Retirement Regrets

barnstar2077

MetaPhysical said:

Your remaining time in this mortal coil is your biggest asset, never, ever forget that.  You can be shuffled off of said coil very quickly so whether work or fun, whatever YOU want to do is what matters.

Charles De Gaulle said that graveyards are full of indispensable men.  How right he was.

Many people where I work stay into their sixties and even seventies before retiring, clocking up thirty or forty years.  A few times I have seen people stay for over five decades!  A few weeks after they leave it is like they never even worked there.  If you mention that Bob would normally have handled this kind of a problem etc, they say "Bob who?"

Think of work as a means to an end and live the life you want to!

jim8888

I can't understand why people don't exercise and keep fit, especially once you reach your fifties and sixties. Surely it is an absolute no-brainer in this day and age? There seems to be a cohort of retirees at my local gym and I often wonder what proportion of their age group they represent? How many over-sixties are active gym members going three or four times a week and working up a sweat? When you're retired you have so much time on your hands it seems to me there's no excuse for not taking care of your health, and that means that you must - if you physically can - do some serious exercise. From my peer group (now in their sixties), the main excuses for not doing any seems to be a lack of time, a (severe) lack of inclination or the feeling that it's too late to start now. One of the biggest proponents of all these excuses has just recently started going to the gym and it's transformed him - his weight has dropped, his blood pressure has reduced, his attitude and outlook has totally improved. Why this message, about the incredible benefits and necessity of exercise, isn't getting through to the majority of the population (not just the elderly) really puzzles me. 

GazzaBloom

I'm retiring at the end of this year, a few months before my 58th birthday. It's pretty much the earliest I can go financially for a moderate lifestyle. My wife is already retired.

I may consider lower paid, less stressful, part time work locally without the daily 70 mile round trip commute if I feel the inclination next year or beyond.

I'm currently building a list of goals for next year to aim for, things I must achieve, plus a list of ideas for things to fill in the rest of the time. Mainly low cost social, leisure, hobbies and cheapish travel based stuff.

I asked Chat GPT to recommend 12 scenic and interesting towns/villages in the UK and it's a cool list that's been formulated, never heard of some of these places (Bibury in the Cotswolds for one). I'm thinking we plan to visit 1 a month, stay overnight, AirBnB, low cost B&B, hotel, research the areas history and make a 2 day trip out of each. Write up a journal with some pics of each trip. Rinse and repeat the next year so we get to see many more places in the UK than we would normally.

You're a long time dead, and the clocks ticking...

barnstar2077

jim8888 said:

I can't understand why people don't exercise and keep fit, especially once you reach your fifties and sixties. Surely it is an absolute no-brainer in this day and age? There seems to be a cohort of retirees at my local gym and I often wonder what proportion of their age group they represent? How many over-sixties are active gym members going three or four times a week and working up a sweat? When you're retired you have so much time on your hands it seems to me there's no excuse for not taking care of your health, and that means that you must - if you physically can - do some serious exercise. From my peer group (now in their sixties), the main excuses for not doing any seems to be a lack of time, a (severe) lack of inclination or the feeling that it's too late to start now. One of the biggest proponents of all these excuses has just recently started going to the gym and it's transformed him - his weight has dropped, his blood pressure has reduced, his attitude and outlook has totally improved. Why this message, about the incredible benefits and necessity of exercise, isn't getting through to the majority of the population (not just the elderly) really puzzles me. 

There is a great documentary on Netflix called "Live to 100" where they discuss the importance of exercise (among other topics.)
  Surprisingly the long lived don't seem to go to the gym, they are busy, active people, who happen to exercise above average in their day to day lives.  The implication being that purpose combined with exercise is hard to beat.

Ciprico

The other side of the coin is that recent retirees injure themselves playing too much too soon of the sport they love and overdo it.

A physio told me this at our tennis club....

SouthCoastBoy

I've always been keen on exercise, play golf at the weekend, weather permitting, and run around 30 miles a week, along with I walk most places if I can, rather than take the car. Also I do a bit of cycling, around 100 miles a month. Once I retire I plan to do more of the above.

bjorn_toby_wilde

I’ve never been a gym person, preferring walking and cycling to exercising indoors, but I’m considering it now. This awful weather has kept me indoors much more than usual this winter and the prospect of exercising indoors followed by a swim/sauna is attractive.

It’s either that or buy a canoe 

Quantifier

jim8888 said:

I can't understand why people don't exercise and keep fit, especially once you reach your fifties and sixties. Surely it is an absolute no-brainer in this day and age? There seems to be a cohort of retirees at my local gym and I often wonder what proportion of their age group they represent? How many over-sixties are active gym members going three or four times a week and working up a sweat? When you're retired you have so much time on your hands it seems to me there's no excuse for not taking care of your health, and that means that you must - if you physically can - do some serious exercise. From my peer group (now in their sixties), the main excuses for not doing any seems to be a lack of time, a (severe) lack of inclination or the feeling that it's too late to start now. One of the biggest proponents of all these excuses has just recently started going to the gym and it's transformed him - his weight has dropped, his blood pressure has reduced, his attitude and outlook has totally improved. Why this message, about the incredible benefits and necessity of exercise, isn't getting through to the majority of the population (not just the elderly) really puzzles me. 

Agree with this. My mum is 80 and is an inspiration. She still runs marathons - in about 5.5 hours, one of the fastest in the word for her age and has travelled the world doing them, since she has automatic entry to any she chooses (London marathon again this year). She's also in the top 3 in the UK for park runs doing the 5k in about 28 minutes at 80 years old. My dad is the same age and can't run now due to new knees but the pair of them still go to the gym 5 days a week. He retired at 49 and has never looked back, lucky enough to have amazing government final salary pension. My wife and I plan to retire in 3 years (when I'm 56 and she will be 53) and have lots of plans including doing a ski season or two, cycling up some more mountains (we've done some of the Alps and Ventoux), paddle boarding around European lakes and buying a new house with a well kitted out home gym. Part of our retirement plan is to move to France about when I'm 60 and the kids are both adults. We lived in Paris for 3.5 years in 2008 and have basic French although will need to brush up. We also own a small ski apartment in France, which we will be using very extensively when we retire.

jim8888

Since I've retired I find I spend more time on exercise than I actually want to, what with golf, walking, cycling, swimming, stretch classes, spin classes and so on, but I STILL feel I've time on my hands! I'm an early riser and am usually up for the back of six, with papers read, three cups of coffee drunk, internet surfed and daily journal written by nine o'clock. For me the challenge then begins, how to fill the hours from nine to five that I used to work! I can't read or watch TV during this time, I just can't relax and enjoy it. I want to be doing something and hence exercise often fills these hours. 

DIYPhil

I’m 62, 2 year retired after working for 40 years in the legal sector. I’m loving retirement life, no regrets for me. I’ve led an active / healthy lifestyle for many years and agree on the need to and significant benefits of exercise. But eating nutritiously must equally apply. “You can’t out train a poor diet”. I like to experiment with new recipes and my latest cookbook find is “The Colour Fit Method” by Dr Tom Little, a performance and nutrition specialist. Full of nutritious and delicious recipes. Recommended.