# Preparing for retirement, and not the financial part



## Dennis K (Oct 2, 2016)

This is discussed often here, and I know many will say that they do not know how they were able to work with every thing they have going on after retirement. So this is a specific question regarding preparing for retirement. Forget about the financial side of preparing, and answer this question. Are there people here who actually start planning ahead of time for ways to fill their new found abundance of time that will come after retirement? And if you have pre-planned for this, what have you come up with? This question is for pre-planning not a discussion on what you may have found after retirement.


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## maggiemae (Oct 2, 2016)

For me, it was planning all the projects I love to do.  For instance, I have paint samples here that I plan on redoing each room.  Also, I love gardening and I have a plan in place for when I need to replace mulch and replace plants that did not make it through this summer's drought.  Also, I love to read and have many books on my Kindle and I also went to Books A Million and bought several "Bargain Books" to keep me occupied through the winter months when I cannot work outside.  I also love to "Scrapbook" with a program I have loaded on my computer.  My husband and I are available to go to the schools when our grandchildren have special days (that was not an option when we were both working). When I first retired (April 29th this year), I have to admit, there were days I felt at a lose as what to do.  If you are not into the home projects, why not check into your local colleges for classes that interest you?  Our colleges and community colleges offer many classes for retired people.  Personally, I don't think all the planning in the world can prepare you for retirement and all the free time you have.  I think you just need to keep yourself busy in whatever things you enjoy.  But I can say, when Sunday evening comes around and I know I don't have to get up at dawn and fight traffic to get to work, it's a good thing!


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## maggiemae (Oct 2, 2016)

I just looked at your profile...your an electrical engineer?  Why not start a personal business that you can work the hours you want?  Put out those business cards and see what happens.


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## Capt Lightning (Oct 3, 2016)

You can plan all you want, but you never know what will actually happen.  We moved from one end of the country to the other so we had to take that into account.  We planned to :-
1. rent accommodation and explore the local area to see where we would like to live.
2. Buy a house and make any changes / repairs before we moved in.
3. If necessary,  prepare the garden and get the vegetables and soft fruit planted.
4. When things were established,  do some travelling....

In reality, this all took a lot longer than we had anticipated.


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## bluebreezes (Oct 3, 2016)

Leave room for the possibility that how you want to spend your time in retirement may be different than what you planned.


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## Ray (Oct 3, 2016)

The best "planning" is to plan to be open to anything. If you do that and place yourself in an appropriate environment - senior community or near an active senior center  where "fun life" is lived every day, not just weekends - you will be amazed at the stuff you get involved in.

The main thing is get out of the house, apartment, whatever. There is little new there but outside it is a wonderland of diverse activities that you never even thought of.

Another thought - hobbies that you enjoyed while working were diversions from the "work-a-day pressures", can they really be what life is all about all by themselves. Before retiring I attended a pre-retirement seminar. The leader of that had a great thought. he said you can only play so much golf. While working, golfers are very limited as to how often they can play - but remember, once retired it cannot be your entire life.


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## Don M. (Oct 3, 2016)

The most important thing....IMO...is to find a routine that maintains your health, as you get older.  I've seen far too many who retired to the TV and couch, and they quickly began to gain excess weight, and have health issues.  There are NO prescription drugs, for example, that can substitute for proper diet, and a good amount of exercise.


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## Myquest55 (Oct 3, 2016)

You are right to plan ahead.  I have seen a few people retire and shock set in as they realized they have nothing to do now!

Husband and I have talked about this.  He has Parkinsons so we will need to come up with a routine to deal with that.  We are planning to relocate and are looking for a specific kind of neighborhood-with sidewalks and/or access to trails, close to the city with access to restaurants, concerts, galleries, shops, etc.  We both need to stay active, so plan to walk and live near a Medically Oriented Gym for regular classes.  I want to work on all my sewing and needlework projects that are stashed away, he wants to read more books.  We both intend to try to find someplace to volunteer - even if it is once a month.  We plan to take classes - we'll be near an Osher Center for Life Long Learning at the local college campus or Continuing ED.  Perhaps a part time job is possible as we settle in.  

