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Our retirement is certainly not what I had hoped it would be when I was younger. Due to circumstances not all of which were beyond our control. We are very badly off now. Husband with Parkinson's was basically forced into retirement last October.
in the past few years I have seen the writing on the wall and I bought a Cheap house in a depressed area for us to retire to, which we now have. bought the house 5 years ago. Now our other home on Cape Cod is in foreclosure and lots of debt.
Our income has dropped by 75% I see bankruptcy in our near future.
So any dreams I had years ago of retiring to Bon Aire or living on a boat etc. have long since gone out the window and our health now would not have worked for those things anyway.
So NO is the answer to the question.
I'm so sorry to read this arvwnmark. I hope it wasn't too painful to write. Thanks for sharing and good luck.
I'm so sorry for all of those who have dealt with death, illness and financial loss. Life can be a real *female dog*.
It makes me think of my late husband. We always kept our 401(k)s maxed because retirement was important. He always wanted to travel Route 66. He died right after his 43 birthday.
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^^^^^^ I am so sorry to read of your loss. He was much too young.
Thank you. It was 10 years ago and mostly I feel is that he got cheated.
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It's only been six months but so far my retirement is better then I thought it would be. Is there boredom? Yes but there were boring days when I was working as well. Do we get on each others nerves living together 24/7? Yes. Did we get on each others nerves when we were working? Yes, but we're even better buddies now that we play together more then we did when we were working.
Am I healthier? Heck yes. I've lost weight but I'm not where I want to be yet. Life without the stress, aggravation, and anxiety of watching train wrecks in my age group and younger die has made me a new person. I'm so relaxed and much happier out of that environment. We roller skate, ice skate, and ski every week. I've done three projects in the house since August and I walk a lot when the weather lets me. Bike season is just around the corner.
I never realized how many fun things I missed being a workaholic. I knew that I was on autopilot just existing in my own bubble and, being away from that mentality is like having sight after being blind for years. The freedom of being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it is amazing. It took a couple of months to get out of that "pinch me" state.
I'm getting that wanderlust again and we will be heading up north to ski as soon as the weather breaks. I love taking the dogs up with us. We were in Scotland in June and up to Wisconsin to see the fall colors in October. I would love to be on the beach somewhere right now but my pets do slow us down for traveling. I haven't found the right house sitter yet but I will.
Has retirement been all that I've expected it to be? Yes x10 I highly recommend it, but do it as early as you can. Going to work and living on that time line stinks.
For the most part, I have no complaints. My retirement has worked out pretty well and even if I could go back in time, I wouldn't change the timing.
But external factors have a way of throwing a monkey-wrench into the works. Prior to retirement I used to fantasize about skiing during time periods when the slopes and the accomodations weren't crowded. I was a high school teacher, so my available dates for skiing were at times when every high school and college kid was out on the slopes.
Well, a few years before retirement I injured my back. It healed in about six months and does not bother me, but I fear one wrong twist or one wrong fall would injure it again and I refuse to go through that long, long healing process one more time if I can possibly avoid it. So I gave up skiing.
Fortunately I have other interests and it hasn't really made a difference. My point is that surprises do occur and not all plans are able to be fulfilled. When I was 50 I felt invulnerable, but a few years later I injured my back. Life happens.
First of, I am sorry for the posters for whom things did not go so well.
As for me, I feel blessed. Things are going very well. After two months into retirement I feel healthier and more relaxed. Mrs5150 is still working and is happy I am not (my job became very much like steer manure since last February). Interestingly, my retiring has made her practice and life more relaxing and could cause her to continue lawyering for longer than she thought a year ago.
Finances are fine and I have enough to do with hobbies expanding to fill the time gap that my job took up. Do not plan to get overly busy as some have.
No, I guess it isn't what I had hoped it would be.
Money is short, working on fixing that, going to be hard work but I do believe in time it will be worth it. I am hoping I stay healthy long enough to enjoy some of it when money loosens up a bit.
I also had plans to read a lot. So many books I want to read, never read any of the classics. For some reason they were not required when I was in high school. But now I have eye problems. My right eye is weak and problematic. So I can't read for very long at one time. Even with readers, strength 300.
So it would seem it won't be the delightful enjoyable time it could be.
Scary topic as I am in the process of retiring (June '16 my last month probably). I have alot of nerves about it, but will have zero debt, my spouse will continue working until 65, I have plenty of activities leftover from working days that I never have enough time for, and should have ok finances (according to my FA). I have been a bit of a binge spender, a feature I must control.
My corporate job that I plan to leave, pays well, but the pressures are incredible. They are starting to effect my health. I will be 59.5 at retirement.
I have an interesting part time job lined up. My wife has a part time job with full time benefits. Because she is part time, we will have plenty of time together...Anyway, very nervous, but looking forward to it (CANNOT stay in my current job!).
My number 1 fear is by 2pm in the aft, I am burnt out and usually try and take a nap.....even when I wake up, its slow going....gonna have to cure that!
Plans: fishing, sailing, lobstering, bike riding, hiking (if my feet hold out...have minor issues), playing with the dog, reading, library, gym, motorcycling, vegetable gardening, minor travel, grandkids (future) ...BRING IT ON!
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I highly recommend it, but do it as early as you can. Going to work and living on that time line stinks.
