60 days to retirement (not that I'm counting). (OK I'm counting)

[Paige]

Early congratulations. You sound like you are in my boat. My husband and I are in our first year of retirement and also funding it ourselves until our pension kicks in. We are 59 & 61. First of all, let them throw you a party! We both loved our separate parties and people really showed us warmth and kindness. We traveled to Yosemite in the fall when the tourists were much less and the fall leaves were still on the trees. We also went to Scotland and England and camped a lot. We both have a couple of hobbies we are serious about, and I am being a student teaching supervisor for a local college. (I like still being in education, but with a light, easy schedule) I miss going to the same place every day, but my husband doesn't miss it at all. He was ready to move on with his hobbies: mountain biking and woodworking. I have been reading that a retiree shouldn't just have hobbies that are solitary, so I worry about him and am encouraging him to do some volunteer work where he socializes, but so far so bad. He has some friends, but none that he sees on a regular basis. I read in a retiree book that everyone should have somewhere they go once a week where if you skipped, everyone would miss you! I liked that. Hope that all makes some sense.

[rosarugosa]

Paige: The social thing is something I'm trying to work on myself, The social element is honestly just as much fun as the learning and making components of carpentry class. It's such a great group of people!

[iris lilies]

I retired four years ago this coming April 1 and I chose that day because it was the beginning of spring. That year was a most glorious beautiful first two weeks in April, weather was perfect.

I purposely made DH, who retired the same time as I did, come with me on exploring adventures, little day trips, to see things that were close by but we hadn’t seen before. We hit the museums around the region and still have not hit them all. One day we went to three museums that started with the letter M – the Moto museum, the miniature museum, and the mosaics museum. That year I kept a record of places we went, and I also increased my attendance at theatrical productions.


I continued some of that into the second year but in the second year I kind of lost my focus and my way. I wasted time sitting around. That was not a good period.

I started to get involved in National Garden Club and it shaped up as an activity that would take time. By the third year I was pretty involved with National Garden Club and I stepped up involvement with other plant societies and am now as busy as I want to be March -August.

The arc of our year in retirement is always about the seasons. I am happily busy during the growing season but I also enjoy the calmness of winter. Plus, my house is so much cleaner during the winter —the dogs are not shedding there, dirt is not being tracked in.

My worst time of year is Septemberr because it is so damned hot here and all of my favorite crops are done. Ideally, I would like to escape for a month in September to a cooler climate up north but havent figured out how to do that, would have to hire people to weed gardens for a month. DH would never leave during September because that is his harvest month.

[JaneV2.0]

To me, retirement is what makes aging bearable. Free at last!
Hope yours is wonderful!

[Tammy]

I want to take a 4 month around the world cruise when I retire. It will cost $40,000 for the two of us. I’m not sure if that will happen - but we can dream.

[nswef]

Tammy, What a great dream! Start planning now!

[Simplemind]

I spent a year thinking about it knowing that it was time to go but also knowing it had become such a part of my identity (both good and bad) that I would have a difficult time of it. I got so much feedback such as don't do it, you will be bored to do it, you can garden and do what ever you want. I knew I would never be bored (I don't understand how anybody with an imagination gets bored) but I also knew that life in the garden would not do it for me. I love a challenge or problem to solve. So I started looking into how I would do that and started dipping my toes in. I also re-established some relationships that had gone on the back burner during the child raising years. I knew that all of the work friendships would most likely fall to the wayside and they ultimately did. I signed up for training for a volunteer job that would keep me in the company of the police/fire community that I was leaving.
It was a surreal feeling for me. It felt just as impossible to leave as it did to stay. I walked away with my box of stuff after my retirement ceremony and reception never to come back. I was done, done, done. It was the first day of June so for the next several months I just chilled and felt the stress melt away. I wrote, I painted, I gardened. Then fate handed me a $%%^ sandwich on the heels of my mom's passing with my dad's dementia, my husbands stroke and heart surgery within months and the need to liquidate my parents properties and take care of my dad who in a vulnerable moment admitted to a second family that he had for decades. Lets just say that I am forever grateful for the 6 months of total me time before I was hit with the avalanche. There is no what I could have done all that I had to do for the last 6 years had I still been trying to hold down a job. Now dad is gone, my husband has mostly recovered, my kid is out on his own and the Trust will finally be settled with this last tax return. We feel like we are retiring for the second time. We want to get out, travel more and enjoy life before the next shoe drops!

[Teacher Terry]

SM, talk about the shit hitting the fan. Ugh! All my parents care came while I was still working.

[Simplemind]

TT, I was working my last year while caring for my mom. She had dementia and in the end, lung cancer. I was not going to be able to leave with all the sick time I had accrued so I used it up for FMLA for her care. I'm thankful I had it because I had no idea how hard things had been for my dad until I stepped in. So I was able to get all my sick time out and leave with all my other time banks full for a nice pay out. I filed for retirement while I was on funeral leave. Her passing gave me the push I needed. All along the last months I had doubts but kept hearing a voice in the back of my head saying "trust". So in spite of feeling nervous about it.... I jumped at the earliest retirement age of 55. Never once have I regretted it even with the lower pension rate. We live very comfortably.

[Teacher Terry]

So glad you had the time to spend with your mom. Caring for a spouse when you are old yourself is so tough.