Are you enjoying retirement?

Hell yeah!

I retired at 55 at the end of August, 2018 so I only had 18 months before the damn pandemic. But now I'm making up for lost time and will have done five trips by years end and am tentatively scheduled for six trips in 2023. Admittedly, that's overdoing it a tad, but I want to make up for lost time...and those souvenir fridge magnets won't by themselves.

As someone who dreaded Sunday nights/Monday mornings since I was a child, the very fact that I no longer have that dread makes retirement all too special.

You know that great feeling you had in college in late Spring on a Friday afternoon and the professor of your class doesn't show?

That's what everyday feels like at first!

Full disclosure - I had a great job which I loved but I wanted more time for travel abroad. I planned my retirement well in advance and had an agreement to consult with my employer. But six months after I retired covid hit and impacted my employer hard, leading to two rounds of layoffs, including most of my former department.

If my consulting agreement had gone forward, I would have eased into retirement over a few year instead of the hard-stop I experienced. The first year flew by, but I wish I had developed more hobbies - other than travel - in my 30s, 40s, and 50s instead of being the workaholic I was.

No, it's better than I thought it would be, and I'm surprised to be honest. I'd expected to be bored, or to become a day-drunk barfly. Neither of those happened. My days are relaxed and I move through the world on my own timing. I'm on a budget, sure, but I find I'm spending quite a bit less money than when I was working. I make fresh meals every day or treat myself to a nice meal out. My mental health and moods have improved. My physical health and vitality have become excellent. The only downside is that many of my good friends are still working the 5 days a week grind, so I've been doing a lot of activities on my own. This solo activity has been fine, though. I'm a social creature by nature so I often have lovely. random interactions with strangers and meet new people too. Lately I'm starting to coordinate more meetups with friends in the service and hospitality industries, or other friends not tethered to a M-F schedule because they're working for the corporate machine. Retirement: 10/10 would recommend!

I am 68 and have been retired for five years, medical reasons, and it took some adjusting to start. I missed all the busy work of life and didn't know what to do with myself. I got drunk and stoned a lot, especially during pandemic. But now that things are easing off a bit, I am relaxing into it. I find if I keep some sort of schedule, I don't feel like I am floundering. I am still trying to remember all the things I said I wanted to do when I retired. Can't remember many of them. But, life is gentler and calmer... more peaceful.

[quote]those souvenir fridge magnets won't by themselves.

Perhaps you should consider going back to school?

I'm hoping to retire early this January and have a question for those who've done this: What did you do for health insurance until you hit 65 and Medicare kicked in? Did you use COBRA, Affordable Care Act or did your company extend you benefits?

I retired May 2020. I don’t miss work at all. But my retirement quickly went down the shitter. I had to move back to my mother’s house and take care of her. I have had to cancel three vacations we had planned, and missed several weddings and funerals because I have no one to stay with her. Some days, I wish I was still working.

Haven't regretted retiring early a single day. It took a while for the work nightmares to go away but they eventually did, for the most part. I hated going to work every single day.

I'm thankfully able to stay in my group for health insurance purposes (I still pay for most of it), but, if I wasn't, I'd definitely be buying health insurance on the Exchange. I will be happy to get to Medicare and get out of the group coverage, but still have several years to go until then. I really wish that the Medicare age would have been lowered to 60 as was discussed during the campaign.

Retired 12/31/2021. Went back to work 6/1/2022 at twice the pay (contractor). Six months working, six months off. Bliss all around.

r12 I think you have the ideal situation. I'll be retiring in October 2023 and hope to do the same.

Just like R10, I retired in 2020, had a blissful year of rest, then my sister guilt tripped us into caring for my 97-year-old, somewhat difficult mother (who could easily afford the best of care but refuses any help but from her children). I would very much prefer to be working.

I retired April 2020. Retirement if fantastic. I'm still waiting for lightning to strike. Do I deserve all this happiness?

Yes, but i have no money :(

^^^ That's the catch. When you retire you are on a fixed income. If the income isn't paying bills... there's a problem and no overtime is available.

Yes. Retired at the end of the month I turned 51. That was 10 years ago.

