Whenever I read about preparing for retirement, the subject matter is typically about finances. I would like to hear your thoughts on getting ready, mentally, for retirement. For you guys already retired, is there anything you wish you had thought more about, before you retired,stepping out of a career, into a new realm of life?

My career ended when I had a stroke..not the date six years in the future that I was beginning to look towards. I found that my job defined me..and that was a mistake. I did have hobbies outside of policing, but all of my friends were either cops or were first responders. And only a very few kept in touch with me.

WRT financial stuff….my pay went to half pay. I was medically retired and prorated down to 17.9 years on the job. No insurance. (Mrs Mikes work covers us now). We have done well as we didn’t have any debts besides the house. She has moved up and we’re completely debt free now.

Moving to a new town and knowing exactly no one didn’t bother me as I did that a lot when I was in the service, but I can imagine when you retire you might try some golfin or fishing or something to get out and about. Many people I know who were cops like to drive cars for dealers or run hospital tests to different places just to keep busy. I read a lot, drive my kid to his activities and reload and shoot-but I’m ok with being alone and it doesn’t bother me at all.

Stay busy mentally.

Yes, at 58 I should have done it sooner. Some need to think what they'll do with their time (I didn't because I have all kinds of hobbies). Mentally for me it was making the decision when to retire that was challenging. Once I finally did I was so happy I never looked back.

My advice is dont turn off completely. Find a lightweight job you enjoy but can walk away if it becomes a PITA. Volunteering with an organization you admire can be beneficial to you. Spend more time with family and friends. Enjoy your hobbies and interests but not to the point you burn out on it.
Bottom line: If you dont enjoy it, dont do it.
And I moved to a place I really enjoy, has a great quality of life and costs me very little financially to actually experience. That was huge.

I retired early (62), two years ago. I planned to go to 65. COVID derailed that plan. I guarantee you that when you retire, you will regret it. You will regret not doing it sooner!! Don't make any big changes for the first year. Exhale. Get your bearings, it is an adjustment. It is also the best time of your life. Uncommitted free time is a form of wealth.

Great question.

I retired at 58 a little more than 4 years ago. I was laser-focused on being financially ready to retire. As important as that is, I wish I’d spent some time thinking about what I’d do with myself in retirement.

I just figured I’d do: (1) Nothing or (2) Whatever I want. While both of those are true, I think it helps to put a little more thought into it.

After 4 years of doing mostly nothing, I’m not exactly bored, but feel like I need to be doing something or risk “deteriorating” mentally and physically. So in the last couple of months, I’ve I volunteered to help at a senior center, I’ve started exercising a couple of times a week, and I’ve been more social with family and friends.

I found I really missed my job. I was in sales and I loved what I did and had become close to many of my clients. I also sold to many of my closest friends.

I felt cut off from my employer. Retirees are cut off from the company on-line news. The company set up a retiree webpage, but all it was only a solicitation to buy annuities. It was also frustrating when calls were not returned.

I have been out for 15 years and no longer care about the company news. I do some part time driving and that keeps me close to the business.

Nothing I can think of. I loved what I did for a living, and I love being retired. My days are full and about the only time I turn on the tv during the day is for something to watch while I’m exercising. Enjoy your well-earned time. I do miss horses, but I even had the opportunity to get horseback some with Frontier Days.

My wife and I retired on the same day in 2015. We lived in Montana at the time. It was spring and we spent the summer tending our 5 acre yard. For the first 2 winters we spent 5 months in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and love it until the druggies ruined it. We spent the next 4 winters in Destin, Florida.

Now in our early 70’s, we decided to sell our Montana place and we settled on Catalina, Arizona. Absolutely no regrets. When we pulled the plug, we had 2 decent vehicles and no debt.

We both read a lot, relax, travel, and enjoy our time together. We are blessed.

I retired at 55 from my dream job. I used to say "If I knew I was going to this when I was 12 years old, I wouldn't have been able to wait to grow up." That said, it was physical work and the body was starting to show signs of wear. Mostly arthritis in my lower back. We planned for 13 years so we could be debt free when the time came.

Two things freaked me out: 1. If this doesn't work out, I'll never find as good a job as the one I left, and 2. what I have is going to have to last me. A neighbor who was a CPA gave me comforting advice. He said that I didn't plan my whole career the first day on the job. Don't plan your whole retirement the first day you get to sleep in. Plan for two years and adjust accordingly. Health, the economy, and inflation are unknowns. Deal with it as it comes.

If you don't need a paycheck there's all kinds of things to do and people are happy to have volunteers. It's been 18 years and I don't regret early retirement one bit.

I love these quotes/thoughts from Itbarber and mcrimn!

quote:

Originally posted by ltbarber:
.... Uncommitted free time is a form of wealth.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:

....We both read a lot, relax, travel, and enjoy our time together. We are blessed.

How do I like retirement? It is fantastic!

As a retirement present a friend of mine got me a book about retirement. One of the most important chapters was focused on work. The author stated what a previous poster mentioned, unless you need to due to finances don’t work for one year. I spent some of this time really thinking about what mattered to me. As a Christian, this time has helped me to recover from my work (25 years with kids on the margin) and figure out how I could contribute at my church and in my community without being overcommitted.

We moved to live closer to our grandkids and that has been incredible. It might turn out to be foolish but we moved to a very rural area. We live on 40 acres and we have wildlife on our property (Turkey, Deer, Elk, Moose, and Bear).

