anyone else have a hard time dealing with retirement?
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@brenn24179 Your earlier post said you enjoy biking and hiking - any chance that there is either a hiking or biking/cycling club in your area? One of the hiking clubs in our area actually has a schedule that includes mid-week day hikes and it is mostly retired folks that go on those. Similarly, a cycling club has a smaller, split-off group that gets together during the day. The post-hike or post-bike socialization is a huge part of these groups.
I know your most recent post suggests that the adjustment is going well, but these are just some thoughts..............0 -
brenn24179 wrote: »WELL SOME TIME HAS PASSED, I have been working at a job and it got so stressful, drained me, terrible coworker and I think I have PTSD from the experience I swear. It gave me an attitude adjustment. I like retirement now. Maybe I had to have a crappy job to realize how nice retirement is. No one bossing me around, giving me advice, telling me what to do sounds pretty good right now!
LOL, I know the feeling! Glad to hear you are adjusting!
I am looking forward to it (12/31/17), but have kind of mixed feelings as I work very long hours and am kind of wondering what on earth I will do with all the "extra" hours in the day.
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I was fortunate to retire almost 4 years ago at age 56. I was done with the corporate world. It honestly took a couple of years to accept and start to enjoy. I had too much of my identity associated with my high pressure job.
Now I have no idea how I had time to work.
There's a great resource for people who are thinking about retirement or have retired at early-retirement.org. It's a great site that allows folks to share experiences with others. It's called early retirement but there's folks on there from 20s to 80s.
Topics include investments, health, what will I do all day...
Actually someone there pointed me pointrd me to MFP.1 -
yes, I found a walking buddy this year, someone I use to work with. My hubby is only 56 so still works.0
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I think it is getting easier also as I get older, I am 63 and some of my friends are beginning to retire so maybe I will have some buddies to do stuff with. Yes, I love being with people!1
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Not retired, but have been laid off a little over 4 months...I HATE it. I don't know how I'd ever handle retirement. For a while I was ok, but the past month or so have been horrible.
Best of luck.
My job was eliminated in a corporate restructuring mid December. I am still officially employed until the end of 2/17. If there are no jobs internally, I'm out. At almost 61 and 37 years employment, I get an actual pension, keep my insurance plus one year pay as severance so not a bad deal.
The first few weeks were fine as it was the holidays, plus I helped one of my sons move out of state. Now it sort of sucks. I workout about 3 hours a day, am rapidly cleaning stuff out of the house. I am definitely going to go back and work someplace. However, I'm holding off until September (if I don't drive myself nuts) to hopefully get a contractor job at my old employer. I had a pretty specialized finance job, and other employers around my area would not pay for that specialized experience, a contract job would.
After September, if no contract work will look at full time employment either in accounting/finance or some other area totally. I just started a personal training certification class at the local JC. May do something with that.
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I found group activities, especially tennis, filled some of the void. I enjoy being part of a team, feeling like you are working side by side to accomplish something (even if it's not that meaningful of a something).0
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Oh, I wish I could answer this question with certainty, but alas I am not quite ready to retire yet. Well, I am actually SO ready to retire right now, but our finances aren't quite where my husband and I agreed they should be before I consider it.
But I have so many plans for retirement. Actually, my retirement will consist of a lot of work for me. But it will be work I love rather than work I get paid for but only like. I don't plan on having time to get bored.
If you are bored why not find something you enjoy and work at it. Whether it's volunteer work, gardening, crafts, whatever. Surely there is something you enjoy other than earning a paycheck.0 -
Been retired for 10 years. Love it!
Always busy doing something. Never a dull moment. Currently spend most of my time cooking and working out.
Would NEVER get a job again. Why bother? I get paid for all the work I did in the past. Get up when I like. Do whatever i want, the way I want whenever I like.
