OT - Retirement

Although I call it off topic, I wouldn’t even have considered retiring if not for my experience with Prostate Cancer, as well as heart disease and some other health issues that members of my family have gone through.

Nevertheless, my official retirement date is Dec 31st, just 5 weeks away. And for Practical purposes, I’m done on The day before Thanksgiving, as I head for Florida 2 days later, for 4 months. Once in Florida I’ll log on to my work portal every day entail my official termination date, but really only be reactive, answering emails and an occasional phone call that comes in. My partner, and successor, who is buying me out, has already taken over management if most of my clients.
I’ve spent the last few days cleaning out my office, and while I’m excited about being able to do what I want, when I want where I want, it’s still a little sad, and very strange, after getting up every day for 45 years and going to work.
I’ve had guys tell me it’s great, and others who’ve warned me about the pitfalls.

So I’m really curious to hear from any guys who’ve gone through it. What were your experiences, what would u have done/planned differently? Pitfalls? Things to watch out for?

I’ve got interests that I think will keep me busy. Golf. Photography, learning to play guitar. Working out. All thinks that I’ve wanted to spend more time on but just haven’t had the time to do.
Still, I’m a little apprehensive.

So I thought it would be interesting to hear from guys who’ve had both positive and negative experiences, dealing with retirement.
thoughts appreciated.

I've been retired for 8 years now. Retired in 2011 at 65 1/2 as the company I was then working for was being bought by yet another company. I spent the last decade of my paid working life staying ahead of the moving train of mergers - worked for 7 companies in 10 years, even though several of those were the same job at the same desk, but with a new business card. I don't miss any of that in the least. Though I do miss the decade in the 90s when my wife and I had our own business with a handful of full-time staff plus some contract writers and illustrators. But that was then.

Now could not be better -- okay, maybe a little bit better. My retired life includes being a director and treasurer of a small non-profit land trust - with the meetings, grant applications, tax filings, etc. that go with my grand title; also being an appointed member of a town subcommittee that manages a 62 acre conservation land plus a 25 acre pond -- with the meetings, grant applications, and intense local politics that go with that. Beyond the paperwork management, I also oversee the physical management of the property. I along with a couple of volunteers I have trained, maintain the conservation land - mowing walking trails, posting signs (e.g., bird nesting area), cutting back invasive growth (a job that is like shoveling back the tide) monitoring and removing invasive aquatic plants in the pond (a good excuse for summer evening canoe sojourns with my wife); supervising Boy Scout, Girl Scout, and student projects on the property; maintaining equipment, cutting and clearing fallen trees and limbs, etc.

And then there is my own property - a 120 year old house that I'm doing my best to restore to top condition while I'm able and knowing that my wife will likely be living here for a decade or more after I'm gone.

And in my spare time, I'm moving beyond a lifetime of playing "all three chords" on guitar and learning jazz changes, etc.

There isn't enough time to do it all. And if there was, there is more I want to do - mandolin, banjo, lap steel.

I don't miss paid work the least little bit. And I hope, Prato, you can do something similar with your retirement.
Jim

Ken, Just want to congratulate you on your upcoming retirement! It's like any life changing event there will be times of great joy when spending time with family, times of challenge and frustration, but mostly you will wonder how you ever had time to work because the hours shrink and go by faster everyday little things that used to take an hr to complete like mowing the yard might now take 2 hrs or not get done at all because you had to stop and visit with the neighbor and solve the world problems. Or you get on the HW Forum and spend too much time!! LOL Larry

Congratulations, Pratoman. I’m in a similar situation, and was supposed to be done 12/31 after 32 years in state government work here in Florida. My wife is younger and still wants to work. She went out of town for a week and I realized this would be my daily life, and unlike Steve n Dallas, I’m admittedly not a lone wolf. I need to be around people. I don’t have any retired guy friends and with that glimpse into my near future I decided to withdraw my retirement. Since I’m just starting ADT and Zytiga and don’t know how that’s going to go yet, I decided the best plan for me was to not have a plan. After all, if there’s no plan nothing can go wrong with the plan. When I made that move, the pressure was off, so now it’s one day at a time for me. My employer will work with me as much or as little as I want to work making any accommodations I want and I think I’ll know when it’s the right time to go. I envy those who have no problems being alone, filling their time, and being happy. I just need to figure out how to do that before I pull the trigger on retirement. Best to you in your retirement.

Thanks for the replies guys, and for the congrats.
Lots of different approaches and reading your experiences is helpful

For me, I think my biggest fear is too much time in front of the television. I’ve got to fight that, so I’m intent in being use during the day.i think a routine , at least in the first half of the day is important.
I need to be around people although I don’t mind some downtime alone here and there.
Also, this isn’t totally cold turkey fir me. I’ve been working 4 days a week the last two years and over the last 2 months I’ve worked less, as I have been handing clients overto my partner one at a time.

It will be interesting

Pratoman -

Some excellent comments so far, as I would expect from the so many knowlegable posters here.

I can also probably speak to this since I'm one of the people here who has been retired now for several years, in my case about 12 so far, beginning in December 2007.

As you probably already know, we have had retirement discussions here on the forum before, whole threads in fact, with the sharing of some very good information and experience as a result.

Below I have linked to three of such earlier discussions, ones which I remember as being especially useful, and which, taken together, I think answer a lot of the questions you are now posing.

