mainly just having the time to do what ever I want to

I don't like
The sad loss of my husband
Being treated as though having reached retirement I am suddenly rather senile
Having my joints aching more than they used to,and not being able to garden as I once could
Retirement is, apart from losing my husband, great and I wouldn't swop it for going back to work .Can any of you think of any other pros & cons ?

hermit-crab

In the beginning I hated time. Now there is not enough of it. It takes some adjusting to but when you get used to it retirement can give you oportunities to do things you thought you never would. I do wish my wife was here to share it with me.

[Deleted User]

hermit-crab wrote:

In the beginning I hated time. Now there is not enough of it. It takes some adjusting to but when you get used to it retirement can give you oportunities to do things you thought you never would. I do wish my wife was here to share it with me.

I know what you mean,its that odd time when you think 'Oh He/she would like/hate/laugh at this/that or t'other' I have been wodowed almost three years now and still sometimes think 'Oh I'll get some 'whatever' as Alan likes that' then remember that he's no longer here. It takes a lot of getting used to and I am lucky that my two daughters are very close to me and almost instinctivly know when Mum is feeling a bit blue. yesterday I would have been married for 42 years and one of them took me out for the day and I stayed to dinner and the other sent me some flowers. They always make sure that bbirthdays ,anniversaries Christmas and even Valentines day I am never left to get down or depressed. They are my two greatest gifts that my husband left me and I couldn't imagine a day when I didn't speak to one or the other of them even on the phone. It can't replace him , but it does help no end.

jmf

Although not 60 until later this year I have not worked for nearly 6 years due to illness. At first I found it difficult not working as I am one of those people who loved work. I missed my work colleagues and the general buzz of meeting new people. Gradually I became used to being at home alone.

My husband became ill and we had a terrible 2004, the only highlight being our son's wedding.

Last year my husband retired and how much better our lives have become!
There is no need to get up early. A leisurely breakfast looking at the garden. A couple of walks a day and seeing the changes of the seasons. Free tickets for the pictures at least once a month thanks to this website. Shopping is done when required and we spend a morning doing it as our pace rather than rushing round after work with everyone else. Being able to visit friends and spend the afternoon talking and laughing knowing there is nothing urgent to be fitted in. Being able to stay up late to watch a TV programme as we have no need to rush the following morning.

There is not as much money as we used to have but we are managing by being careful with what we have. Again Martin's Money Savers is a great help.

Our first grandchild is due soon so being retired will allow us more time for visits.

We are really enjoying retirement and look at the positive side of it. We worked nearly all our lives so now feel we deserve this time and we are certainly making the most of it.

I love this time of the morning being on the computer and using this website. I hear the neighbours going to work and know I don't have to!

margaretclare

As others have said, it's a wonderful feeling knowing that you don't have to go out unless you want to.

I've recently been recovering from major hip reconstruction surgery - early December, just now able to walk without a stick and getting back to driving again. And with all the frosty nights we've had, I sit here at the computer and look out of the window, see the neighbours defrosting their cars and rushing off to work. I no longer have to do any of that! My husband and I have been waiting until 'the streets were aired' before we went out. One frosty Monday morning he went out early to get a freshly-baked loaf from the little bakery (use it or lose it!) and he saw a queue of about 30 people waiting outside the Post Office for it to open. And came back to find me doing my internet banking, checking what comes in and what goes out, how grateful I've been not to have to step outside the door unless I really want to.

Yesterday I asked him to show me exactly what's under the car bonnet, because I'm doing a 'Better Driving' course run by the local Advanced Drivers and taught by the Police. We went out after that, and when we were in the town centre he suggested buying a kebab and going round the airport to eat it. So we did. Then we decided to go down to a local nature reserve on the estuary, the tide was in, and we saw flocks of turnstones, beautiful little birds with distinctive brown markings. They don't look much on the ground but are lovely when they fly.

