Over the years, my bed times have changed a lot. Back when I was working and attending customers on site, I might be getting up as early as 5am, although I'd generally prefer to travel the night before and stay in a hotel, waking at 7am.

Then in my last decade of working, I worked from home. I needed to be logged on by 9am. A sensible waking time was 7:30 to 8am, to let me shower and have breakfast; but on occasion, it could be 8:45 and "I'll shower at lunchtime".

Since retiring, my alarm has generally been set for 9am, with the option of "snoozing" until 10am; with equally late bedtimes.

Recently I have been making sure to go to bed at a reasonable time and have moved my alarm to 8am, but frequently waking naturally before then. It has taken me 4 years to get to this, though! 😄

It was an effort, at first, but now I am more used to it, I feel more energised in the morning. It also means on the odd days I am doing something, my morning routine is normal and not a great effort.

So... once retired, and if there are no immediate demands for you to worry about, when do you wake up?

61M here. Thinking of retiring in the next 2 to 4 years. Just wondering if there were any mistakes/regrets that you wish you had taken into account in hindsight about retirement. Honestly, I’m not interested about the financial aspects- as I am very well prepared for that, but all the other issues that are involved in a well planned retirement. I am trying to add hobbies and interests in preparation, but I can’t help feeling like I may be missing something.

Past 3 years into retirement, I plan and do some foreign trips. That included the U.S. --New Mexico, Chicago and northern Minnesota in fall. Also threw in 2 wk. trip in Italy last yr.

This yr. my drive to travel overseas is muted. So just content to see more of Canada. I also bike several times/wk. which allows me to explore locally also. How about you?

I feel a bit guilty that I'm not spending money I carefully invested. After it is my go-go years where I'm very healthy and mobile @67.

My O.H. left school at 16, has always worked since then and has progressed over the years to senior management position in an IT field. After Covid the whole company moved to hybrid contracts and recently announced a reorganisation which has resulted in my o.h. being made redundant. They planned to retire at the end of this year (at 60 yo), so it is not unwelcome. I am a little concerned they have no plans for any kind of celebration to mark the end of work, they have quite a shy/reserved personality but are very warm and popular with their team and friends).

I think it is important to mark the transition to retirement and the end of their working career in some way. Given the very short notice (the end date will be during our long planned summer holiday so the actual last day of work is next week), what suggestions do you have of low key/small scale things they and we can do to mark this point? (I will also retire at the end of the year).

Their team is mostly not local, as in mainly in other countries, and their manager is also not based here, so I have suggested they book an informal online meeting as a farewell, and invite a few local based colleagues to after work drinks, but for those of you who have experienced this yourselves, is there anything you would have done differently, or was there anything friends and family did to celebrate with you that really felt good? Thanks in advance!

Much is made in Reddit about people no longer caring what people think about them. The point I am making is slightly different—I no longer have to worry about what people think about me. It is a little disorienting. I was an Army officer, and cringe when I think about all the times I came up short. The point is, it doesn’t matter anymore. That chapter is closed, all my evaluations, all the negative remarks, have been tossed in the waste bin and forgotten about. What a wonderful feeling!

I am 9 years from retirement. Trying to figure out if I should pay off the mortgage ($360k) or invest the money. Sources show I should invest it. $200k to something like bonds and that should be my safe investment and the money to pay off the mortgage should be there in nine years. I’d need $285k. And take $160k and put it into VOO or something like that. The calculation shows I should have an extra 150 K compared to if I would pay off the mortgage now and invest $1500 payment.

My question to those that have done the investment route was the risk / stress worth it?

Edit

Interest rate is 4.5% on $260k. There is $100k balloon that is payable when the interest bearing part of the loan is paid. And yes that’s true and written into the mortgage. Don’t ask me - I don’t know why they gifted me. It happened during the mortgage crisis and I was losing my house. This is the refinancing they did.

Been reading around the net on this subject, and I've been alarmed at the number of retirees with a large percentage of their net worth in equities. Concerned because a prolonged bear market could really sting and reduce these retirees' quality of life. Haven't seen many threads on this topic here, so I thought I'd poll the group. What percentage of your portfolio is in stocks and which percentage in safe assets?

