Retirees, what do you do all day?

[Chopticon64]

My Mrs. is retiring from NAVAIR on Friday September 6th after 12 years.
Between that and her USAF active duty years, 25 years total.

Main thing for the next year, get rid of STUFF.
Then we'll decide where to go from here.

25 years?? You’re just warming up

The Chinese will eat us for lunch

 

[musiclady]

I hesitate to ask this, but have any of you had existential thoughts on future retirement? I'm really struggling. My husband is looking forward to retirement, and here I am thinking my life will be wasted waiting and doing nothing. For context, I am driven. I have trouble relaxing. I overschedule myself and then get overwhelmed. While he is looking forward to not having to work and to make bullets and go shooting and play video games until the wee hours, I'm afraid I will be terribly bored an unmotivated. I love to travel and read but you can't do that ALL the time. And if I'm not working, I don't see how we will have enough money to travel as much as I'd like. We can't afford that even now. We splurged last year and went on 4 fantastic trips, and I'm still trying to save up enough to get back to where we were before. Without an job, we will have a finite amount of income from retirement. I have lots of things I like to do, but struggle with the WHY? part of it. I mean, I can do my hobbies, start sewing, creating my photos books, but if I don't do any of it, no one cares. I can't seem to get past being needed to get stuff done. Currently work fills that feeling, but what is the point if I'm not needed? I watched my grandmother do the EXACT same routine daily for 40 years and I just can't fathom wondering WHY BOTHER. I dread the thought of retirement. I guess I've spent so much time doing things for others that I just can't see the importance of doing something just for me. I need to work this out in the next few years because I doubt I can keep working forever. I'd love to be looking forward to retirement life.

 

[rio]

I hesitate to ask this, but have any of you had existential thoughts on future retirement? I'm really struggling. My husband is looking forward to retirement, and here I am thinking my life will be wasted waiting and doing nothing. For context, I am driven. I have trouble relaxing. I overschedule myself and then get overwhelmed. While he is looking forward to not having to work and to make bullets and go shooting and play video games until the wee hours, I'm afraid I will be terribly bored an unmotivated. I love to travel and read but you can't do that ALL the time. And if I'm not working, I don't see how we will have enough money to travel as much as I'd like. We can't afford that even now. We splurged last year and went on 4 fantastic trips, and I'm still trying to save up enough to get back to where we were before. Without an job, we will have a finite amount of income from retirement. I have lots of things I like to do, but struggle with the WHY? part of it. I mean, I can do my hobbies, start sewing, creating my photos books, but if I don't do any of it, no one cares. I can't seem to get past being needed to get stuff done. Currently work fills that feeling, but what is the point if I'm not needed? I watched my grandmother do the EXACT same routine daily for 40 years and I just can't fathom wondering WHY BOTHER. I dread the thought of retirement. I guess I've spent so much time doing things for others that I just can't see the importance of doing something just for me. I need to work this out in the next few years because I doubt I can keep working forever. I'd love to be looking forward to retirement life.

Don't look at it as losing your worth, but deciding where YOU want your worth to be. If you love what you already do, is there the possibility for part time employment? Can you find something different you love that is part time to supplement retirement income? Do you have skills that are needed on a volunteer basis? Such as working at an animal shelter or a hospice, or a thrift store that supports them. Teaching classes, helping at food kitchens or women's shelters? Gardening at historic estates like Sotterley plantation, helping in a gift shop or museum at a historic site.
I don't like to be idle for too long either, but I'm looking forward to deciding for myself how long is too long, and how to fill the time in a way that I choose, and that I can do more things for less time at each if I choose, or more. To ME, it's more about that freedom to be busier doing different things than not doing anything (or not feeling guilty about having a month of being lazy if I choose).

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...

OMG, why is everything about politics!!! You can’t even let this thread be about the topic!!

Keep sitting by the pool folks.

The idling classes will have their butts handed to them soon enough.

“Oh I’m retired before 67, oh I’m out on disability, oh my email job is too tough!”

Get a real job, do real work, for real time, and you’ll be too tired to post “whatever will I do??”

This country wasn’t built by lazy people.

Ahh, the Nation has already been built. You sure do push socialist ideals; work until death.

Now, if monies were targeted to repairing/rebuilding, in addition to new, infrastructure that benefits the people, (rather than hundreds of billions being sent to foreign countries), more people would be working.

Tell us this; Why would anyone work today, (if they don't need to), for some constantly devalued dollars? And even if they did work, they would be further taxed than they already are because of those extra earnings? So what exactly is the point of working more if one does not need to?

 

[Kyle]

OMG, why is everything about politics!!! You can’t even let this thread be about the topic!!

Keep sitting by the pool folks.

The idling classes will have their butts handed to them soon enough.

“Oh I’m retired before 67, oh I’m out on disability, oh my email job is too tough!”

Get a real job, do real work, for real time, and you’ll be too tired to post “whatever will I do??”

This country wasn’t built by lazy people.

Above Written by one of the forums dip-$hit, Commie parasites, sucking off uncle Sam’s teet

 

[GURPS]

I work REAL JOBS for 30 Plus years .... I've for the arthritis to show for it

Military, Plumber, Electrician, Carpenter, Worked on repairing cars, short order cook ... digging in the dirt on the Branch Ave Metro Site in 1996
the past 23 yrs Various IT JOBS including managing an IT Dept in a Fortune 500 Company for 6.5 yrs