As we have been looking at real estate, we made a list of what we want to do IN the house so we can narrow down what kind of home we want - fewer stairs as the arthritis sets in.  We plan to move to Maine so winter weather could keep us house bound more often.  There is a Continuing Care Retirement Community in the area that we have our eye on for later too.  Should be fun!


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## Knight (Oct 4, 2016)

Any and all you think you want to do depends on your and your spouse, " if you have one"  finances and health after retiring.  

Think about what your life has been like after you were able to live on your own.  About every 10 years some kind of change took place, expect the same in retirement. There is no magic formula for what to do during the last years you have to live. Just remember that if you hope to get from 55 to 85 that you will only have 2/3 of those years awake and doing what you are able to do. Make the best of those 20 years.


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## Capt Lightning (Oct 4, 2016)

I would recommend that you buy a comfortable bed for the other 10


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## DaveA (Oct 4, 2016)

I probably wouldn't recommend it, but we did little planning for retirement.  I was planning to retire 5 years later than I actually did.  One of those "early out " retirement plans came along and we spent about 2 nights discussing it.  Two days later I filed my papers and at the end of the month I was a "free man", jobwise.  My wife hadn't worked in the last 10 years so there was no change in her plans.  

I was 58 at the time, locked my office door, said so long to my acquaintances, and walked out the door never to look back with regret.  No grandiose plans awaited me except for enjoying the time that I would have with my wife, grown kids, and grandkids.  We happen to have 4 married kids, 13 grandkids, some married, and 5 great grands.  With the exception of one grandson and wife, they all live nearby and we are very close as a family.  Between helping my son and SIL's with projects, at times and being the "duty driver" delivering and picking up some wonderful grandkids, life has been good.  I can't tell you how many "Breakfast with Santa" we've been to. LOL

Starting in 1996, we spent our winters in Florida and in '99 one of our daughters bought this cottage in Maine.  Since that year, we've spent the spring and fall months up here.   Some years we were gone from home for a total of 7 months and it's been a wonderful ride.  Never spent any time in senior centers or any organized senior activity.  We also chose to not be "independent" as many do and have contributed our help to our family in what ever way it was needed. This isn't the life for many but I will say, that as we now slip in to our twilight years, and start to need a bit of help ourselves, it is there without asking and we have been on the giving side long enough to not feel guilty when we do need their help.  

So, bottom line - - - I'd recommend planning for anybody.  I think it's best to take a realistic look at what you expect life to be like and try an make the mental adjustments before you get there.  Our total lack of a plan has, by chance, made these last 24-25 years among the best in our lives but I'm the first to say that two things that can't be planned - - good health and good fate accomplished the job in our case.

My grand-dad, mom, and dad, all passed away here and when the time comes, I hope this is where I end up as well.  I just hope it's not before the World Series because I want to watch the Red Sox win it!!!


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## fureverywhere (Oct 4, 2016)

*&%$ I'll be working until they can't revive me anymore. But volunteer work...my Dad volunteered for a veteran's hospital for a decade. Lots of friends and a close partner to travel with. Retirement can be awesome.


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## Knight (Oct 6, 2016)

Capt Lightning said:


> I would recommend that you buy a comfortable bed for the other 10



Makes sense. When looking at all those hours that are available now to do as you please. Taking away time to sleep, eat, shop for food, bathe, and do all the mundane usual thing that are not thought about. Filling the remaining hours isn't all that hard to do. 

Quite often travel is the top choice. If planning well makes it possible to secure a visa for the U K and later for Australia I'd suggest getting a visa and apply for a 6 month stay in order to really enjoy the culture of those countries. Australia has a 3 month limit that can be extended another 3 months. A little research can find a 6 month lease to have a place to live while exploring.  One way to explore Australia is to rent a Harley Davidson motorcycle to tour. 

If that isn't doable then plan to visit the national parks in America. Little things like two walking paths under the presidents heads at Mt. Rushmore aren't shown in pictures. Or viewing Old Faithful from a hill on the backside beats sitting on a bench in front of the hotel watching from there. Hiking in Yosemite where you can take off your boots and cool your feet in a mountain stream brings you back to feeling like a kid again. Planning a visit to Cade's cove in Tn. should include tubing on the river. Nothing like going deep inside a coal mine in Ashland Pa. and finding out what miners dealt with underground. Favorite is The Arches in Moab Utah. Biking slick rock to meeting people from all over the world hiking the various trails to rafting and renting a condo as a base to enjoy all that is there a real plus. Just some of the things possible to fill those hours available in retirement.


