Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have known so many people who retire and 'waste' away by watching TV or becoming couch potatoes. For many years, we have searched, by travelling, to look for our retirement location. We plan to lead an active retirement life, by playing tennis, cards, going to social events, etc... We have bought property in a gated development that has a club and sponsors many activities. We have friends and relatives that don't think about these things (pre-retirement). Is this typical or are we weird?
Actually?......... You're weird.
We had this conversation with friends just last night. We all agree that all this "socializing" we did in our 50's and 60's no longer appeals to us, just as the hyper-socializing that was done in our 20's did not appeal when we were 50.
It all changes. Getting older can mean becoming more comfortable being who you are, and less about seeking validation through social activities. And that's what it is, in so many cases.
I am an extremely active 73 year old. But I have no interest in "playing tennis, cards, going to social events", as you say. But I speak as a man. Women are different.
Just because someone is social hardly means they are seeking validation.
And that's coming from an introvert!
__________________ ____________________________________________
My posts as a Mod will always be in red.
Be sure to review Terms of Service: TOS
And check this out: FAQ
Moderator: Relationships Forum / Hawaii Forum / Dogs / Pets / Current Events
We are all going to take the dirt nap. In the end it really doesn't matter if you watch TV or run marathons. Most of longevity is genetics with a bit of personal lifestyle choices mixed in. People who are active stand a bit better chance of surviving longer and avoiding the vegetable type disabilities.
But it's your choice. By working all your life, you bought your freedom! Do as you please! Do what makes you happy!
Over the years, when people asked me what I'd do when I retired, I said I'd have to do absolutely nothing until I turned myself around from doing what I had to do for a living to doing something because I wanted to do it. If that means vegging for some period of time, so be it.
At the time, I was only beginning to see how much working nights and stress was taking out of me, especially as I got older. If I thought of a trip or endeavor, I felt like I was too tired to consider doing that thing. My last years working involved very little other activity and I am happy to rest up for as long as I feel like doing so.
I realize not all jobs are as stressful as mine was WAS WAS but I am sort of surprised by the many people who fear immediate vegetable status on the couch.
Over the years, when people asked me what I'd do when I retired, I said I'd have to do absolutely nothing until I turned myself around from doing what I had to do for a living to doing something because I wanted to do it. If that means vegging for some period of time, so be it.
At the time, I was only beginning to see how much working nights and stress was taking out of me, especially as I got older. If I thought of a trip or endeavor, I felt like I was too tired to consider doing that thing. My last years working involved very little other activity and I am happy to rest up for as long as I feel like doing so.
I realize not all jobs are as stressful as mine was WAS WAS but I am sort of surprised by the many people who fear immediate vegetable status on the couch.
The beauty is that people can do what they want to do. With our parents and some others we have known, they ended up on the couch watching TV most of everyday not so much because they wanted to but because they had not thought about what they wanted to do post-retirement and as they grew older, it became much harder to make such plans.
The beauty is that people can do what they want to do. With our parents and some others we have known, they ended up on the couch watching TV most of everyday not so much because they wanted to but because they had not thought about what they wanted to do post-retirement and as they grew older, it became much harder to make such plans.
Why? Why were they incapable of making plans after they retired? Did their imagination suddenly expire? Were they unable to think?
I remember my dad, who had done physical labor all his life, took a good long rest after he retired. He watched TV, read, took long walks, baby sat the grand kids all unplanned. I’d never seen him so happy and relaxed. Then gradually he began to add more activities into his life something he was perfectly capable of doing and found he enjoyed doing after he retired.
No laundry list of retirement things to do for him prior to retirement.
Making plans for activities prior to retiring is fine but I don’t understand why it would be difficult for anyone to come up with ideas of things to do during their retirement years as well.
I was forced to retire at 61 because of health issues. I was NOT ready, but my wife convinced me I had to stop. Took her three sit-down-and-have-a-serious-conversation meetings, but she finally got through to me.
Except for work (self employed and drove all over the county fixing computers) I am more active now than then. I still do crosswords every day. We subscribe to the NYT online and I have 80 years of crosswords to catch up on. Yes!! We play bridge often, which I really enjoy. We are relaxed about it and don't get all nasty if one of us makes a mistake. Once a month we go to Ethnic dining with 30-40 people. Once a month we go to BYOB with about 30-40 people. We have friends over or go to their houses at least a few times a month. One set of friends lived in SoCal and their son is still in Laguana Beach. We go there with them. Love that area. If we were really rich we'd move there.
I putter around the house doing all those little improvements every house seems to need. I installed 6 USB wall outlets around the house. They are an electrical outlet with two USB ports. I added cat5 cabling to the house. That's the cable you connect your computer with. Added a bunch of cabinets in the garage. Took an office table that was left behind when we bought and turned it into a workbench in the garage. Built a new work desk for my wife in the office. We are looking at wall cabinets for the office. I'm going to build a keyboard stand for her desk that the laptop will sit on and the keyboard will slide under. We have found someone that builds Murphy beds with bookcases. The two in front of the bed jut out to allow room for the bed and roll to the side when the bed is lowered. We are looking for chairs to go in that room.
I can't run now. I miss it. Man, do I miss it, but between breathing problems and neuropathy it's not going to happen. We walk though. I also miss roller skating, but I think falling at my ripe old age would be a bad thing. Damn!
We go out to dinner quite often. We both play video games. PlayStation 3 and 4. We've been video gaming since before the Atari 2600 came out and see no reason to stop.
We travel. Last year it was a 10 day river cruise around the Netherlands and Belgium, 17 days driving around the southern half of Ireland (draw a line from Dublin to Galway), then 4 days in Amsterdam. This year will be a month in Italy. Every year for as long as we can we will spend at least a month overseas. After that we will tour the U.S. and Canada. After that we will probably have in home assisted living.
We have found that unless we control our activities that we don't have enough down time. Not exactly what I expected.
Someone mentioned hobbies after retirement. One of my wife's favorite stories is when a man where she worked was retiring and someone asked what he was going to do after. His response was, "Play golf." Really? In Iowa? What will you do the other six months of the year? He was definitely not thinking ahead.
retirement is for riding motersickles, gardening, and working around the house on the honey do list...cause if mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
