I am 67 and love being retired only because my husband Michael saved and invested our money wisely. If it was up to me, we would be in the poor house. I didn’t think much about the future. I was all for living in the moment because we might die anyway so spend now. Well, we didn’t die.
Thank God Michael saved the maximum in his 401K from the beginning of his career. He studied about finance and investing and he invested well mostly in the stock market. We were blessed to have a bull run the 12 years before our retirement. If we didn’t have money, our retirement wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
I have finished one memoir and am starting on my second one. I love having time to write every day. I love having time to do whatever I damn well please. I love retirement so much. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
Other than writing about my past, my main focus is on the present and future. I love to travel and now that we have the time and money to do so, so we are front loading the travel at the beginning of retirement because we are in good health now and don’t know how long that will last. So far, I have been retired 18 months and my husband, six months. This year we have gone to Hawaii and Tahoe. We are going to our place in Tahoe again in August for ten days and then in September we have planned a five week road trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary to Las Vegas, Utah, Arizona and Colorado culminating in our niece’s wedding. We will be exploring a lot of geology because my husband is a retired geologist. Then in October we go to both of our 50th high school reunions, mine in St. Louis and his in Albuquerque. Then in November we are taking our daughter and her boyfriend to Kauai.
The first two months of this year we finished the remodeling of our home with new hardwood floors, new paint in every room, new countertops and new, used furniture (our daughter helped us find incredible deals on Craig’s List). It was way past due. Our furniture was literally falling apart and our carpet was on its last legs. We also finished our landscaping including an incredible succulent garden in the front and a pond, fire pit, succulent garden and gorgeous veggie garden in the back. Also we had golden pavers put in the driveway, front walk and side yard. Our house is just the way we always wanted it and we love hanging out here everyday when we are not traveling.
My husband is starting an art class and golf lessons. I am taking a writing class and a laughing class once a week.
I am committed to walking every day and doing some yoga or qigong as well. I also love to meditate daily.
I am not bored. Even with all of our hobbies and travels, I have plenty of free time to just hang out and chill. I love the life we have created for ourselves.
This the perfect retirement dream enveloped in gold wrapping paper, you both planned well. Health is vital as we know - front loading the travel is an excellent plan. Thank you for reading and responding. It's all in the details and you shared many; I appreciate you.
I am 66, graduated high school with someone we both know and love. I served in the USAF for 21 years. I then “retired” and started my 2nd career. I’m currently overseas taking advantage of income tax free wages. But as it is contract work it is subject to the political whims of the host government and I’m being “terminated “ as of Aug 31. About a year shy of when I wanted. (Paid off house) C’est la vie. I can live comfortably on my Air Force pension And Social Security but I will probably drive my wife nuts so I’ll probably get a low stress job at a home improvement store take advantage of my employee discount and get supplies to remodel the bathroom and kitchen. All of my savings/401k are being saved for my wife after I pass. Definitely plan on doing some traveling. Taking the entire family to Egypt in February. Hopefully Get back to Holland for the 50th, (God willing) and go see my brother in Alabama. Live life to the fullest. Tell the people in your life you love them, EVERYDAY! Finally, Pray and read the Bible daily.
Your retirement plan sounds like a winner... I love thinking about you traveling Egypt to Alabama, making it an all-round adventure in my book! If you find your way back to Holland I'm certain "that guy" we both love would enjoy reconnecting. Thank you for reading and taking time to respond! Enjoy your summer overseas!
'I opened an Etsy store this week after months of learning new skills to start an online business.' - Congratulations on opening your story and I wish you lots of success with it. For anyone not north of 60, this is a reminder for them to start thinking about retirement and their possible options. Thanks for sharing this article Patti and for bringing up the issue of ageism.
Thank you for your kind words Jacqueline. I appreciate you reading and commenting. Yes it's true, ageism is alive and well in the workplace. The trick is finding a way to navigate if you must keep working. No one should be deprived of being a productive member of society due to aging.
