In my Black Friday Chat last fall one reader made the following comment:
One of my biggest concerns about early retirement is lack of structure/purpose.
It would be nice to see more questions targeting what people do to fill their days during early retirement.
Not everyone is inherently disciplined or have a lot of activities outside of their professional lives.
It would be interesting to hear about the diversity of activities and part-time work / side hustles early retirees engage in.
I get this sort of comment/question from time to time, so I thought I’d answer “what should I do with my time in retirement?” once and for all — at least for me.
Plus you’ve probably heard the saying, “If you retire from something, your retirement will probably not go well. If you retire to something, it probably will.”
So I’m going to suggest some things you can retire to.
Then we’ll get your ideas! I want to hear what you’re doing in retirement (or plan to do if you’re not there yet).
I’ll Be Bored
Before I present my ideas, let me address why I believe this is being asked and my general perspective on it.
I think some people presuppose they will be bored when they retire — there will be too much time and not enough to keep them entertained.
My general response to this is, “The worst day of total boredom in retirement is better than 95% of the days spent working.”
Haha! Ok, so maybe it’s not that great, but I think you know what I mean.
I liked many of my jobs and am thankful for the career I had. Even so, it’s hard to beat the freedom of doing whatever I want to do.
I would also add the thought that “just because you’re busy while you’re working doesn’t mean you are happy/enjoying life.”
The implication in the question is that busy = happy (or at least better than “bored.”) I know it’s more complicated than that for many, but it’s also the heart of the question IMO.
Things to Do In Retirement
The “real” answer to what to do in retirement is “whatever you want.”
This means post-retirement activities will vary by individual based on interests, time of life, finances, and so forth.
But to give everyone a few suggestions, let me submit the following for your consideration:
1. Exercise.
If you’ve worked for a few decades it’s likely that:
- You’ve neglected your health for lack of time/energy
- You’ve spent a good part of your time in unhealthy situations (i.e. sitting for 8+ hours per day)
So when you retire your health is probably “ok” at best.
Now is the time to rectify this.
With “all the time in the world”, you certainly have the time to exercise every day.
I have been working out for years, but since moving to Colorado (and then retiring), I now work out six days a week plus walk a good amount every day.
This takes time, as you might imagine.
On an average day I am up early and leave the house by 7:15 am to 7:30 am.
I walk to the gym which takes about 15 minutes.
I check in, put my stuff in a locker, then head upstairs to work out.
Afterwards I unwind for 15 minutes in the pool area (I sit in there as it’s one place in Colorado that actually has humidity.) 🙂
I usually read during this time while I cool down.
Then I shower, get dressed, and head out.
Instead of going straight home, I turn the opposite way when I leave and take the long way back.
By the time I get back home, it’s about 10 a.m., I’ve worked out, and I have 10k steps in.
Later in the day my wife and I will either take a couple short walks or one longer one (it depends on her schedule more than mine).
By the end of the day I will have 17k steps in and will be feeling pretty good.
2. Eat better.
Eating healthy takes time and effort.
In retirement you’ll have the time, so all you need is to make the effort.
We take time to shop for better food (we walk to the grocery store — it’s about 4k steps there and back) as well as the time to cook it.
I’ve also become a grillmaster with the Traeger grill we got a couple years ago.
Not only are we eating better at home, but eating more at home, which means less fast food/bad food.
It’s a win-win.
We also have the flexibility of when to eat. While working, food intake was often dictated by the activities at the office.
Now we are more intentional about eating. I do a version of intermittent fasting — eating almost all of my calories between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
3. Read.
If you’re like me, your work probably limited the time you had to read (especially reading for enjoyment).
Here’s your chance to catch up! 😉
I am reading a TON more these days.
First, there are books. As I’ve posted previously, there’s been a whole new batch of great money books out recently. I am thankful I had the time to actually read them.
Second, I read a boatload of money articles each day for Rockstar Finance. We try to balance finding great posts with also sharing thoughts from newer/smaller bloggers. This takes reading hundreds of articles to find the best ones. I probably read at least ten posts for each one we select to feature.
4. Challenge your mind.
I asked about options for doing this on my recent retirement update so it looks like a lot of you have this covered already.
In addition to reading (above) and working (below) I challenge my mind by doing three chess puzzles every day. I usually get the “easy” one right, am about 25% on the “medium” option, and, for some reason, am a bit better than 25% on the “hard” one.
I also take a sudoku book with me when I travel. It’s a great way to kill time on a plane or in an airport.
