Thinking of Retirement

[JaneV2.0]

By the time I left employment, I had something like two months' vacation yearly, and I routinely took every day of it. I'm rarely bored--I don't really understand boredom--and I don't feel particularly called to service, either. I'm good with plenty of "white space" in my life. I love being retired; I felt like employment was a huge waste of life energy.

[Simplemind]

I don't understand the concept of boredom either. Granted, I knew that I would not be happy to just read and putter. I like to have a challenge and my volunteer work gives me that. I don't need the money and what I love is the freedom to choose my schedule as opposed to having one set for me. I can work as much as I want and when a travel opportunity or something else comes up I can pull myself out of the schedule with a moments notice. That was one of the reasons I retired. We had new management and they were changing the nature of how time off was approved. I had been able to take off whenever I wanted now (due to problem employees here and there that they couldn't manage individually) they wanted only larger blocks of time taken with advance notice. I was earning almost one day off a week and I liked coming in every day and making sure everything got done and shaving some time off at the end of the day. Freedom and flexibility were the most important job perk for me because it balanced out all the negatives. Once that was gone I couldn't think of any compelling reasons to stay. I have too many ideas in my head and opportunities to explore them to ever be bored.

[JaneV2.0]

I've found that on the rare occasions I find myself ''bored" there's something else going on. There's always something to do, if I'm so inclined.
I'm with you re someone else setting schedules for me.

[pinkytoe]

With me, it is never boredom but deciding what of many options shall I spend time doing.

[Teacher Terry]

I guess I am in the minority and do get bored. That’s why I continue to work part time from home but I have full control over my schedule.

[iris lilies]

I guess I am in the minority and do get bored. That’s why I continue to work part time from home but I have full control over my schedule.

I dont get bored. I “ work” but not for pay. I dont punch a time clock and tend to eschew the volunteer work that comes with a schedule, but that doesnt mean I dont have deadlines and places I have to be at times.

[Gardenarian]

I retired at 55, fully vested in my pension and with plenty of savings.

I think what made me feel comfortable about retiring was moving to a less expensive area. I also found out pretty quickly that working actually costs quite a lot - $$ for gas commuting, clothing, lunches - and when you're retired you don't feel the need for spendy activities on weekends (YMMV.)

Still, I almost immediately got a part-time job in my field (I'm a librarian; lots of part-time work out there.) It wasn't about the money so much as about missing being part of the library world and interacting with other professionals.

That wore off after a couple years, and now I'm only working as a substitute.

It took me some time to adjust to retirement. I've not been bored; I'm more likely to put too much my plate
I love being retired and have discovered many new interests that cost little or nothing to pursue. And I hardly drive at all - hallelujah!

[dado potato]

San Onofre Guy,

I would emphasize the need for planning/budgeting for health insurance between an "early retirement" date and age 65, when Medicare presumably will be available.

In my experience, the increases in premiums were double-digit annually.

Now, there may be a post-retirement health insurance benefit with your employer. It would be a good idea to ascertain how generous (or not!) your employer is. I believe there are school districts, for example, that continue to pay the entire premium for a principal or superintendent, but "freeze" the level of subsidy for a lower-level job retiree at the same dollar amount they contributed in the year the employee retired... so the lower-level retiree will pay premiums that will be greater every year until they enroll in Medicare.

[Gardnr]

I retired at 55, fully vested in my pension and with plenty of savings.

I think what made me feel comfortable about retiring was moving to a less expensive area. I also found out pretty quickly that working actually costs quite a lot - $$ for gas commuting, clothing, lunches

I am reading comments with interest as my target date is age 60-May 2021. I have nominal work expenses. My commute is a mere 6.5m each way. I buy a tank of guess about every 6 weeks. I work in surgery so no clothing expenses except shoes 1x/yr. And I've packed my own meals for my entire 37years with little exception.

[Yppej]

San Onofre Guy,

I would emphasize the need for planning/budgeting for health insurance between an "early retirement" date and age 62, when Medicare presumably will be available.

I thought it doesn't start until 65.