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## bluebreezes (Oct 6, 2016)

For the US national parks, age 62 and older can get a Senior Pass for $10 (and a $10 processing fee) that's good for a lifetime: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/senior.html


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## RiverUp (Mar 1, 2018)

Don M. said:


> The most important thing....IMO...is to find a routine that maintains your health, as you get older.  I've seen far too many who retired to the TV and couch, and they quickly began to gain excess weight, and have health issues.  There are NO prescription drugs, for example, that can substitute for proper diet, and a good amount of exercise.



I'm trying the "quote" feature for the first time, so I hope I do it correctly.  

An exercise program, (no matter how modest,) and a carefully thought-out diet plan are so important to a person's life and happiness.  IMHO.  It just is not worth it to allow one's health to decline due to neglect.  Also, sleep problems, anxiety and depression issues often are milder when a person has and uses a personal health plan.  For some folks, the exercise and diet can even be a major core of their lives and they can still watch TV and do the simple things that give them pleasure.  Brisk walking, 25 or 30 minutes a day can be great.  At "our" age(s,) diet can be as powerful/beneficial as some medications might be. I hope I have encouraged somebody out there!


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## Gary O' (Mar 1, 2018)

Dennis K said:


> Are there people here who actually start planning ahead of time for ways to fill their new found abundance of time that will come after retirement? And if you have pre-planned for this, what have you come up with? This question is for pre-planning not a discussion on what you may have found after retirement.



Bought land in 1999






Built a cabin in 2010





Retired to it in 2015





Plan?
Started considering it in 1953


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## Mr X (Mar 2, 2018)

Dennis K said:


> This is discussed often here, and I know many will say that they do not know how they were able to work with every thing they have going on after retirement. So this is a specific question regarding preparing for retirement. Forget about the financial side of preparing, and answer this question. Are there people here who actually start planning ahead of time for ways to fill their new found abundance of time that will come after retirement? And if you have pre-planned for this, what have you come up with? This question is for pre-planning not a discussion on what you may have found after retirement.



We are in the early stages of doing that now. Main thing is using our good credit, and the fact that we are both working, to find and buy a place where we can afford to live on minimal income (see my thread about not preparing, financially.) As much as we talk about going back to Europe, or trips to the ocean, the fact is that we love Las Vegas and Laughlin, so being close to either of those places helped us narrow down some locations.

As for "free time." we don't have kids, I work from home, and my wife has summers off, so there really won't be many more "free" hours to fill than we have now.

Most of the people I know who have recently retired, seem to also keep "doing what they do" - work part time in their former profession, play a little more golf and spend way more time enjoying their grandchildren.


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## Vinny (Jun 23, 2018)

I increased the number of cable channels and premium ones. I bought all the stuff that I wanted for my hobbies so as not to need to buy them later. 8 years ago we moved to Florida and bought a house. I had reduced the number of days and hours I work over that period of time and I work from home so my wife and I have our schedules worked out so as not to be together all the time or have me spoil the routine she has had for the last 20 years. 

I have traveled extensively on business for all of my adult life since I was in the international logistics business and consultant to foreign governments. I am looking forward to not getting phone calls from Hong Kong in the middle of the night or an alert that one of my servers is having a problem that I need to fix. Also note that since we never had kids, we spoiled ourselves and been there and done that more than one time. I have traveled to 21 countries and 26+ States. I do not need to travel anymore. 

I retire this week and plan on just focusing on my hobbies and taking it easy for the rest of the year. Than I will evaluate my life and see what I want to change for 2019. For now I just want to do nothing. No stress. No worry about losing a major contract or being fined by one of the many Federal Agencies we dealt with. No more getting involved in the petty squabbles between employees. Right now I have geared up all of my hobbies so I have everything I need and will mess with them for awhile. I always say take care of now and the future will take care of itself. That has been my way and it has proven to be very successful for me. I always find a way or something to do. Most time things find me.


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