I recently went back to seeing my family doctor that I had seen years ago but stopped because she moved away but now has come back. I like her. She hadn’t seen me in a decade so the first thing she asked me was I still working. I said yes, still working at 67. “ She said good, don’t ever retire, you’ll be demented.” She had retired although quite young still to have and raise her son. Her husband is a doctor too so that afforded her that opportunity. She couldn’t take retirement anymore. Her realization came when her four year old son asked her to take him to the bathroom. She had been sprawled out on the couch in her usual sluggish position she had assumed now and yelled at him “ you have to go to the bathroom again, didn’t you just go?” She didn’t want to get up from the couch, didn’t want to take care of her son, her family. She didn’t want to do anything. She just wallowed around in her retirement. She said she had become demented. She had to open her practice again. She only works eight to noon. Still time to take care of her family in the afternoon. She does both. Her word was “ demented”. It’s not just about the loss of money in retirement. It’s all that time you have and not because it’s a long vacation or a three day weekend but it’s all that time forever. You realize that now you’re in dying mode. Maybe the end is twenty, thirty years away but still retirement means you have to fill that time. In my spare time I’ve gotten into painting garden gnomes. The large ones that have a presence, make a statement. I paint very well so these aren’t your average garden gnomes. But, how many garden gnomes can you have and when is it too much and how many friends can you keep giving garden gnomes to before they start calling you the gnome lady? Will I lose my passion for painting because I’ve gone into production? Is this that demented my doctor warned me about?
Mona, this is a great response. It gives me things to think about. I never thought about becoming demented in retirement. I don't look at endless hours and days until death. This might be because I saw my dad retire at 50 years old and it had a tremendous impact on me. I wasn't out of high school when he pulled the plug. I saw him stay in motion for the next 25 years of his life. He was sick the last 4 months and refused to see a doctor. When his health went, he wanted to go too, and he did. The doctor wasn't ready. I think some people are, and some aren't. I hope we (all) have a choice; I think that's the most important component: The freedom to make a choice and not be forced into any direction, except the one we choose. (I love the idea of you doing art and painting garden gnomes. I can imagine you doing creating after years of using the analytical side of your brain. I hope it's rewarding for you....) Thank you for reading and sharing your experience. Each time you do so I learn a little bit more about you.
Thanks for the shout-out. I appreciate it. I enjoyed reading this. Pretty cool how we are all on different specific journies but they connect to one another under similar themes.
Exactly why I wrote this article, you give me a lot to think about. I live in a part of the world where I'm seeing a pattern in the retirement community. I'm curious and exploring alternatives. Thank you for reading and taking the time to respond.
Curious. That's the key. I have seen too many people I know lose their curiosity. Usually due to anxiety or thinking they're "too old." This can mean game over.
I am 67 and love being retired only because my husband Michael saved and invested our money wisely. If it was up to me, we would be in the poor house. I didn’t think much about the future. I was all for living in the moment because we might die anyway so spend now. Well, we didn’t die.
Thank God Michael saved the maximum in his 401K from the beginning of his career. He studied about finance and investing and he invested well mostly in the stock market. We were blessed to have a bull run the 12 years before our retirement. If we didn’t have money, our retirement wouldn’t be nearly as fun.
I have finished one memoir and am starting on my second one. I love having time to write every day. I love having time to do whatever I damn well please. I love retirement so much. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
Other than writing about my past, my main focus is on the present and future. I love to travel and now that we have the time and money to do so, so we are front loading the travel at the beginning of retirement because we are in good health now and don’t know how long that will last. So far, I have been retired 18 months and my husband, six months. This year we have gone to Hawaii and Tahoe. We are going to our place in Tahoe again in August for ten days and then in September we have planned a five week road trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary to Las Vegas, Utah, Arizona and Colorado culminating in our niece’s wedding. We will be exploring a lot of geology because my husband is a retired geologist. Then in October we go to both of our 50th high school reunions, mine in St. Louis and his in Albuquerque. Then in November we are taking our daughter and her boyfriend to Kauai.
The first two months of this year we finished the remodeling of our home with new hardwood floors, new paint in every room, new countertops and new, used furniture (our daughter helped us find incredible deals on Craig’s List). It was way past due. Our furniture was literally falling apart and our carpet was on its last legs. We also finished our landscaping including an incredible succulent garden in the front and a pond, fire pit, succulent garden and gorgeous veggie garden in the back. Also we had golden pavers put in the driveway, front walk and side yard. Our house is just the way we always wanted it and we love hanging out here everyday when we are not traveling.
My husband is starting an art class and golf lessons. I am taking a writing class and a laughing class once a week.
I am committed to walking every day and doing some yoga or qigong as well. I also love to meditate daily.
I am not bored. Even with all of our hobbies and travels, I have plenty of free time to just hang out and chill. I love the life we have created for ourselves.
This the perfect retirement dream enveloped in gold wrapping paper, you both planned well. Health is vital as we know - front loading the travel is an excellent plan. Thank you for reading and responding. It's all in the details and you shared many; I appreciate you.
