Worst Retirement Mistakes.... (beach, physically, community, friends)

[jertheber]

When I retired I was working with a 74 year old man who asked me what my plans were for retirement. I responded with the old "sit back and relax" quip but in reality I knew that you don't "plan" for the time you'll be needing to fill. It's been three years now since I have worked, I'm OK money wise and the hours of the day go by with a greater speed than I thought was possible. Mistakes? I moved to a small town and my Wife died four months into my retirement, being single in such a place puts an enormous strain on the social life, now I see that I should have taken my wife's health into account in my moving plans.

All in all I'd have to say that over-planning can make fools of us all, yes, we need to see the future of our financial needs, and yes we all should do what we can in the way of volunteering our time, but, when it comes to the day to day routine of life we see retirement as a whole new ball game and we should learn to get what rest and leisure we can while we still have our health. Getting that physical workout that your old job provided needs to be the number one consideration, money won't save you from the ravages of a sedentary life, do something everyday that can at least burn the calories you ingest and you'll be ready for the fun stuff always.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by Zarathu

There is no denying that having to keep working in a burn out position is devastating, or having to retire on food stamps is life cheapening. However, the point of the post is to highlight that simply moving to the cheapest possible place may put a retiree into all kinds of distressing circumstances that they'd never believed when the only thing they could think of was getting away from an oppressive work environment. MY FIL retired in 1985 with a package that involved more income than I actually make now, and by about 35,000 bucks, in addition to full health care for the rest of his life. He's 90 now.

But the shock he got when he retired with literally no hobbies, and nothing to occupy his time was enormous. In fact the first my MIL did was immediately get a job to get away from him(she never had any job their whole married life from 1947 to 1985. Thanks goodness he hadn't compounded it by moving to a far away place yet.

One is about the basic needs and the other is about the emotional and mental needs of retirement. Both are significant. But the second is often ignored because of the first one.

Zarathu

But I would bet your FIL was just like that before he retired.What your saying is he had no life beyond his work . I don't see him as typical at all and a new environemnt might have actaully worked for him giving him new challenges in life . He bascailly just stayed where he was ;doing nothing from your description after losing his life which was his work.Plenty of people do that but at least he sould have changed because he had the moeny you say.

[LauraC]

I would add:

Thinking your retirement desires have to be like the ones in the retirement magazines and books.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

Biggest mistake: waiting until just before a heart attack to retire.

There is no way to place into words the value of a year of your life while you're still healthy and active enough to enjoy it.

I was an absolute workaholic from the day I started college... few interests outside work, few friends (I was always at the office).

A typical work week: at the office by about 8:30am, leave the office at about 10:00pm (short breaks for lunch & dinner). That is 6 days/week. Then put in a half day on Sunday. I was not the only one -- the office had a culture of workaholic-ism.

BUT... I retired at 50, turned my life around, developed interests & hobbies & I can honestly say that working for a living is highly over-rated.

[Huckleberry3911948]

many people will tell you they go to work for the money. not so. that is why people who do not have hobbies go nuts after retirement. i solemnly affirm ----- i know many that have 100% retirement benefits coming to them, are on the job and won't retire, they all say they are doing it for the money, lies. i know even more that are 90 days wonders, come back to work after retirement , even though they went out at 100%. truth ---- much stranger than fiction.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by jertheber

... Mistakes? I moved to a small town and my Wife died four months into my retirement, being single in such a place puts an enormous strain on the social life, now I see that I should have taken my wife's health into account in my moving plans.

All in all I'd have to say that over-planning can make fools of us all, ... money won't save you from the ravages of a sedentary life, do something everyday that can at least burn the calories you ingest and you'll be ready for the fun stuff always.

I was an absolute workaholic ...
BUT... I retired at 50, turned my life around, ... & I can honestly say that working for a living is highly over-rated.

good points.

Smell the roses while you still have a sniffer !