It doesn't get any better that that!!!3 -
I got laid off a very high pressure,very fast paced job 3 yrs ago.I worked that particular job for 5yrs. I used to be an avid reader before that but my mind wouldn't stop racing so i couldn't read untill recently. I wouldn't call myself type A, but I don't like sitting around, I need things to do so, meaningful things, so I'm volunteering alot more now that I retired at the animal rescue I didn't have much time for when I was working. There's nothing wrong with working part time or how ever much you want. We're all different. I don't like it when ppl tell me to relax, I am relaxed doing what I enjoy doing.0
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had to add, I read some of the posts about spouses. my hubby retired in 2001(at 50) for health reasons. He's fine with watching tv, computer & doing some wood working all day. He hardly goes out. It would drive me crazy!! So I just do my thing & go out most every day & give myself a "day off" 1-2 days a week. I thought Id have so much time to catch up on organizing, cleaning house but haven't caught up in 3 years yet/ We recently got another dog (Dec 17). I take my 4 big dogs to dog park on week days, then take the 2 little ones for walk with my friend down the street. when it warms up I want to take new dog to dog park(she's little) Tomorrow is my gym class, I go a bible study, I have to grocery shop, buy pants that fit me ( all mine are too big, yay) with a friend friday, I'm going to start helping a friend who has a chronic health issue clean out her house, volunteer at pet adoptions saturday, church Sunday, visit my kids, gym etc. love it2
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retirement is getting better for me or tolerable especially after working with a difficult person. Finding more things to do the longer I am retired, went biking with hubby yesterday he was off work, he is 7 yrs younger so cant retire yet so we can do things. I work an hr a day for the school so I am sure more stuff will come up for me to get into.1
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brenn24179 wrote: »retirement is getting better for me or tolerable especially after working with a difficult person. Finding more things to do the longer I am retired, went biking with hubby yesterday he was off work, he is 7 yrs younger so cant retire yet so we can do things. I work an hr a day for the school so I am sure more stuff will come up for me to get into.
I envy you Brenn...I am older than my husban too and can hardly wait till I am done with this office job...but like you will likely get another job...something I want to do. I expect however with my husband doing shifts we will have too much time together...lol.
I expect waiting on tables or at a bar somewhere...but that being said I will take time to recoup.
I will keep busy with stuff like flowers, painting the house, mowing the lawn, shovelling, cooking, volunteering at whatever it is I am into at that time.
Getting into yoga maybe etc.1 -
I got laid off a very high pressure,very fast paced job 3 yrs ago.I worked that particular job for 5yrs. I used to be an avid reader before that but my mind wouldn't stop racing so i couldn't read untill recently. I wouldn't call myself type A, but I don't like sitting around, I need things to do so, meaningful things, so I'm volunteering alot more now that I retired at the animal rescue I didn't have much time for when I was working. There's nothing wrong with working part time or how ever much you want. We're all different. I don't like it when ppl tell me to relax, I am relaxed doing what I enjoy doing.
I'm in the same boat. My job was eliminated in mid Dec, 2016. I am still employed technically in a pool in case a job comes open until the end of 2/17, I don't go to work, but have full pay. Assuming no job comes up at the end of 2/17 I'll retire after 37 years with the company. Will get a traditional pension, heath insurance at a reasonable rate and almost a year salary in severance pay.
So far not working sucks. I can go back as a contractor in 6 months which I will look to do. I'm taking a personal trainer certification class because I'm interested in that stuff, may do something with that if contract work in my area doesn't pan out.
I workout 2-3 hours a day, doing some home projects, etc. Would like to volunteer at the animal shelter, but the one closest to me has to have the animals walk the green mile if not adopted. I'd end up with 15 adopted dogs.1 -
I'm 46 and planning this out now so that I have a general idea of what I'm going to do. I once had a doc give me the best description on how the human brain works - like grooves in a record. Our brains are wired for activity and when this stops the action is similar to what happens when a record skips - the needle goes off tracks and is in a holding pattern. When you stop one activity or habit - you have to replace this with another activity or habit. So that 40+ hour work week needs to be replaced with another activity that gives you a reason to get out of bed and have a life of purpose. For me I'm planning on multiple volunteer positions in Scouting and Veterans organizations.