I am 66, graduated high school with someone we both know and love. I served in the USAF for 21 years. I then “retired” and started my 2nd career. I’m currently overseas taking advantage of income tax free wages. But as it is contract work it is subject to the political whims of the host government and I’m being “terminated “ as of Aug 31. About a year shy of when I wanted. (Paid off house) C’est la vie. I can live comfortably on my Air Force pension And Social Security but I will probably drive my wife nuts so I’ll probably get a low stress job at a home improvement store take advantage of my employee discount and get supplies to remodel the bathroom and kitchen. All of my savings/401k are being saved for my wife after I pass. Definitely plan on doing some traveling. Taking the entire family to Egypt in February. Hopefully Get back to Holland for the 50th, (God willing) and go see my brother in Alabama. Live life to the fullest. Tell the people in your life you love them, EVERYDAY! Finally, Pray and read the Bible daily.
Your retirement plan sounds like a winner... I love thinking about you traveling Egypt to Alabama, making it an all-round adventure in my book! If you find your way back to Holland I'm certain "that guy" we both love would enjoy reconnecting. Thank you for reading and taking time to respond! Enjoy your summer overseas!
'I opened an Etsy store this week after months of learning new skills to start an online business.' - Congratulations on opening your story and I wish you lots of success with it. For anyone not north of 60, this is a reminder for them to start thinking about retirement and their possible options. Thanks for sharing this article Patti and for bringing up the issue of ageism.
Thank you for your kind words Jacqueline. I appreciate you reading and commenting. Yes it's true, ageism is alive and well in the workplace. The trick is finding a way to navigate if you must keep working. No one should be deprived of being a productive member of society due to aging.
I recently went back to seeing my family doctor that I had seen years ago but stopped because she moved away but now has come back. I like her. She hadn’t seen me in a decade so the first thing she asked me was I still working. I said yes, still working at 67. “ She said good, don’t ever retire, you’ll be demented.” She had retired although quite young still to have and raise her son. Her husband is a doctor too so that afforded her that opportunity. She couldn’t take retirement anymore. Her realization came when her four year old son asked her to take him to the bathroom. She had been sprawled out on the couch in her usual sluggish position she had assumed now and yelled at him “ you have to go to the bathroom again, didn’t you just go?” She didn’t want to get up from the couch, didn’t want to take care of her son, her family. She didn’t want to do anything. She just wallowed around in her retirement. She said she had become demented. She had to open her practice again. She only works eight to noon. Still time to take care of her family in the afternoon. She does both. Her word was “ demented”. It’s not just about the loss of money in retirement. It’s all that time you have and not because it’s a long vacation or a three day weekend but it’s all that time forever. You realize that now you’re in dying mode. Maybe the end is twenty, thirty years away but still retirement means you have to fill that time. In my spare time I’ve gotten into painting garden gnomes. The large ones that have a presence, make a statement. I paint very well so these aren’t your average garden gnomes. But, how many garden gnomes can you have and when is it too much and how many friends can you keep giving garden gnomes to before they start calling you the gnome lady? Will I lose my passion for painting because I’ve gone into production? Is this that demented my doctor warned me about?
Mona, this is a great response. It gives me things to think about. I never thought about becoming demented in retirement. I don't look at endless hours and days until death. This might be because I saw my dad retire at 50 years old and it had a tremendous impact on me. I wasn't out of high school when he pulled the plug. I saw him stay in motion for the next 25 years of his life. He was sick the last 4 months and refused to see a doctor. When his health went, he wanted to go too, and he did. The doctor wasn't ready. I think some people are, and some aren't. I hope we (all) have a choice; I think that's the most important component: The freedom to make a choice and not be forced into any direction, except the one we choose. (I love the idea of you doing art and painting garden gnomes. I can imagine you doing creating after years of using the analytical side of your brain. I hope it's rewarding for you....) Thank you for reading and sharing your experience. Each time you do so I learn a little bit more about you.
Thanks for the shout-out. I appreciate it. I enjoyed reading this. Pretty cool how we are all on different specific journies but they connect to one another under similar themes.
Exactly why I wrote this article, you give me a lot to think about. I live in a part of the world where I'm seeing a pattern in the retirement community. I'm curious and exploring alternatives. Thank you for reading and taking the time to respond.
Curious. That's the key. I have seen too many people I know lose their curiosity. Usually due to anxiety or thinking they're "too old." This can mean game over.
I like to think curious and prepare to pivot.