My mistake, .... thinking my planning was OK. (there are many things beyond our scope of diligent planning / expectation... Health, economy, triple digit tax increases, natural disasters, unexpected eldercare, adult child, good friend, or spousal care)

my biggest failure to date (many to follow ) not retiring before ' # of work years ' >/= 'years remaining' waiting till age 49 vs, age 35 to 'retire' (I worked three jobs simultaneously from age 15 - 25 + college and eldercare), then I 'wore out' and 'rested' in employment for another 24 yrs. (+built several houses / farms, and still dabbled in commercial properties + home schooled kids + 3 international work assignments). Now I need a second wind I'm not sure I have the energy to build yet another house, Thank goodness it is now cheaper to buy than build one.

[GreenGene]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

Biggest mistake: waiting until just before a heart attack to retire.

There is no way to place into words the value of a year of your life while you're still healthy and active enough to enjoy it.

^^ Excellent point.

There are obviously many mistakes that a person can make regarding retirement, and depending on the person and the circumstances, various mistakes could be called the "worst" mistakes.

To me, the very worst mistake would be to have no retirement at all ... to plan for one, save for one, and then die before having even one day of retirement.

My goal is to have as many years in retirement as I did working - 34. That would take me up to age 89, and I'd have to successfully navigate some not-great family medical history to pull it off ... but I'm willing to give it a shot.

[Zarathu]

My mother retired at 57. She's now 88. The pension system admitted to me that statistically, they'd like her to move on soon.

[recycled]

Great thread here, and it gives me food for thought. Today at work, somebody asked me how many more years I was thinking about working at our company. I said, oh, maybe about 3 years and 10 months...
So yes, I have some plans to try and retire from full time work at around age 60. The one great bit of wisdom from the OPs list of retirement mistakes is avoid buying property in a new area before renting in that place for a decent amount of time. I need to obey that one. I have been a renter for many years in an overpriced 1 bedroom apartment, but after retirement I plan to find a medium sized city in a different state that offers a little more for a little less $$.

It sure is tempting to see homes in some parts of the country that cost not much more than a new car. Hey, why not buy one of those houses for cash and enjoy retirement without a mortgage? If you don't know for sure if living in that place will really be the ticket - what a hassle to try and sell a house in a place where real estate is almost given away. The real estate market in many (or most?) parts of the country is going to be down and out for several more years. So there's no rush to run out and buy real estate in fear of being priced out of the market (in most places).

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by recycled

It sure is tempting to see homes in some parts of the country that cost not much more than a new car. Hey, why not buy one of those houses for cash and enjoy retirement without a mortgage? If you don't know for sure if living in that place will really be the ticket - what a hassle to try and sell a house in a place where real estate is almost given away. The real estate market in many (or most?) parts of the country is going to be down and out for several more years. So there's no rush to run out and buy real estate in fear of being priced out of the market (in most places).

I am always tempted by houses that are, say, $100K or less, esp those that look like (online anyway) like they're pretty nice! (None in my state, or even my region of the US, but there are many down south and midwest).

But when you buy anywhere,you are really ARE making an investment, not so much in a house itself, but in the place. If the place is not seen as "desirable" (as in Portland or Asheville, for ex) then when you go to sell that house (or your heirs do), are they going to be stuck with not being able to sell for at least as much as you paid, or will they have to have a fire sale?

And as you say, what if you make a mistake and don't really want to live there, and you try to sell and can't? I go through this all the time. I am in a high-sale area, fairly recession proof; but if I think of cashing out and buying cheaper in a new area that's nice but not "hot," all these concerns play on my mind.

For me, the question is: Is it better to preserve my equity in my current (high-resale area) house till I croak or have to go into senior housing, or sell now and buy a cheaper place and have equity to invest elsewhere (in what?? not the stock market!). Will I be sorry I liquidated equity if I do it too soon?
(I"m 60, and need to find a more user-friendly house on one floor, nearly no yard--no condos please, cannot afford the fees!)