Best of luck to you in finding your new purpose.0 -
I kind of have volunteering in an animal shelter at the back of my mind as well, and am hesitant for the same reason. It would break my heart.
Maybe I could volunteer at a doggy day care place. Moot point for now as I have 10 months and 19 days left till retirement.
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I was off for 6 weeks with knee replacement surgery, and I absolutely loved it (not the surgery, though that went well, but the time off). I cant wait till this time next year. As my parent said when they retired, I dont know how I manage to fit work in with all the other stuff going on. There are so many books to read, so many places to visit, so many experiences to enjoy - bring retirement on!5
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Update: Retirement has been hard but I am getting into things. I got a new cell phone and that has kept me busy learning my smart phone, also been taking some classes at the library which interest me, one of them is bring your electronic device and we will help you. Found a trail where I meet lots of people to walk with. I need to be with people! Hopefully I will come up with more stuff to do.
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I retired young last summer from a high pressure career (engineering).
I am very happy!
I spend my mornings working out (yoga, weights, cardio, swimming) and reading or gardening.
My afternoons are for volunteering, crafts, painting, and doing stuff with my husband.
I am so calm these days. I plan to write at least one more book but have not gotten around to it yet.
For those interested in animal shelter work but afraid of heartbreak.... I hear ya! My solution was to volunteer with a wildlife rehab. I get to work with animals and make a difference without the same emotional overhead as working with dogs/cats. Mostly I feed the resident eagles, owls, falcons, hawks, turtles at the nature center and educate visitors. I get to watch the medical team save lives and support their efforts. I love it!0 -
brenn24179 wrote: »Update: Retirement has been hard but I am getting into things. I got a new cell phone and that has kept me busy learning my smart phone, also been taking some classes at the library which interest me, one of them is bring your electronic device and we will help you. Found a trail where I meet lots of people to walk with. I need to be with people! Hopefully I will come up with more stuff to do.
I can't wait for retirement! But I'm only 50 so I've probably got another 20 years of work ahead of me.
I don't have that need to be with people, so right now I'd be thrilled to pieces if I could work from home ... just hole up in my little back office at home and never go out.
Well, almost never.
I do like getting out for long bicycle rides and walks with my husband. And I love travelling.
I do like taking courses as well, although I'd be happier if there were fewer people around for those. In fact, I'm looking at online options for my degree so that I don't have to interact with people.
Fortunately, I have been able to take 2 short "retirements" ... on one, I cycled around Australia for 3 months with a friend, and then returned to Canada to go to university. On the other more recent one, my husband and I travelled around the world for 8 months.
But we're both back at work now ... longing for retirement. Gotta check those lottery tickets to see if maybe, just maybe ...
If you're bored and need to be with people, take university classes, volunteer, go to the gym and take classes there, pick up some part-time work.1 -
My parents both retired after 75-80 years old. They are in their 90's now and now getting bored after doing most of the stuff retired people in their community do (bingo, senior dances, etc.)
Personally, I think I'll work in someway till I die. I love being "under the gun" to some extent.
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I have had to accept I JUST CANT RETIRE. It is the summer and I am working part time and love it. I guess I have
A personality and have to keep busy, hard for me to relax. Thanks for all your comments. Glad to see some of ya want to work also and envy ya that can retire and find stuff to do to keep busy. It sure is an adjustment for me. I was off for 2 wks, went to gym, swam every day and thought I just cannot do this and was glad to go back working part time.1 -
Good for you.
My uncle passed away at 94 and worked nearly to his final day. He was an engineer in a small town and worked well below his salary for a local box company just to stay busy. It was truly humbling seeing everyone at the funeral and the massive impact this man had on the world. I think having a purpose in life is far more important than any measure of stability.1 -
I like to be with people, too, and it was hard to retire to a different city knowing almost nobody. I found it helpful to check out meetup.com, enter my city name, and find groups of folks who like being active. Thanks to this, I've found a group to go hiking with in our area. The website can also be a good resource for finding classes to learn another language, find a dance class, go to different brewpubs, or just chat over coffee to talk about books. I found I needed to add some structure to my day and find reasons to be social and get out of the house!0
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Its so true. I retired from 20 years of active duty Army at the young age of 38. I didn't feel needed or useful anymore. Its very important you find something you are passionate about and persue it.
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brenn24179 wrote: »I wish I could relax and do nothing at all like the ladys comments above. Geez I would go crazy. And the other lady,go where the people are, like where is that? I guess I will adjust eventually, hope so. I do miss personal interaction but my gym is fun but much older people in the mornings. I don't golf. I like biking, hiking but friends I have are quite content doing nothing and so is my husband. I do go swimming at my gym this morning.
Do volunteer work. You'll interact with lots of people while doing something worthwhile.
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I'm an only child with 2 disabled parents who will never know "retirement" due to spending the last 2/3 of their lives suffering, and knowing that I will never afford to retire due to their expense, even though my employer requires 10% of my income to go to the retirement fund (I have 20 years to go and 70% of my colleagues are of retirement age, so I call it my "10% baby boomer donation"). Given my bitter personal outlook I can only say spend time finding what you love, meditate to relax, and count your blessings.3
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I stopped working over three years ago. Didn't retire, just stopped; I was worn to the bone from a demanding job and needed a break. Somehow, never went back. Anyway, I go to the grocery store four mornings each week and pick up the bakery items they have pulled from the shelves and that were destined for the dumpster. I box these up and take them to a food pantry and to a homeless shelter. I stay and help a few hours at the pantry, too. I love it! I'm helping in my community and have formed some nice relationships that I wouldn't otherwise have formed.
I have an SUV, and most mornings the entire back is loaded so high that I can't see out the back--that's with the back seats folded down. It's NUTS the amount of food that gets discarded! Today is June 20th, and everything I took to the shelter this morning was dated June 22nd--it was all fresh and perfectly good.3 -
I quit my job when my husband retired and we spent the next five years travelling and backpacking. While he was recovering from complications from a knee replacement, we bought a house and decided to settle down, but continue with shorter trips. I had intended to go back to work, but 7 years later that still hasn't happened. We spend 3-6 months a year on the road, so coming home is always good. We have a dog who needs a lot of walks and we go on hikes once or twice a week. That wasn't enough for me, so I began running and now train for full and half marathons, which gives me goals to work toward. We are both big readers and do audio college courses (Great Courses or Modern Scholar) from time to time. We both waste a lot of time online. There are times I wish I were working, so I could have more interaction with people, but on the whole I'm content. I do enjoy our life best when we are wandering the country.0
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It's been February since I posted so thought I'd share. I haven't lost any more in the last 2 months. I did reset my rate of loss to .5lb/wk but hasn't budged. I really needed a deficit break. I set it back to 1/lb/wk today. On june 12, I started a HIIT class 3 days a week hoping it'l jump start me. First couple times it was incredibly hard. Only this year I started jogging 1/2 block when out on walks & couldn't do squats, I have tendonitis in hands/wrists that flares up sometime, so wasn't too sure about this class but I kept at it & found I didn't hurt myself doing all those different things in the class so kept going & the second week was a bit easier!! I am so surprised that I am able to do this. Most of the time I'm glad to be retired but today I'm frustrated not knowing what to do. I've been home a lot the past week due to the heat wave & am very ansy. Fortunately, it's going to cool down to the mid/high 90's starting tomorrow so I can get back on schedule with my volunteering etc. hope everyone is having a good week end0
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