During 25 years of stressful work as a lawyer, I woke up to an alarm clock. Every single day. Whether I needed 10 more minutes of sleep or 3 more hours, I didn't know.

So sleep became the #1 priority. Life is so much more manageable when you are rested. Then I was able to "unpack" (I know, I don't like the term that much, either, but it's appropriate here) the fallout from a half-century of being gay during hostile and sometimes scary times, being (somewhat unconvincingly, in hindsight) closeted in both my personal and professional lives, and struggling (mightily, if with mixed results) with self-acceptance.

It helps being an introvert. I really enjoy time by myself: reading, thinking, walking, gardening. But I also enjoy time with my husband/partner of 33 years, seeing old friends and making new ones, and just taking life as it comes.

I'm convinced I've added years to my life. And much happier ones at that.

I don't understand this need to start traveling once you retire.

Used to work 5 days a week but went to 4 days a week (off every Fri/Sat/Sun) and then schedule all vacation/sick days to make many 3 days a week. Still get full time benefits. It's a nice ease into retirement.

R9 - I'm in California so this might not apply for you. I first went with a Covered California plan, but since my "salary" became what I now set as my monthly budget amount, I was eligible for Medi-Cal for the months between my retirement date and turning 65. On Medi-Cal, I have the same Covered Cal plan, but with the subsidy, I pay $0 a month premium. (California taxes pretty much everything, yes, but Medi-Cal is a fantastic benefit for low or fixed income folks.) For the transition to Medicare this November, I have an insurance broker to walk me through the various plan options and application process.

I worried that, without the structure of a job and the social interactions that come with it, I would be facing a lot of empty days. So I kept delaying retirement, finally calling it quits when I was 67. I was such an idiot. I love being retired, and now I regret not having done it sooner. Because, although I have no major health problems, how many more "good" years can I count on at age 67? I'm talking about years in which I can remain active, travel if I want to travel, don't have problems with mobility, etc. etc. Don't make my mistake and put off retirement. Do it sooner rather than later, if your finances allow.

R11 - oh god, the work nightmares. I get those every now and again too. I just had one the other night where I found myself back at work and confused and upset that I was back there again. The waking up and realizing it was only a nightmare is quite the happy adrenalin rush, though.

I burned out and retired from the cruise industry after 35 years just four months before COVID demolished the industry. Life is all about good timing. I have my retirement cruise benefit and can cruise anywhere basically for free. Funny that I have absolutely no desire to set foot onboard. Remember how stressed I was the last year. Overweight and insomniac, heath going down hill fast. These days my life is sand,sea and sun. The last thing I see will be a pelican not a spreadsheet. La Doce Vita y'all.

R22 - Yes, agree. I had planned to work until I was 70 (I'm 64). Then I decided to retire at my official retirement age of 66. Once I really sat down and crunched the numbers, I realized I could retire at 64 if I stuck to a realistic monthly budget (which, ironically, is essentially the same amount as my take-home pay monthly amount from my previous job). It was scary to consider, and the first month of retirement I was beset with anxiety attacks. Now I'm a few months into it and feel like I'm on cruise control. Important caveats: I got all my vision, dental, and medical testing and lab panels taken care of before I left employment, and everything, according to my various medical professionals, is stellar for my age. I have no genetic predispositions toward future potential health problems. I'm very lucky in the physical health department, at least so far, and that goes a long way when planning and budgeting for retirement.

[quote] I don't understand this need to start traveling once you retire.

You don't have to travel. It's just easier to do when retired (if you can afford it & your health is good enough).

Absolutely loving it OP. Life is good.

I retired at 58 in 2010. Things were going swimmingly until the pandemic. I was doing lots of volunteer work, taking exercise classes, traveling extensively (cruises, safari tour, etc.). For three years in a row I rented a little cottage in a nice town for an entire month each summer.

I have no money worries at all (my pension is actually more than I was making when I retired.) My house is paid for and I have a second house that I inherited that's rented and the rent more than covers the mortgage. I do not get Social Security nor did I elect to get Medicare Part B, but I have the same health insurance coverage from my former employer (Federal government) that I did when I was working (at the same cost.)