General retirement issues:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=4071931

Retiring early:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=4099553

and this next one I think is especially valuable, and I definitely recommend taking a look at it. Its theme is "some things the planning guides may not have covered," and it presents some observations based on my own retirement that I hadn't seen mentioned in other website discussions:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=35&m=4073174&g=4073455

I think retiring is like so many of life's other major experiences in that it can seem intimidating at first, but, once done, we say to ourselves "Gee, that wasn't so bad!" And if there is a single commonality in all the aspects of it, and one that I probably emphasized repeatedly when I posted in the above links, it's that we as individuals are now totally in charge of our lives. Often this is really for the very first time (no more bosses, no more timetables, etc.) and initially this can be daunting. It's not the way our lives have gone in the past, and we're not used to it.

But one does get used to this "new normal," and even pretty quickly at that, and the empowerment which it brings is satisfying indeed.

So I do recommend that you take a look at the above three links, especially the third one, and hopefully they will help.

But there is one thing for sure that you are doing right at this time. You are on top of this retirement business now, before implementation of it begins to happen, and so you are planning and taking the necessary steps now to make sure it all gets done properly and comes out right!

Very, very good!

Pratoman,
Congrats on your decision to retire. Like you, health concerns drove me to an earlier retirement. Life is too short, in my mind, to not focus on doing things you really enjoy doing. The only pitfall I encountered, initially, was not keeping busy enough. Too much sofa time and not enough time living life to the fullest. It was PCa that really got me off the sofa, as I was diagnosed with that about three years into my retirement. I realized that life might be shorter than I originally thought, so that really motivated me to get busy with things like volunteering for civic and non-profit organizations, getting involved more with my 7-year old daughter's school and overall education, doing pottery, and spending more time at the gym to get myself as strong as possible to improve my health and self esteem. I also take more time learning how to shop / cook healthier meals for me and my family. Again, the biggest pitfall for me was not keeping as busy as possible early on. Please continue to stay active with this forum - your input is very much appreciated. Enjoy!

As I recall, you're a financial advisor. Ever thought of using your knowledge in some sort of volunteer fashion in retirement? An educational seminar by someone that has nothing to sell could be very valuable to a lot of people.

Great comments
@alephnull.... you’re fishing is my golf. I suck at it but plan to get better
@81gyguy.... I will def look at those links, I don’t recall them (probably why I’m doing the right thing LOL)
@MotownPaul, .... thanks, I’ll def stay active here for the duration, it’s become part of my routine
@Andrew.... soon enough bro. Don’t rush your life away.
@Vince... the health pitfalls are the ones we don’t have much control over. Congrats on continuing to learn. I’m looking for opportunities to do that. It’s all about timing fir me, splitting my time between 2 homes. There’s always online learning. But I think I’d rather be among people.
@Michael, you are right, good memory. One thing I’m thinking about is coaching some younger guys. I hired a coach, paid him a lit of money but doubled my business in 3 years. I would do it with younger guys for a small fee, not fir the money.
@Mumbo...thanks. They SS and Medicare stuff you listed are all things that I’ve got covered, being a financial advisor. My “manana” is “este dia “. No time like the present.

If you end up with a new Corvette, boat, and RV then in Florida you are just another snowbird ;) After the initial shock wears off and a new routine starts to flow then it can easily turn into a groundhog day movie scene. Sounds like you have a good handle on it though. Congrats.

Sorry, forgot about your financial background. After 44 years of full time work, the pace car of a job is gone and I woke up at 5:30am on Monday and had everything done by 8:00am including the newspaper. What do you do at 8:00am other than get on the computer and catch up on a few things? It seems like I was raring to go but the rest of the world is not retired. You can do appointments at any time yet the scheduler says three weeks is earliest appointment. The bank is not open yet, the shelves are being stocked at the stores, and the mail comes later than you think when you are waiting on something. Good time to workout I suppose after years of doing that in the evenings.

TJ has it about right, just takes time to adapt to the new life and some Type A's never do. Enjoy the new year.

What I learned from retirement...you can only live in the present...after a year of weaning off working...i.e. working as a dispatcher for a local copter . then at a local fitness center and finally a 6 mos stint in OKC working for the Sooners(OU) as a contract instructor for new air traffic controller hires...I stopped workink completely....umm...oh yeah...living in the present...so at this point...and more so as time passed(retired 14 years) I intellectually knew I Ihad worked since I was 12 years old(caddy) but the reality was and is like I have never worked a day in my life (like ya know when you know intellectually you are going to die...but at a certain time you really get what that means)..now... my wife still packs me a lunch...and between surfing and the gym...a routine has developed...morning is mine...wifes morning is hers and the rest of the time is our time...it couldn't be better....enjoy retirement its the last hurra...don't screw it up with need less angst...get in shape stay in shape....take the hits and the misses and most importantly of all...do not beat yourself up...that's the rest of the folks job...and if your real good at taking this advice...fear not...oh fear not...the other folks will more than do their job...Oh last words on this...you will be at deaths door sooner than you think and past present and future will be right there with you...at that point life begins and as Jack Palance said (other than "prove it"...think Shane)...believe it or not

Pratoman,
I have been retired for two years. Probably would have worked a bit longer to help increase my monthly retirement check. But Prostate Cancer changed all of that. It changed my whole mindset on how I view life and what I want out of life. And in the back of my mind, my dad dying at age 68 weighed heavily on how I wanted to live however much time I have left. For me, I haven't regretted one bit retiring at age 63. Sleeping as late as I want, staying up as late as I want, doing nothing or doing something, the freedom and less stress are so amazing. And of course now it is so much easier to schedule doctor's appointments and procedures that seem to occur more frequently. My wife and I have had the opportunity to take a couple of trips that we always dreamed about. In the past, I would be getting ready to go to work about this time. Now, I can just pour myself another cup of coffee and enjoy they day!