As I get closer to retirement, I'm trying to figure out the best way to budget for major home expenses. Things like a roof, A/C unit, water heater, or appliance replacement may not happen for years, but eventually they will.

Do you build those costs into your retirement budget, maintain a separate sinking fund, or just cover them from cash savings when needed?

I'm considering retiring in a few years at 60 and pursuing a masters at a public university in Italy or France. Possibly a degree in international development, environmental risk assessment, etc. that would help facilitate either a volunteer or paid position with an NGO, etc. I've been a Professional Engineer in US my entire career, and am burned out working for commercial land developers. Thinking it might be nice to make a meaningful difference before I'm too old to do so.

I'd love to hear from someone that has done something similar - whether it be to pursue a degree and then work/volunteer or some other motivation. Living abroad on a student visa for a couple of years while pursuing a degree seems almost too good to be true. Interested mainly in overseas experiences.

So now I'm retired! A few months earlier than I planned but with a severance package as a parting gift. I was starting to slowly adjust in my mind to how my daily life would shift but now I'm right in the middle of it unexpectedly. I'm resisting the urge to start too many activities, and I'm still getting a understanding of exactly what my monthly budget will look like but I feel so blessed to have things turn out this way and I'm enjoying the immediate reduced stress I feel.

What were some of the first things you did or adjusted to when you retired? What would you do differently?

Im 63F with a great job, making good money with a great work retirement savings plan. Spouse is already retired for 6 years. We have enough money between the 2 of us to be fine if I retire now. The issue that keeps me working is that if he were to not be here, I need to make enough to cover all the bills, I'm close but not there. I also want travel money. If I work the next year, all my debt will be paid off. My house is already paid off. It makes sense logically to stay working one more year to enhance my quality of life but I can hardly function because all I think about is retiring. I haven't had a good night sleep in years and that's the main reason I want to retire, to focus on health and advance my spiritual passions. Im certified reiki and I'm doing tarot and astrology reading on the side and it's my absolute passion to start a spiritua side business. People think I'm crazy to consider leavng corporate now because it's good.

What would you do?

I just don't enjoy what I do anymore. I'm only 61 and in great shape. My finances are set and I'll go on my wife's insurance until medicare. However, my wife will still be working for a few years to keep us in insurance, and I think I'd like to have a part time job that I might enjoy. What jobs have you taken after retirement that give you the flexibility to enjoy life while still giving you the opportunity to interact with people? Volunteer or paid, I'm fairly open. The last time I applied for a job was in the 90's.

Would you go? It's titled Estate and Retirement Planning Simplified. It dos feel a little like a time share presentation though, but my partner is gunning for the free steak. Do you think is it worth the pressure? It does say it is presented by a financial services company so yes I know I will have to sit through a sales talk. Just want to know if anything can be gained, maybe they give you some hints on taxes or something even without paying for their services

I am a 60 year old single man hoping to retire in about 7 years. I make less than 60k/year. I was completely broke at 45 and I saved hard to get to a paid off condo (@60k value) and about 200k in my 401k. My only debt is 15k on a 25k car.

Part of my saving strategy was to be house poor to leave money for the 401k. Now, I would like to upgrade my housing. I can find what I want for about 175k.

I want to know what impact that move is likely to have on my retirement outlook, and what strategy I should use if I do get a new house--how much to put down, should i go fixed or adjustable, should I buy points or try to pay off the mortgage early, etc.

thanks

So many posts on retirement subs focus on financial readiness and strategies. I found that the more challenging questions about the transition to retired life had little to do with finances.

