What do you enjoy/hate about retirement

al_yrpal

I love the summer, but hate the winter, thats because I love to be outdoors, especially in the early evening.

Too many things in our world are too regulated. To get away from all that I enjoy sailing (almost completely not regulated, but 'they' and the French are trying), and the allotment. http://alyrpal.blogspot.com/ . Here you can carry out simple manual tasks confident that some jobsworth is not going to turn up to enforce some politically correct rule or other. Pigeons ate my cabbages, we ate the pigeons!

I think most people missed this...

kenshaz

seven-day-weekend wrote:

I'm not wishing my life away.....I'm just looking forward!

Sure.good to do that,we had a house in Orgiva Andalucia

brodev

kenshaz wrote:

Why am I keeping my fire service uniform,fancy dress parties or am I sad,please do not answer that.

Perhaps you wish to audition for a part in the Village People.

kenshaz

brodev wrote:

Perhaps you wish to audition for a part in the Village People.

Would you sponser me if I got the part :j:

clearvisor

JackieO wrote: »

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 ?

Jackie, your doing very weel by the sounds of things,But hopefully i can make it even better, i was pulling some stinging nettles up in my sons garden, and thought hang on there's some thing these to four leaves that are good for you.( apart from steaping in a bucket of water as tonic for plants)so went int o google and found it, You need the top four leaves either tow up and two down, ,Wash them, place two lots in a mug of boilling water, (I stand mine until cold and I make 3 mugs, which is daily dose) strain and drink)Results about third day you will feel on top of the world, Why pay £10 for a bottle when yu can pickit free in countyside or garden, Let me know how you get on.Herbs with Similar Uses as: Stinging Nettleallergic rhinitis anemia arthritis benign prostatic hyperplasia blood sugar, high cough diuretic eczema gout infection inflammation insect bites and stings joint disorders joint pain kidney stones muscular pain osteoarthritis rheumatoid arthritis sprains and strains urinary tract infection in women

clearvisor

The other thing is you no longer have to hold on things or anyone to get up!a friend of mine who's husband hands were closed up , can now open and shut them,Thats worth alot,

suzy_g

Hi I loved reading this thread, I shouldn't be here really as i am 48 and my husband is 50, I have to work till I am 65 now what im I afraid we have no private pensions as we never had enough money to put by as the kids were growing up.we do own a house it will be paid for in about 7 or 8 years so maybe there is hope for us too, what i look forward to is traveling i hope this will be possible financially when we retire.

margaretclare

suzy_g wrote: »

Hi I loved reading this thread, I shouldn't be here really as i am 48 and my husband is 50, I have to work till I am 65 now what im I afraid we have no private pensions as we never had enough money to put by as the kids were growing up.we do own a house it will be paid for in about 7 or 8 years so maybe there is hope for us too, what i look forward to is travelling i hope this will be possible financially when we retire.

Neither did many of us (have enough to put by while children growing up). However, DH and I are still saving at 72 because we don't know what the future will hold or what we may need. But we do enjoy life as well! Our Niagara holiday had to be put on hold because I fractured my pelvis, but there are other things we're planning on doing.

You can save at any age, provided you have spare income! As Martin suggests, your ISA allowance is a good place to start.

Margaret

Nosy_Nora

I was planning to work on till at least 68 as I had a bank loan to pay off, but last year my DP got lung cancer and I had to have so much time off to look after him that I was getting more and more stressed. So I took the plunge and retired at the end of May this year.

I thought I might be bored, or worried about money, but I'm not. As we've not got married, I can't get any state pernsion for him, but he gets DLA, which ne didn't bother to apply for till I stopped work. That's going into the roof fund, and we live on my pension and the 2.5p from work pension that only started 10 years afo so hadn't much in it and a lodger who might go any time, I suppose.

I am able to spend lots of time with my granddaughter, and with Him Indoors who is still afraid of the big C coming back, though the oncologist says it won't. He had a bad reaction to chemotherapy, only one session and that half killed him. He spends most of his time in bed SUFFERING, but it doesn't get to me the way it did while I was trying to work.

I am strangely contented. I have umpteen cats in the house plus four who come to be fed each morning= owners just leave them when they move, I think. I have threee Monsters and two grandmonsters, I'm getting a step grandmonster next year when my eldest finally gets married. I'm off hrt and the horrible exhaustion has gone away because I can go with it.

We can live on relatively little because we don't smoke, drink or have holidays as DP is also agarophobic and was an alkie who stopped drinking just before I met him. The lump sums and a small silver handshake from work have paid off the Huge Loan so I have £250 a month more than I was afraid of. We have a Roof Fund and a Funeral Fund, all we need really.

And we each have a spreadsheet! Have done for years.