As you know, I listen to books on tape while walking by myself. I’m currently in a “class” on Audible
about world history. It’s pretty fascinating.
That said, I’m looking for a couple things to add here, and you all gave me some great ideas.
5. Challenge your body.
I like this option because it combines getting exercise, a goal that can be fun, and working at it over time.
Some examples of “challenging your body” include:
- Running a marathon, 5k, or triathlon
- Cycling a century (100 miles) or taking a multi-day ride like RAGBRAI
- Hiking a 14er (a mountain higher than 14k feet — there are 53 of these in Colorado)
Of course your efforts don’t need to be this extreme. We like hiking (doesn’t have to be up a mountain, though I have done the Incline twice) nice, scenic trails with a bit of a challenge.
You can also rock climb (indoors or out).
Or even a bit easier: you can set a step challenge for yourself — like 10k steps a day.
Taking up a new (or expanding time spent on an established) sport would qualify here too. I have been thinking of taking up golf, but not sure I want that angst in my life. Ha!
Basically the idea here is to do some non-exercise specific activity that gets you moving.
6. Travel.
This is a big one, of course.
It’s the favorite splurge of millionaires (most of whom are not retired), so I imagine many of them will hit the road hard once they retire.
We travel enough for my liking but not too much. We live in Colorado, though, where it’s amazing right here most of the time. That said, we do need to take some more local trips.
We have traveled significantly more in retirement than we did before it. And MUCH more of it is for pleasure (versus work).
Our big trip each year has been to Grand Cayman, but we’ve also been to DC several times, San Francisco, Orlando, Dallas, Pittsburgh, and a few others.
I would like to begin adding one more fun trip like Grand Cayman to our plans each year. This might look like going to Grand Cayman every January (and staying the whole month instead of 10 days) and then doing one other trip like that (perhaps Hawaii, another Caribbean island, a cruise, or a nice place in the continental U.S. like Destin, FL) sometime later in the year (perhaps September).
7. Socialize.
I’m an introvert. You would never know that if you met me, but it’s true.
I grew up as an only child (I know, it explains a lot) with a working mother who was not home often (my parents were divorced when I was in third grade).
So I spent a LOT of time home alone and learned to love it.
For almost 30 years I had a career that forced me to be an extrovert every day. I have a finite amount of “people time” I can bear before I get exhausted and when I worked, that time was always filled up (and more) each day.
Needless to say, the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was to be with people (other than my family).
Now I have plenty of alone, quiet time, so I don’t mind being a bit more friendly.
I’ve had more coffee dates, attended more parties, and had more couples’ dinners out in the past 2 1/2 years than I probably did in the preceding 15.
8. Work/create a side hustle.
As we discussed in Defining Retirement, just because you retire doesn’t mean you stop working. You can if you want to, but you don’t have to. It’s your choice.
For many (me included), it means we work on things we like to do, not have to do.
So I blog and run Rockstar Finance which helps my mind (writing is difficult!), gives me a challenge (overseeing the various parts of a business), and provides me enjoyment (I like the “game” of business).
And just for fun, it happens to be profitable.
That said, there is only so much work I want in my life, so I keep it within its limits. After all, I have all these other things I want to do as well. 🙂
9. Entertainment.
Everyone has a different view of entertainment, but some for me include:
- Video games! Of course. What did you expect? 😉 I like the combination of having to develop a strategy (thinking) as well as playing it through (a small bit of activity).
- TV shows. We DVR everything (who watches commercials these days?) and watch Hallmark movies, When Calls the Heart, Gotham (last season, ugh!), various HGTV island-related house hunting shows, Shark Tank, This Old House, AGT, The World’s Best, and a few others here and there. We generally watch while we eat our afternoon meal.
- Movies. We supplement TV shows with movies from a variety of sources — Red Box, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu (one of our children has a NF subscription and another has Hulu — we don’t pay for those but use them sometimes). We also hit a movie at the theater once every six weeks or so, usually on discount day (Tuesday).
- Games. My daughter likes to play games with us. Our current game of choice is Skipbo (but we run through phases, so this could change).
You could classify reading in this group if you’d like, as almost all of my reading these days is enjoyable. 😉
10. Attend events.
I’m listing this as I know it’s popular with many.
But we don’t attend many events since I prefer avoiding huge crowds, the associated traffic, etc.
Some examples of events:
- Shows. I’ve seen Les Miserables several times and get the itch to see it every few years.
- Sports activities. Denver isn’t far away and has major sports teams.
