Retirement hobbies

nolaegghead

Made the hummus in a Blendtec yesterday.   Came out really tasty. 

Dollinger

I have been a retire since age 28. I should have stayed employed. I have been so busy doing nothing I can't find time to do anything.

Zippylip

At 43 I lost it all, the job I thought I’d retire at, the marriage, and with it the retirement plan; was a pretty stiff series of gut punches & I had to plot a new course wholesale.  At the time I figured retirement was off the table anyway so I may as well do what I want from there on out, so rather than go out & try to replace the soul-killing ‘job’ I had I hung my own shingle & worked essentially part time for about the next 10 years (15-20 hours/wk, off on Fridays), & to my surprise actually got a retirement plan going again. Not an ideal plan given that I was starting from zero but light at the end of the tunnel.  For a good few years the new schedule was incredible, a dream come true, but eventually it got boring, real boring, everyone else was always working & it turned out the less I did the less I wanted to do, the sleep pattern was in tatters and business suffered…  at 53 I shifted gears again & teamed up with some old friends that wanted to expand into a new market with me at the helm of that operation.  It’s coming up on a year since we opened & it’s going well.  Still self-employed but with more structure, a lot more business & much longer work days.  It’s had a pretty good impact overall, nights/weekends are fun (& distinguishable) again, I’m sleeping normally again & the retirement prospects are looking more reasonable. Best guestimate is 65, give or take, though if things are going well I may stick around in a management type position.  Having experienced what I did during my 10 year partial sabbatical I’m not looking forward to full retirement as much as I did when I was slaving away for other people though I’m still optimistic I’ll make it work if for no other reason than I’ll have more company.  To the question posed by the OP, re hobbies, another thing I learned is that I need more.  Not many people reading this probably know I was once a regular contributor here, I’ve been cooking since I was a kid and count it as one of my great passions in this life.  That, along with a few other things I enjoy combined however weren’t enough to keep me occupied even when working part time.  I’m not sure what I’ll do, I’ll have to try some new things because boredom is probably psychologically one of the worst states of being, nearly pushed me over the edge.  I know this, I can’t wrap my head around golf, tried, but I’d seriously rather watch paint dry.  I’ll figure it out when the time comes.

Botch

Interesting read, @Zippylip.  Like you, my career plan didn't turn out the way I had wanted, but went okay by the end, after all.  

Canugghead

@Zippylip thanks for sharing, miss your off-the-chart creative cooks.

nolaegghead

@Zippylip good story.  What did you do?  Law?

Zippylip

Botch said:

Interesting read, @Zippylip.  Like you, my career plan didn't turn out the way I had wanted, but went okay by the end, after all.  

Thank you, and I think mine will turn out that way too.  I was on the pretty standard track early on and I was naïve enough to think that’s all it took, plot a course, stick to it & you’ll end up where you intended.  But sh!t happens, right?  It’s all good in the end, actually wouldn’t erase the few miles of bad road I travelled, they put me in a much better place in the final analysis, or current analysis anyway 😊; I used to have a lot of angst about my job, & while it’s still a stressful endeavor I’m appreciating it, actually enjoying it, more than at any other time in my career which will be entering its 30th year next year.  I learned to accept whatever comes at me nearly instantaneously as to do anything else is a fool’s errand for many reasons.  That has brought contentedness more so than ever before.  I also found a good woman, took me 51 years, she’s incredible and has caused me to rethink a lot of what I believed most of my life.  It’s amazing how you just never stop learning, if you’re paying attention anyway.

Canugghead said:

@Zippylip thanks for sharing, miss your off-the-chart creative cooks.

thank you, doing less of those wacky things these days, kids are grown & gone so it's tough to get motivated to cook a lot...

nolaegghead said:

@Zippylip good story.  What did you do?  Law?

thank you, and yup, trial lawyer

dmourati

I've been thinking more and more about retirement since I started my last job. I like working, and enjoy my field, and would like to keep working until my son is out of high school and maybe out of the house.

I think it was the huge salary increase that came with my newest job that made me realize retirement is within reach. I live in CA so it's expensive to live here. I'm on track to make it in five years but I'll probably work for another 15 total.

wardo

I love everyone sharing their thoughts on this!  Everyone has a different vision and it's a journey to get there.

littlerascal56

I do too.  So glad I started this thread and got others opinions! 

northGAcock

I am ready to hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.

GATraveller

Square dancing is where its at.