One day I said to him: 'Given that I need some new hair, shall I enter this competition to win hair like Chantelle'. Now, Chantelle is a local girl who has recently shot to fame through a TV programme which I don't watch, she was the last one to be in the house when everyone else had been expelled. She has very long blonde hair extensions. And my husband leaned over me, kissed me very gently and said: 'Don't ever change. I love you just as you are hair or no hair'. And just yesterday he said how lucky he was, he has a home and a wife who loves him...Given that he stood on this doorstep on 5th November 1997 looking like a refugee, with all his worldly goods packed into or on top of his rusty old car, he had nothing then. We've worked together and done pretty well over the last few years. We're a long way from being poor even though we're not rich. We both have pensions etc in our own right and we co-operate. We haven't got a worry in the world.

Aunty Margaret

BertieMeldrew

I was so lucky to be able to "cease working" (I don't call it retirement... I'm busier now than I have ever been - and love it) last September - at the ripe old age of 56 years and 5 months.

We took a considerable drop in total income but I have absolutely no regrets. I lost a very dear friend suddenly last June at the age of 56 - we'd been great pals for 45 years - and things like that put a real perspective on your life!

Things I love?

- spending far more time with my wife and our menagerie
- having our grand-daughters at half-term etc
- not wasting my life working for a US Company that had NO appreciation of its people
- getting the jobs done that I couldn't do because I was working
- finding out we can manage on a reduced income - and without too many sacrifices
- pursuing my 1001 hobbies

Things I hate

- only having 24 hours in the day

Bertie

KMK

I retired last July and I absolutely love it. I can't think of any downside to it.

Things I like;

Leisurely breakfasts
Holidays in term time (Used to teach)
Reading the paper in the morning
Going for walks on beach. (Never had time when working.)
Shopping when it is quiet
Using the library
Lunch with friends
Staying put when the weather is awful
Listening to the radio
Knowing I can put things off
Surfing the net
Just having time to myself
No stress from work
Enjoying the day
Watching an old movie on a winter's afternoon (Bad Day at Black Rock)

People said that I would be bored but they were wrong. I am "time rich" for the first time in my life.

BertieMeldrew

KMK wrote:

I retired last July and I absolutely love it. I can't think of any downside to it.

Things I like;

Leisurely breakfasts
Holidays in term time (Used to teach)
Reading the paper in the morning
Going for walks on beach. (Never had time when working.)
Shopping when it is quiet
Using the library
Lunch with friends
Staying put when the weather is awful
Listening to the radio
Knowing I can put things off
Surfing the net
Just having time to myself
No stress from work
Enjoying the day
Watching an old movie on a winter's afternoon (Bad Day at Black Rock)

People said that I would be bored but they were wrong. I am "time rich" for the first time in my life.

...oh yes and most of those as well

jennifernil

Reading this, you are making us so jealous! Hubby retires in 18 months (I don't work) and we can hardly wait. So looking forward to being able to please ourselves. We have plans, just hope our health holds up long enough to fulfill them!

We are caravanners so plan to use our lump sum for a new caravan and car and go off to explore Europe for 6 months of the year. Our first grandchild is due any day, so excited, son and DIL have been married nearly 8 years so we were getting anxious.

We also have a 20 year old daughter who we are putting through uni, so still have responsibilities. Life is good right now, just hope it continues like this!!!

BertieMeldrew

jennifernil wrote:

Reading this, you are making us so jealous! Hubby retires in 18 months (I don't work) and we can hardly wait. So looking forward to being able to please ourselves. We have plans, just hope our health holds up long enough to fulfill them!

We are caravanners so plan to use our lump sum for a new caravan and car and go off to explore Europe for 6 months of the year. Our first grandchild is due any day, so excited, son and DIL have been married nearly 8 years so we were getting anxious.

We also have a 20 year old daughter who we are putting through uni, so still have responsibilities. Life is good right now, just hope it continues like this!!!

Good luck... you'll not regret it

BertieMeldrew

One other thing just occured to me...

When I was younger we used to joke that people "didn't know what day it was".

Since I retired I have to think really hard about what day it is! Remembering the date is even harder!

It's GREAT :j