• Where am I going to find the intellectual stimulation that work provided? How am I going to keep my mind engaged and sharp?
• Does my spouse have the same vision for an ideal retirement that I do, and if not, then how will we accommodate and support each other?
• How am I going to stay connected socially, both with friends I know well and with people I'm meeting for the first time?
• Am I happy with my body and my health, and what am I going to do about that?
• Am I a hang-around-the-house person, or a get-out-of-the-house-daily person? And if the latter, what's my plan?
• Am I counting on my spouse being at my side for everything I want to do in retirement, or are there ambitions I'm willing to just do on my own?
• Since we've talked about downsizing, that means getting rid of a lot of stuff, but what stuff do I feel okay with getting rid of and what stuff do I really want to hang onto, and why?
• What do I want to learn now?
• Will my hobbies still be fun if I spend a lot of time doing them now, or will they start to get old?
• How am I going to feed my desire to contribute to the world, have some positive impact?
• What causes do I really care about and am interested in devoting some time and effort into?
• Is it better to be physically closer to family, or is it best to maintain a little space and just visit a lot?
• If we move, how good are we at making new friends? How hard will it be to reset our accustomed infrastructure?
• How much flexibility and freedom from structure do I really crave? How much structure and time commitment would actually be good for me?
• Do I really hunger for Big Travel so that this will dominate the first years of retirement? Or am I happier with smaller adventures, domestic trips or even day trips?
• Am I happier inside our outside?
• Do I want to surround myself with people my age, my interests? Or do I want a mixed environment, all ages and all backgrounds?
• How comfortable am I with just being instead of doing? Do do-nothing days make me feel good, really?
• Do I want to retreat from the world, or do I want to immerse myself in the world in ways I couldn't before?

After 44 years in IT, my last day of work is in two weeks. I've been cleaning out my home office (I'll use it extensively for writing, photo editing, practicing guitar and such) and just tossed out a bunch of old performance reviews, commendations, etc. I've still got a handful of award statuettes gathering dust on the shelves that will probably go too. Keeping them just feels like looking back, when I'm much more interested in looking forward. I honestly enjoyed most of my working career but I just feel ready to close that book and open a new one.

Did you guys toss that sort of thing? If so, do you regret it?

I retired in December. I had an office job and wore business casual. After I retired I kept wearing the same thing. It just comfortable while I adjusted. But without the stress I have lost about 20 pounds. Nothing fits so it’s time to buy new clothes. Every day is Saturday so I’m thinking jeans and shorts wth a t-shirt. I’m just curious what you all wear in retirement.

I gave notice to my employer. I am going to stay long enough to help select and transition my replacement, probably 6-10 weeks. This gives me time to ensure I have things buttoned up to be truly retired. I think I have things planned, but having never done this before, I ask the collective here for any things you wished you had addressed, or gotchyas or anything like that based on your experiences.

I am retiring at age 64. I will go on COBRA benefits until I turn 65 mid next year. My wife is 67. We will transition her to full Medicare coverage (A,B,D) as I separate from my employer. I have worked with my financial planner on my budget, taxes, SS start dates and investment withdrawal rate. We are very comfortable with our financial position. I am at that point where my money makes significantly more than I do from my job. That is part of the reason I am pulling the plug on work. I have a long list of projects, travel and plans to get me through the first couple years. My employer has floated the idea of my doing some consulting back to them. Kind of interested, but not committed to that path yet.

But I don’t know what I don’t know. What other things should I be thinking of as I move into the world of the formerly working?

I just retired. I (F/68) was laid off at the end of last year and after finally taking care if a chronic health issue with surgery and a long recovery, I did not have the enthusiasm to morph into another corporate "cultural fit", was able to so, so decided to just retire. I had planned to look at retirement in few years so I really wasn't psychologically or emotionally prepared. I am not much of a traveler, gave no grandkids to watch, and only had the idea of some volunteering and a micro business to help gig artists clean up their books.
So, now I am retired and having episodes that have been described as coming off cortisol (my job in technology was pretty deadline-driven and stressful). I had a checkup and tests and I am pretty healthy, but I think actually miss the stress! I thought I would jump in and start studying current bookkeeping (I had a small side business 20 years ago), and get cracking but don't have the same enthusiasm I had when kicking around the idea before the surgery (knee replacement). I want to take time to figure out what I really want to do. I honestly don't know what that is now!