- Special events. We saw The Thorn a few years ago and TSO a couple years before that.
- Concerts. I dislike concerts as the music quality is generally low (IMO) and the crowds are terrible.
You can probably add several more suggestions for this topic. It is not my area of expertise. 😉
11. Volunteer.
Want something to do?
Want to help others?
Want to use the skills you’ve developed during your life for good?
Want to stay mentally sharp?
Volunteering can do all these (and more.)
I’ve been looking for a volunteer position to make use of my business skills. I have interviewed a few, but nothing has popped up that I like.
In the meantime, I have become an usher at church, so I give back that way.
12. Get a hobby.
This could be a new hobby or simply spending more time on an old one.
For me, I grow roses (though that interest is fading a bit), shoot (though it’s expensive to do so in Colorado), and blog.
A few things on my list to try: scuba dive, take up tennis (I played a lot in high school), learn a language, learn an instrument, write a book (maybe), and take a Tai Chi class.
What hobbies would you like to expand or begin?
13. Sleep.
I have never slept so well as I do in retirement.
My wife and I were talking about dreams the other day. As we were sharing what sort of dreams we had lately, I realized that I haven’t had an anxiety-related dream in a long time. I guess dumping a career means losing a lot of tension and stress! LOL!
I also sleep longer. I get up as early as ever (maybe earlier) but also go to bed earlier to be sure I get around 8 hours of sleep each night.
14. Spend time with family.
This could be as simple as taking more time to be with your immediate family or more involved like traveling across the country to see extended family.
Since I retired we’ve spent much more time with our kids, my parents, and my wife’s siblings.
We also have many more family visits here (everyone loves Colorado!) and I don’t have to check with a boss to see if I’m free when they come. 🙂
15. Relocate seasonally.
This is something we’ve been thinking about — spending a few winter months in a warmer climate and coming back to Colorado for April through December.
We have a lot of things to sort through before we do this, but I have a question for those of you who either have done this or want to: how do you manage taking care of your house while you’re away?
16. Learn something new.
Have you ever wanted to learn about a subject but just didn’t have the time? Well, in retirement you do!
Perhaps you want to learn to cook (me!), pick up some handyman tips (me!), or just explore history at a deeper level (me too!).
Think about all the subjects you’ve been interested in during your life. Now is your chance to dig into them if you like.
Questions that May Help
In addition to the suggestions above, here are some questions I found at New Retirement that might help you identify preferred retirement activities:
- When you were a child, what did you love most? What did you want to be when you grew up?
- On your deathbed, will you have any regrets? Anything you wished you would have done? Not done?
- What is your favorite movie or book? What does that tell you about what is important to you?
- Who matters to you?
- If money were not a problem, what would you be doing now ?
- Describe your ideal day? Would you want to do this every day? Could you?
Ok, so those are my suggestions for how to spend your time in retirement as well as how we handle each of them.
Now it’s your turn! Which of these do you like? Or what other suggestions do you have that I missed?
P.S. For those who prefer a video version of this post, see the ESI Money YouTube channel.
Great advice.
On my days off, I’ve found so much of this to be true… Except that I don’t get as many days off as I want/need to do the stuff you describe. There is always something to do, which makes my days off feel a lot like work.
P.s. you should totally take up golf. It doesn’t have to cause angst! Just be reasonable with yourself that you’ll be terrible at first, and you’ll come to love the challenge of trying to beat your best score each time.
Great article! I have been semi retired for about 10 years and have still felt the need to accomplish something regularly. My fit is volunteering, at the school my kids went to as a volunteer coordinator, and at our church as treasurer and occasional laborer. I have also taken on projects such as helping a nonprofit get off the ground, and consult with a small Christian radio station regarding finances. This allows me to commit for a few months and then have my time back to travel. For some, having a daily or weekly volunteer role adds structure to there life. You don’t have to look very hard locally for opportunities to volunteer. You just have to find what your passionate about and jump in. Don’t be surprised or disappointed if the first thing you try doesn’t really work for you. Just try a few other things and you will find your fit.
Great article. There are many great volunteer opportunities. Colorado is a winter wonderland so I can see why it would be hard choice to leave during the winter.
I’m with you on almost every item. Since retiring in June 2018, I’ve…
1) Starting exercising 5+ days per week
2) Explored different fitness classes, settling in on Spin and Barre Above
3) Joined a hiking club
4) Camped a lot in our RV
5) Helped my wife start a non-profit
6) Read a lot more books, exploring new authors and topics
7) Started mountain biking
8) Become a granddad
9) Joined a Board Of Directors
10) Tackled a big landscaping project
11) Visited my dad in MI, 3 times!
