Adapting to retirement

cfw1994

Marcon said:

I think there's a lot in the question 'Are you retiring to stop doing something you don't want to do (work), or to start doing things you do want to do?'.

If you retire, for whatever reason, and there is nothing you want to do, and nobody with whom to (not) do it, the transition from work to retirement is pretty much guaranteed to be tricky.

I think this is spot on.

I’ve always done my utmost to have a “life-work” balance, with a goal to end my career early….& always say that you need to retire TO something, not FROM it.

I have seen one pal who I feel struggles with it - he doesn’t have a wide group of friends, but enough interest in his hobbies to keep him ticking over.  That said, many of my friends (ages 58-onwards) are now retired, and most relish the new-found freedoms 🤷‍♂️

I do feel you need to put an amount of thought to things you want to do post retirement.  

I also don’t think that needs to be cast in stone, & I committed myself to not taking on any regular tasks in my first year, to see how things went.

Good luck,OP - everyone is different 👍

mark55man

I read the article, and felt it was a little toxic - I'm 60 (male) and never felt that alpha-male my job is is my value mindset - so I guess I'm not going to miss it, or have that "loss" deny me contentment.  I'm certainly not going to miss those men who lived like that.  My status is semi retired (6months off, then a final 6 months at work) then gone

I agree with the need to think about after retirement if you have a chance, but for me the worry is more about decumulating money than decumulating time

theoretica

I know some people who retired and then took on hugely valuable major volunteer roles, in effect part time jobs, but without many of the bits they had least enjoyed about work and chosen to accomplish something they felt worthwhile.

Stubod

..if you do not have anything to retire to, do not underestimate the impact of suddenly finding that you have around 50 hours a week to "fill"...particularly if you retire during the Winter months...(the initial novelty and day time telly can soon wear off!!)

SarahB16

theoretica said:

I know some people who retired and then took on hugely valuable major volunteer roles, in effect part time jobs, but without many of the bits they had least enjoyed about work and chosen to accomplish something they felt worthwhile.

I think there are lots of benefits to volunteering when you retire if you have the time especially if this is within your local community.  

I'm still quite a few years away from retirement however I do hear many older people say that as you get older your social circle decreases.  I can see that as you get older it becoming harder to visit friends that live further away so widening your circle of friends locally (and perhaps by volunteering in your local community) I see as being both beneficial to you but also your local community/the organisation that you volunteer for.    

zagfles

mark55man said:

I read the article, and felt it was a little toxic - I'm 60 (male) and never felt that alpha-male my job is is my value mindset - so I guess I'm not going to miss it, or have that "loss" deny me contentment.  I'm certainly not going to miss those men who lived like that.  My status is semi retired (6months off, then a final 6 months at work) then gone

I agree with the need to think about after retirement if you have a chance, but for me the worry is more about decumulating money than decumulating time

Yes the article is very US centric, where for a lot of men, work is their life, long hours, hardly any holiday etc.  I'm three quarters retired and have found no difficultly whatsoever adapting, my social life is better than when I was at work full time, my physical fitness is better, I have no difficulty filling my time with things I enjoy, things that keep both brain and body active. I waste less time watching rubbish on TV than I used to when working, in fact it's very rare I watch live TV these days (today's a big exception, tennis & football!), I just record or stream anything I fancy.

This thread's worth a read What to do with all your time? - Page 3 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

prowla

I'm not planning to retire; my work is interesting, keeps my brain active, and gives me a decent income.

People who retire turn a grey colour and go and play bingo.

I still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up!

Sarahspangles

OH retired a couple of years ago, and I’m on countdown. A few years ago, if you asked us what we were planning to do in retirement, it would have revolved around providing help to our parents and grandchildren. As well as the usual ‘lots of holidays’. However we’re no longer needed by parents (sadly) and grandchildren are hardly a twinkle.

We both feel our careers were/are ‘worthwhile’ in terms of society. I sometimes catch myself thinking OH’s hobbies are pointless, even though he’s busy and happy. Meanwhile I’m not sure how to retire, because previous generations of women in my family were mostly housewives and their routine barely changed as they ticked past 60. There are certainly home-based activities that I haven’t had time to do, but I’m not retiring to become a housewife.

kimwp

SarahB16 said:

theoretica said:

I know some people who retired and then took on hugely valuable major volunteer roles, in effect part time jobs, but without many of the bits they had least enjoyed about work and chosen to accomplish something they felt worthwhile.

I think there are lots of benefits to volunteering when you retire if you have the time especially if this is within your local community.  

I'm still quite a few years away from retirement however I do hear many older people say that as you get older your social circle decreases.  I can see that as you get older it becoming harder to visit friends that live further away so widening your circle of friends locally (and perhaps by volunteering in your local community) I see as being both beneficial to you but also your local community/the organisation that you volunteer for.    

I think volunteering or a worthwhile job is the way to go once an income is no longer required. My gran is sadly in a home with dementia now, but spent 30+ years volunteering with all sorts of organisations after her retirement and had a huge network and busy life as a result.

BikingBud

prowla said:

I'm not planning to retire; my work is interesting, keeps my brain active, and gives me a decent income.

People who retire turn a grey colour and go and play bingo.

I still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up!

Do you have to be a "grown up" to retire🤪