DoubleEgger

GATraveller said:

Square dancing is where its at.

I thought it was “Hustling at Bingo” 

LesMo

Retired June 1st in 2019 and relocated from Central Illinois to Northwest Georgia.  My wife retired a year before I did.  The home we purchased required quite a bit of work to update it so that and figuring out where to put things after downsizing to 1/3 of the square footage we previously had have been keeping us busy.  We sold or donated what we thought were enough things that we thought space wouldn't be an issue, but it has been.  The lot is basically a blank palette so that will keep us busy this spring. We also plan to add a paver patio area with a patio cover and that will be a fun activity.  Photography, hiking, exploring the area are hobbies.  I was a computer programmer by trade and I continue to do some of that just to try and get in some mental exercises.  It is very nice having plenty of time for stretching and exercise instead of sitting behind a desk for 10 hours a day.  I have lost 25 pounds just from being up and about all the time. Much more time for reading now too and I have been enjoying that.  The one thing that has really surprised me that shouldn't have is that the time goes just as quickly as it did when I was working.  The hours, days, weeks and months still continue to zoom by.  I think that is just a function of getting older.  That phenomenon has continued to gather momentum for the last 20 years.  I started out having weekly goals of what to get done, but have learned that I need to have a more structured schedule where I set aside certain hours of the day for a specific activity.   Bottom line is that retirement is even better than I imagined it would be.

GATraveller

Complain about your aches and pains.

DoubleEgger

Welcome to GA @LesMo. North Georgia is great. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to go to Cloudland Canyon since you’ve been here. 

dstearn

I retired last June. After 43 years in high pressure sales career I figured Inhad enough to retire. Loving every minute of it. In addition to Egging I have more time to devote to my photography hobby. I also belong to two camera clubs which gives me an incentive to get out a shoot. I also lost 10 lbs as I have had more time to work out.!My wife may also be retiring later this year so we can both travel when we want to without worrying about work schedules. 

oldmandawg

Will be retiring April 1st. Grandkids, golf and a little travel on tap for me. Will also look to do some volunteer work as well. 

LesMo

DoubleEgger said:

Welcome to GA @LesMo. North Georgia is great. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to go to Cloudland Canyon since you’ve been here. 

It is on the list.  :-)  It's great to be back.  We lived in Atlanta from 1986-2005.  Now we have the nice climate and scenery and far away enough from Atlanta that we don't have to deal with the traffic.  Surrounded by pastures of horses and cattle now with mountain views.  Life is good.

MN-Egger

Not sure when I will actually retire but when I do, I will be spending much more time on this.

moose3356

I retired 2 years ago. I live on a lake so I do a lot of boating and fishing. Also do flea markets and Ebay, I love it when I pay $2 for something and sell if for $200. It pays for my cigars and other vices.  

RRP

LesMo said:

Retired June 1st in 2019 and relocated from Central Illinois to Northwest Georgia.  My wife retired a year before I did.  The home we purchased required quite a bit of work to update it so that and figuring out where to put things after downsizing to 1/3 of the square footage we previously had have been keeping us busy.  We sold or donated what we thought were enough things that we thought space wouldn't be an issue, but it has been.  The lot is basically a blank palette so that will keep us busy this spring. We also plan to add a paver patio area with a patio cover and that will be a fun activity.  Photography, hiking, exploring the area are hobbies.  I was a computer programmer by trade and I continue to do some of that just to try and get in some mental exercises.  It is very nice having plenty of time for stretching and exercise instead of sitting behind a desk for 10 hours a day.  I have lost 25 pounds just from being up and about all the time. Much more time for reading now too and I have been enjoying that.  The one thing that has really surprised me that shouldn't have is that the time goes just as quickly as it did when I was working.  The hours, days, weeks and months still continue to zoom by.  I think that is just a function of getting older.  That phenomenon has continued to gather momentum for the last 20 years.  I started out having weekly goals of what to get done, but have learned that I need to have a more structured schedule where I set aside certain hours of the day for a specific activity.   Bottom line is that retirement is even better than I imagined it would be.

Ah...yet another smart person who beat feet out of bankrupt/corrupt IL! I HONESTLY am jealous! 

 Many reasons that I will not discuss here is why my wife of 53 years and I will probably have our cold bodies wheeled out of our home here on a gurney!

Here we sit in Central IL in Dunlap, next to Peoria, so where had you lived before your move?