Retirement Is A New Beginning

The difference between thinking about retirement vs. what it actually looks like when the time comes can be startling.

I recently had lunch with my much-loved Millennial girlfriend. She had me laughing about her escapades with her father now that he’d retired. To paraphrase her words - I have to keep an eye on these hoochie-mamas after his money. He has too much time on his hand and doesn’t know what to do with himself.

Then she jokingly said I should write a blog post about how to survive retirement. We laughed some more, then moved onto another topic.

A few days later, I had a conversation with a friend I’ve known since college. She spoke of feeling lost since she retired. Said her days mostly consist of feeding her pets and taking walks. 

I’m all for exercise. But there has to be more to life!

These two incidents got me thinking about my retirement lifestyle.

People laugh when I say I’m retired and then tell them what I’m up to.

• writing blog posts and Substack articles

• actively seeking an agent for my completed novel

• working on a second fiction manuscript and a nonfiction book

• writing and submitting short stories to literary journals 

• developing grant proposals for two consulting clients 

• playing poker every day (My goal is to earn a seat at the final table of a professional poker tournament one day.) 

I know. It’s a lot. But it’s my retirement life and I love it! 

You know why? Because I get to do everything I want when I want to do it. Retirement allows me to make plans and accomplish them on my time schedule. And I leave room for lots of flexibility. If I don’t get it done today, there’s tomorrow. But I always work towards ultimately finishing what I start.

So, here’s what I have to say to folks struggling with adjusting to retirement.

First, decide whether you want to simply enjoy life, supplement your income, or do both. Notice, I said decide. We’re being definitive. This is where I hope you’ve been financially responsible when planning for your retirement and supplementing your income is a want and not a need. Although these days it’s probably a little of both. 😞 

If leisure time, relaxation and enjoyment are what you seek, take a walk down memory lane and make a list of the things you used to do that brought you joy or the things you’ve always said you want to do. That’s right! Commit them to paper! Can you guess the next step? 

Prioritize your choices, analyze the pros and cons for each, pick the one you want to pursue first and list the rest in order of importance. Take definitive steps towards making choice number one happen and start having fun! Find meet-up groups that share your interest(s), and you can always volunteer. But most important, don’t forget to make changes as you see fit because flexibility is king in retirement! And remember, you’re on your own time schedule.

If your focus is to supplement your income, assess what skills or hobbies you have that you can monetize. Figure out who needs your services, create a marketing plan to reach your target audience and advertise. Voila! You’ve started your own small business.

I like to organize my time with both choices in mind, so my daily routine includes:

• Some form of work

• Something I like to do

• Something I hate to do or have been procrastinating about doing (Let’s face it. We all have things we don’t necessarily hate doing but make excuses not to tackle. Currently, my procrastination centers on getting rid of papers).

I may not get to all of them each day, but so what? There’s always tomorrow. Get my drift?

I hope each of you approaching retirement or those who are already there have managed your finances – not to be rich but to 1) have a roof over your head; 2) pay your bills on time (Living without debt is the greatest freedom you will ever experience.); 3) eat whatever you want and 4) go wherever you choose.

My last suggestion is to interact with young folks. Not hoochie mamas (or hoochie daddies–yes, that’s a thing too!), but responsible adults doing something positive  with their lives. These relationships will benefit all parties involved.

Remember, to live a fulfilling retirement life, you should count your blessings and continue doing what makes you happy until you can’t. Then find something else to take its place.