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Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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It's no secret that with more folks living longer, the whole idea of "retirement" is undergoing some changes. So has retirement proved more or less what you 'expected' it to be like? And do you find that you spend most of your time in mainly recreational and "leisure" sorts of activities (golf, gardening, classses, travel, etc.)? Or instead has it become a time more for (re)discovering & developing other skills & interests, doing new kinds of work, or maybe even starting a "2nd career" (aka, "re-invention")?
Well I'm still 2 years away, but for me, I'm thinking it will be one in the same to some degree. I've been working and/or in school since 16, so for the first time I envision myself actually having the time to pursue some interests I've just not really had the time or energy to explore. I am so excited and CANNOT wait to have time to delve into some latent passions like water color painting, vegetable and herb gardening, cooking, studying alternative healing. I'd like to volunteer more time to the local animal shelter and possibly some other opportunities will present themselves, but don't see myself heading back into any kind of structured work environment. Love real estate and could possibly see myself doing a little investing if the right deal came along, but other than that, honestly can't wait to just be able to hop on our pontoon boat and go for a cruise anytime the urge hits.
Like many, I am done with the corporate world of work. I have no interest in finding a different career. If I needed the money I would have stayed in the same career and ideally the same job for a bit longer.
I have never done golf. That is an old man's hobby from a generation or two ago. I am not a gardener. I long since learned that gardening for food costs way more than I could hope to recover. I like flowers but find that the flowers require very little work for a normal household garden.
I found a retirement house within walking distance of a major University. That is part of where I spend my time. I am also lucky because the U has a very large OLLI program.
I travel a lot...more than 50% of the time since I retired. I am planning for shorter trips but still plan to travel extensively. I do fine art photography and work very hard at improving my results. I have reached a point where my work is being accepted by some galleries and in juried exhibitions. I am started to call myself an emerging artist rather than a retiree. Fortunately I do not need a career in photography and I can enjoy the expressive and creative aspects and pick and choose what I do.
After some thought I came to a consideration of my grandparent's time and their particular brand of retirement in Montana. No wondering where to go for them, no financial dilemmas with regard to investments, they had the typical pre-fifties retirement in America, that is, just happy to have survived their working years. We are now so caught up in choices that we seem to be the proverbial kid in the candy store, unable to fully comprehend the fact of few limitations.
I for one am much like my gramps, happy to be a survivor, happy to have some decent (not perfect) health, happy to have some time to just relax and dawdle in that land of no clock commanders. I seldom feel any need to "be involved", nor do I feel unjustifiably irrelevant, at 70 most people would welcome some anonymity in a world of the ever expectant crowds, and I certainly do. When we are young we seldom have both money and time, and one without the other sours the splendor of having both, this is one of the bedrock realizations at the onset of retirement for a lot of us. Having both time and money presents us with a particular kind of freedom relatively unknown by my grandfathers generation.
"Re-inventing" one's self seems to connote the idea that one is now changed to the extent that the "old self" is dead and a mandate for the new is the order of the day. I'm the same person now that I've always been, a more "liberated" me but it's still me. I have more time and money than I've ever had before retiring, spending down some of that pile of savings has allowed me to enjoy it as it was intended to be, the time though is way more of a bonus than any money. Retirement is such a subjective thing, I do the things now that the job prevented me from doing, photography, travel, writing, relaxing, and time to love and cherish my family and friends. It's 11:48 AM, third cup of coffee, and there's no place I'd rather be.......
Don't let the so-called 'retirement experts' abounding in the media make you think you can't just relax in retirement and enjoy life after working 9-5 for decades. It seems they all think retirees need to 're-invent' themselves, find second careers, turn a hobby into a job, etc. What a bunch of BS!
Remember, every day is Saturday now. You can go out and do something new and exciting, or just spend a quiet day reading or go to a mid-day movie. Join a gym and stay in shape to keep your health and stay out of the hospital. Change your diet to less beef, more fish vegetables fruits and nuts. You'll be amazed when the pounds melt away.
Like many, I am done with the corporate world of work. I have no interest in finding a different career. If I needed the money I would have stayed in the same career and ideally the same job for a bit longer.
I have never done golf. That is an old man's hobby from a generation or two ago. I am not a gardener. I long since learned that gardening for food costs way more than I could hope to recover. I like flowers but find that the flowers require very little work for a normal household garden.
I found a retirement house within walking distance of a major University. That is part of where I spend my time. I am also lucky because the U has a very large OLLI program.
I travel a lot...more than 50% of the time since I retired. I am planning for shorter trips but still plan to travel extensively. I do fine art photography and work very hard at improving my results. I have reached a point where my work is being accepted by some galleries and in juried exhibitions. I am started to call myself an emerging artist rather than a retiree. Fortunately I do not need a career in photography and I can enjoy the expressive and creative aspects and pick and choose what I do.
Jrkliny: Just wondering where you found what I have looked for in my retirement search: a retirement home near a university with a good Ollie program ? I, too, love learning and although retired, still need and want to use my brain. I garden and read alot, but Ollie would be great for me, if I found a good one.
Where are you???
I didn't retire, I escaped. As soon as our house was paid off, I gave notice, that was in 1997. In the subsequent years we have traveled quite a bit in our small travel trailer. Now at age 81 we will sell the trailer after one last trip this summer. After 27 years living in condos, I have nearly forgotten what it is like to do yard work. That will not change. We would not consider anything but a 55+ community. There is a lot of variety in 55+ living and one needs to choose carefully.
I have always considered golf to be a rich persons habit and never had any interest in it. There are a lot of ways to fill your time if you look for them.
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