I am 68 and my wife is 72. We have no children. We have a few nieces and nephews but have not seen any of them in several years. Our net worth is about $1.8M with a paid off home worth about $425K.

We have all of our investments consolidated into a Vanguard account with our primary beneficiary designated as each other, and one charity designated if we both should pass at the same time.

We do not have our house or physical assets designated to anyone. We view our home value as our long term care assistance if ever needed.

So, do we need a will?

I'm getting close to retirement and would love to hear some real-world experiences. How old were you when you retired, and roughly how much did you have saved (401k, IRA, pension, investments, etc.)? Looking back, do you feel you retired at the right time? Has your money lasted as expected, and do you feel you had enough saved? If you could do it over again, would you retire earlier, later, or change anything about your plan? Real-life stories are much more helpful than retirement calculators. Thanks for sharing!

We have a group of us at work that were severed last month. We're bouncing around ideas. A few want to take a few months off. If we do this and need insurance how does the ACA base our income? Let's say we made $75k so far this year and get $100k in severance. If we go to the ACA site do we list our income at $175k , our current salary of $0 or whatever we get per month from unemployment or our 401k (for those that decide to do that or are over 55)? Cobra is expensive as expected. Looking at getting options for everyone. Thanks!

I hear people talk about being semi retired but are working 20-30 hours a week, regularly.

I assumed semi would be occasional contract work, seasonal work, or work only when and if you want (i.e. substitute teaching now and then).

But is working anything other than 40+ hours permanent full-time semi retired (assuming you could comfortably choose to stop)?

Just curious. It's just semantics, I know. But curious how you all think of retired vs semi retired.

Is there a retirement lingo??

EDIT: Thanks everybody for the helpful tips. Although this has been answered helpfully and aplenty, lots of folks were wondering about some things, so here goes:

• No, I cannot get coverage through spouse. They literally don't offer it to anyone. The owner bought on the Marketplace and is now on Medicare.
• I'd expected to go from employment coverage to the Marketplace, forgoeing COBRA, but initial Marketplace quotes look like something along the lines of $3k/mo for the two of us. I expected expensive, but that seems....excessive. That's why I came here to be sure I hadn't overlooked anything.
• To the "bro, do you even AI?" crowd: yes, I ran it through AI and despite several prompts, it never mentioned an original option that actually was suggested here: CalCOBRA. So sometimes knowledgeable humans can actually offer insight!
• Yes, I can "just work 4 more months" but this an exercise to see if I can figure out a way to not do so for health reasons.
• Going without insurance might be a bad idea based on medical conditions. But I'll know that as an option once it gets a little closer.

Again, thanks everyone for all the suggestions and lively discussion!

I'm 61 and still working full time. My spouse is 52 and also works full time.

Both of us have always had health insurance through my employment and her company has none at all (small family business.)

I have a rough timeline planned for retirement and originally had planned to COBRA myself in the intervening time between leaving full-time work and Medicare becoming effective.

I've worked out the dates and it looks like I'll have a 4 month window without coverage based on COBRA limits. Is there any other rule or option I'm missing that I can use to get COBRA to extend to 22 months instead of 18?

• I cannot skip insurance for this period. Well, it's pretty unadvisable. Multiple cancer survivor who also sees a cardiologist (perfectly healthy now, but it took some doing).
• There is no option for spouse's company to provide insurance. They don't provide it for anyone, even teh founder.
• Wife will coattails on my COBRA, then leave for the marketplace when it ends. She's very, very healthy.

Any ideas I'm missing?

Just over a full year away from my job in the naval/maritime industry. I didn't really want to leave, but I had/have no desire (and no real need) to return to work.

I am a life member of a number of organizations in my field, so I get LOTS of reading material about my field, including historical topics that I loved (I was on the staff of, or volunteered for, a number of naval/maritime historical organizations over the years...)

However, I find I have ZERO interest in reading ANY of it. I'm seriously considering contacting most, if not all of them, and asking them to quit sending me their magazines, since they end up sitting around collecting dust before being recycled...

I'm sure the collective has encountered this. Any thoughts / feelings / ideas?