What did you do on the first day of retirement?

[Big Barn]

You retired with an 8yr old??? That is very impressive!!!!

Maybe not necessarily "impressive" Richard, but definitely one of the BEST things I could ever do for the two of us. I was 58 at the time.

 

[ultrarunner]

You guys are making it hard... hard to keep working!

 

[Redbug]

My favorite day of the week is Monday! We always go out and eat breakfast at a little diner nearby to celebrate. They all know us and when we order all we have to say is, "the usual". Do you know why Monday is my favorite day? The mail runs, people go back to work, the stores and roads are less crowded, the woods and water are empty of weekend warriors, and the little vandals are in school. TGIM!

 

[Guywire]

Brett, I know your pain. My wife taught and I couldn't retire until after she did (I make a rotten "househusband"). I retired about 3 months after she did. Good timing on my part as she had a stroke about 6 weeks after I retired (which then evidenced just what type of househusband I was). Fortunately she fully recovered (other than a little lingering vertigo). One plus for me waiting was that a new retirement program (which significantly increased my retirement) was put into effect just before I left. Maybe your working another 2-3 years will bring you something good, too.

 

[sailorman]

Do any of you have "flashback" nightmares about work after you retired?

I do .

 

[cat fever]

You guys are making it hard... hard to keep working!

I should have never read this thread, because I'm thinking the same as you.

 

[johnk]

Remember..... Money can't buy time. I retirired when I was 59 1/2 and have been enjoying it for 8 years. I have a house in the burbs where I live with the wife and 43 acres in the country where we hang out in the summer. My advice is ... If you can retire do it. You'll look back and wonder how you worked.

 

[Doofy]

Flashback nightmares for about the first 8 years of retirement but very few and far between now. I was on-call 24-7 and came to absolutely dread the phone ringing in the middle of the night.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Good topic and one I can learn from... none of the men in my family ever retired... they worked until they passed away... anywhere from 73 to age 90... none had pensions and all were self employed... sales, manufacturing and farming.

Dad was the only one that ran out of time... and he passed just a week shy of 74...

When I was a lot younger I worked with a women and all she talked about was what she was going to do when she retired. She had plans for this, plans for that, going here, going there, then finally she was free to do as she was dreaming of.

Two weeks later she died of a heart attack.

Taught me that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one, and I've lived my live giving everything today to the people around me as I too may not wake in the morning.

 

[Cat_Driver]

The very first thing I did was to get an unlisted phone number. Eleven years later, that phone is still quiet. The stress just melted away and my blood pressure dropped to "normal".

Did the same think. I cancelled all hard line phones, house phone, fax machine, and only have a cell phone, and no one has that number. Quiet for the first time in decades. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh