These Are The Things No One Told You About Retirement

Can’t wait to retire? I’m fairly new to retirement, but I can tell you IT ROCKS! I love our tropical lifestyle and I don’t miss working. But I am pretty realistic about retirement. It’s an adjustment. You may miss your routine, your interaction in the workplace or your co-workers.  You could even be a retirement FAIL.

Yes, it happens. But like most things in life, failing or succeeding is often due to our expectations. What exactly do you expect in retirement? Unicorns and fairies – or in my case, mermaids?  C’mon! You need to be realistic! But if you know what to expect – know what could happen – well, you can meet each situation head-on. I’m not talking about anything financial – this isn’t that kind of blog. However, there are some real-life challenges you may need to consider.

It’s Harder To Make Friends. We are surrounded by people just like us while we are raising our kids. Our children bring us together and our social life centers on their sports and activities. Many of these friends move away when they become empty nesters. Most stop going to the events that used to involve their children, like sporting events and community fund-raisers. You may be the one who moves to a new community and has to reach out to meet new people. It takes some effort – both to find your people (where do they hang out?) and to get to know these folks. Some find the answer in joining social clubs or organizations that benefit the community. We have actually met some really nice people by eating at the bar of a local restaurant instead of at a table by ourselves. The good thing is that other people are looking for friends, too. It makes reaching out fun instead of just creepy.

You May Get Bored. Impossible, right? You’ve worked your entire life to earn the privilege of doing nothing. That may work for a while – it may work forever for you. But don’t despair if you find yourself a little bored and dissatisfied with your new life. Reconnect with your long-lost hobbies or volunteer – reach out to your community. And if you are a true “retirement fail”, face the facts. Maybe you just need a part-time job. Maybe you need a real challenge. I know many people who have started second careers or bought an existing business in their retirement. Your motivation is probably different this time around and you may find yourself enjoying – even being passionate – about your newfound work. It’s really not a fail if it makes you happy.

You Don’t Need All Your Stuff. We are still in the continual process of downsizing. We made the mistake of moving almost everything – only to donate most of it at our new location. (Yes, I know how dumb this seems!) If you have the time (this was part of our problem – the house sold quickly) make sure to go through your stuff. Your clothing needs will change pretty drastically if you’ve been working and it’s liberating to rid yourself of stuff you won’t even miss. We have gotten rid of an entire houseful of things at this point, and I don’t think we’ve missed anything.

Friday is Still Friday. The weekends are still special. Occasionally my husband reminds me that we don’t have to wait until the weekend to do something. . . but weekends are still when most of the fun things in the world happen. That’s not going to change. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change some of your weekend habits. Do not grocery shop on the weekends. You can go to the grocery anytime! Remember how irritating it was to go to the grocery on Saturday, only to be held up by countless retirees in the checkout line? Yup, I thought you’d understand if I reminded you. .  . !

You May Not Want To Travel Like You Expected. Or maybe you just need a break from life in general. Many of our friends take off on trips to celebrate their retirement and then they realize that they just want to relax for a while in their own home. This is the beauty of retirement – you can come and go as you please. You don’t have to wait for the weekend and you don’t have to take a vacation day. Nice.

You Don’t Have To Plan Out The Rest of Your Life. Well, maybe you’re one of those folks who actually need to do this but we’ve realized that we can take it one-day-at-a-time if we want to. The biggest thing is that we don’t have to decide today what and where we want to be in 10 years. Plans change. And it’s okay if our plans change – in fact it’s all a work in progress for us. We can adjust as life is thrown at us. Our kids all end up in the same place? Maybe we move there. We develop health issues? Maybe we move closer to the mainland doctors. We aren’t being live-in-the-moment foolish. . . . we do have current plans, a budget and a general direction. It’s just that we realize we can change it whenever and however we want or need to.

Like I said, retirement rocks. Really. It’s kind of like being on a vacation, but better. Just remember not to lose your senses over it. Be realistic and enjoy the ride. You’ve earned it.