But since March of 2020--my life has pretty much stagnated. I still do some limited volunteer work, but I've been afraid to travel. I don't go out much at all except for shopping and the volunteer stuff. In a normal year I would probably drive 12-15K miles--in the past two years I don't think I've even driven 3K miles total.

I'm starting to get really depressed about getting older and wondering how much time I will have left and if things will get back to "normal" anytime soon.

^^ Are you on your own?

I’m not enjoying retirement! I’m not retired. Im young. I am only 45 (but I look 25).

I’ll be at work in the morning.

^^ Aw, sweetie, you got only five more years till you can retire.

I don't know if I retired or just stopped working at 34 (I had a Y2K bug company).

I've needed to work since 2000, so I haven't. I don't miss it in any way and we spend most of our time travelling.

Eighteen months in and would not change a thing. Partner joined me in quitting a few months ago.

The money I could be earning doesn’t come close to the pleasure of controlling my life and putting up with zero bullshit!

^^^^^I've not needed to work since 2000.^^^^

I wonder how many are retired (like me) but working as a consultant for their former employee or in their former industry? I lasted for about nine months when a colleague came virtually knocking at my door. He wanted me to manage a project at his new job that was exactly like a project we did together at our previous employer. That project had gone really well. I accepted, and soon had few more offers - one from my former employer. I knew I couldn't do this alone, so I invited some other retired colleagues who had been part of my team to join me. Long story short, we now have our own consulting company. We work when we like and can enjoy the benefits of partial retirement. The work we do is meaningful and has a positive impact (we build hospitals around the world). Most important, we don't put up with any BS, because we don't need the money. I'll stop when it's no longer enjoyable.

I love it, but then it was in my thirties that I stopped defining myself by my work. Dispute had always suited me better than labor.

I've been lucky in that I worked full-time from home for 20+ years. Most of the last three years I worked from another country to which I moved for personal reasons. I was glad for the flexibility and easy income, and was often at home supervising contractors at first. But my company was whoring itself out for a big sale to a bigger company, a period of mood swings and rapid fire policy changes and reversals. I only wanted to lurch along until established here and then quit, but the last year accelerated the early retirement and there were no terms on which I would have been not unhappy to stay at it.

I've loved.this year of not working. I was pissed off from being pressed hard last year to do my work and that of many others and for a meager reward. I gave a months notice, polished off some administrative exit tasks and did fuck all but respond to the occasional message about returning a laptop. More time and I might have been asked to work; less time and I would have cheated myself of a good ye month of salary and annual bonuses.

Miss it? No, not at all. It's more a case of wondering did I really work lose so many extra house to work for the past couple years? Did I really work there at all? It's forgotten, not missed and now there's no grumbling about working for others for forgot what it is they once set out to do, and pretending that what they do matches the worth of their salaries, that it means something.

Having time to look after one's own interests is a huge luxury. I don't know why people who can don't do it at first opportunity.

Yes, it’s fuck’n fabulous

I'm leaving my job on 12/16 to retire and I can't wait!!

All you eldergays sound like you are enjoying retirement. I am so jealous. I'm only 35 and, it seems, I will work till I die. Even if I do retire in 20 years, will there be any world left to enjoy?

Retired in 2017, the week after I turned 66, and have worked as a consultant for my old department on and off since then. It was a nice way to transition out of full time work. We travelled a lot when we were younger so the urge to do so now when flying, especially, is so awful these days hasn’t been an issue. We’ll get back to it sooner or later, I’m sure.

I’m enjoying it. It’s nice to set my own schedule. I know I’m fortunate: a generous retirement program, paid Medicare supplementary and dental insurance premiums, a home that’s almost paid for, and a guy to share it with. I worked hard: it’s nice to get a break without worrying how long it’ll last or how to pay for it.

r29 Yes, and I have no family left other than cousins.

I hope I can make it 2 more years at this soul crushing job. I don't want to stop working entirely but want to follow my passion and not the money anymore.

[quote]I'm only 35 and, it seems, I will work till I die.

I never gave retirement a second thought when I was 35.