Prior to retirement I scheduled a through medical exam. Turned out to be a good decision as they found prostrate cancer. So, I spent part of my last year of work recovering from surgery.

I grew up watching The American Sportsman and decided if I ever got the chance I’d learn how to hunt and fly fish. It’s a blast learning some new things, things that I always wanted to do.

What helped me on the mental side was to firmly close the door on my past work (though, of course not on the people) and to look for new opportunities to enjoy this wonderful gift called life.

Silent

I retired at 56 (mandatory for my career) and while I was prepared financially for it, the sudden change of pace of life was somewhat disconcerting.

I was on a round the clock, round the calendar schedule for over 32 years. So, the sudden prospect of going to bed/waking up at roughly the same time everyday was one of the adjustments that I had to make. Another thing was simply that I was no longer an air traffic controller: no more high-voltage work life. No more time is money, gotta make it work, and do it fast as possible. One of my brothers was talking to me early last year and he asked what I had planned to do that day. I read him a long list of to-do's and he yelled at me:

''Jesus Christ, dude. WTF... why are you trying to do all that shit in one damn day?? Sheesh... you aint a controller no more.

Relax and chill, you're retired!!!''

He was right as rain. There was absolutely no need to do a ton of shit in one day. Just old habits from when I worked and tried to cram a lot of stuff in a day off.

As to working after retirement, some folks want or need to work after retirement. That's fine, if that is what they choose to do. However, that is definitely not for me.

As others have said, the important thing is that you have something to do on a fairly regular basis (hobbies/work/projects/honey-do's). Maybe not every day, but frequently enough to keep you moving.

Lastly, one of my still-working former co-workers asked what was it like being retired. My response was that all the time, money, and effort that I spent taking care of my family while I was working is now time, effort, and money I spend on myself (I am no longer married and my son is grown).

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I love these quotes/thoughts from Itbarber and mcrimn!

quote:

Originally posted by ltbarber:
.... Uncommitted free time is a form of wealth.

quote:

Originally posted by mcrimm:

....We both read a lot, relax, travel, and enjoy our time together. We are blessed.

Great quotes. Especially the free time is form of wealth....excellent!

I retired from LE last Oct. at 53. I run an excavation company that I started about the same time I started LE (about 27 years ago). I stay busy, doing what I love and the State of Idaho drops me a check every month. I don't have the free time that most retirees have, but I love to work, especially for myself.

I'm going through that right now. I will be enrolling in Medicare very soon. I was involuntarily "retired" by the company closing up and then having Covid seriously badly, that screwed up my last few years of which I assumed I'd work as planned. Didn't happen that way, but you adapt and change your viewpoints.

I received a lot of advice, most of which I viewed as recycled blah blah blah stuff.

IMO, so far anyway, the best advice I was given was this:

Don't retire "from something".

Retire "to something".

Change your viewpoint from "leaving work" to "starting a new wonderful phase of my life.

The worse thing you can do is stay at home, get out of circulation, sit on your ass and watch tv all day and night.

Get busy with all kinds of things. Get some new education (I love to learn new things), do volunteer work, take care of your body and mind and spirit.

I have found joy and purpose in serving others in voluntary work. I truly I have received so much more doing such than those whom I gave my time and efforts to. It is a blessing to be able to do that.

Take a little time off, but soon you should get back on a schedule. Don't sleep all day and stay up all night. Get a routine, get up get dressed and go, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Have regular things every day and week in your plan and commit to that.

I firmly believe that each of needs a few things every day. Take care of your physical body, your mind and your spirit. Exercise, do something, make your mind learn new things, and take care of your spiritual life, every day.

Best wishes to you in your future endeavors.
.

quote:

Originally posted by AITG:
Plan for two years and adjust accordingly. Health, the economy, and inflation are unknowns. Deal with it as it comes.

I think this is fantastic advice.

When I retired 4+ years ago, Trump was President and our accounts were growing at 10+% even after our withdrawals. Under Biden, we are down 20%.

We have cut back our spending, but, otherwise, we’re hanging in there and dealing with it as it comes.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:

Get busy with all kinds of things. Get some new education (I love to learn new things), do volunteer work, take care of your body and mind and spirit.

Excellent advice as well.

One thing I didn’t mention was that I joined a book club this year. It was a little awkward as it’s composed of younger guys (in their 30s). But, they caucused and agreed to let a 60ish geezer join their group. I absolutely love it. We read some great books and talking with these guys is the highlight of my week when we meet.

I get to find out August 1st.
52 & retired from the prison is sounding pretty good.

As some here know I’m set for hobbies!

Biggest transition for us has still been related to financial. We are both financially conservative. Wife even more than me. After 30 years of being dedicated savers we had to flip the switch and stop saving and eventually start consuming those savings.
Going on three years in (in a pandemic with rampant inflation) we have been able to get by on normal savings and my pension. Eventually we will probably need to start tapping the IRA/401K savings. That is going to be the biggest mental hurdle for us.
Going from net savers to drawing down savings is harder than I thought it would be.

When I retired the company offered a lump sum payout or a monthly pension. I took the lump because you cannot change once you started collecting and does not transfer over to a surviving spouse. The company keeps any leftovers. Was able to keep the medical for wife and myself and it is not COBRA. So all in all not bad. Those two things were important for me.