12) On and on and on
Early retirement is anything but boring. It’s a time to experience Life, and the past 9 months have been the best of my life.
Great read. I’ve seen a lack of planning for what to do in retirement have a negative impact. That was true in my own family. My stepdad retired without much of a plan. My mom, God bless her, probably pushed him to go sooner than he wanted.
He went into a serious state of depression that lasted a long time. He was a professor of medicine at Indiana University, a pulmonologist. He went from that to nothing. Oh, they traveled and such. It wasn’t enough.
He finally discovered he loved to paint. They built a studio for him in the house. It pulled him out of the pit and gave him a purpose.
You gotta plan for how to spend your time. I tell people all the time in my planning practice that retirement planning is about much more than just money.
I hope people take your advice and the advice of others seriously. It’s no joke.
Thanks for the reminder.
I feel you on the introvert thing. Extroverts have a hard time accepting/understanding that an introvert is physically drained by interaction with others and needs to recharge by being alone. As you, I had constant interpersonal interactions when I was working (we retired 2 years ago). My days were long and draining. My wife and I made a pact, for the most part, not to discuss work when we came home. We agreed that there was no sense in extending our work day at home.
Our retirement life mirrors yours in almost every way and we’re enjoying it immensely. Sometimes I wonder where the time goes, other days, I need to look at my list of to-dos to stay on track. To that point, I still struggle a bit with creating a routine and yet shun the idea of a routine because that feels too much like our previous work life. So, we’re still working on that!
We’ve found opportunities to volunteer in our town but we’re careful not to let them expand into full time jobs (as others we know have done). After giving a majority of our time to our careers for so long we’re very protective of our time now. Volunteering is a weird and unique experience to have responsibilities and deliverables but getting absolutely no pay for it. But it makes you feel good to make a difference.
Interestingly, travel is still a bit of a work in progress for us. We thought it would be cool to go away for a month last fall. We found, however, that we couldn’t wait to get back home. Maybe it was a bit too soon after retiring, maybe we just didn’t pick the right destination. But for now, we’re focusing on shorter trips.
I feel sorry for those that have the financial means to retire but are reluctant because they’re afraid of being bored (I know plenty of them). Like everything in life, it takes a little work and planning to get good at creating a happy and fulfilling retirement. You have to invest time and energy into making it the best it can be, rather than letting someone else dictate what you do and when you do it.
Knowing what I want to do during retirement has never been a problem. Finding enough time to do it all is my concern! Exercise and eating better/cooking and trying new recipes are on the list. Activities? More Curling, learn to play Pickleball, walking and hiking and photography (there are some beautiful waterfalls where we will retire), golf. Hobbies: get back to knitting and cross stitch, do some extensive genealogy research, work on the family genealogy website I am starting with my cousin and submit applications to lineage societies, plant a small vegetable garden in the community garden plots, get our yard certified as a community wildlife habitat. Side Hustle: get back to doing stock photography and use all the props and photo equipment that has been inactive the past few years. Learning: learn more about building websites and programming. Volunteering: participate with the local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter. Also considering how I might be able to offer some home care relief to someone who is struggling as a full time caregiver for their loved one with Alzheimer’s. Travel: no extensive trips but we are looking forward to daytrips and exploring local areas and neighboring states. And socializing and participating in community events too. See, I need more time, not more things to do!
I’m not retired yet but I find it hard to believe you can’t find a place to volunteer to use your skills (or not) – ushing at church is great – glad you attend – but there is SUCH a need in the world for people not as fortunate as you as I’m sure you must be aware of. These are just a few that come to mind – food banks, homeless shelters, habitat for humanity, tutoring inner city kids, Peace Corps is looking for adults to join to share their wisdom- food for
thought-
Great advice. I am semi retired and I do most of those things already. Glad to know I am on the right track!
My husband and I are not retired but we make many of the items on your list a priority right now! It’s sad that people wait until they are retired to focus on eating better, exercising, challenging their minds, etc. Honestly, that’s why a lot of people want to retire because they don’t carve out time and space right now for those things that matter. This is a great list for anyone, not just retirees!
I’ve got 20 days of skiing in this season, and it’s not over yet. My previous high was only 10-12 days, and that was unusual. So that’s been great.
I’m doing pro bono consulting work, which taps into my business skill set, keeps my mind active, and gives me an opportunity to “give back.” Very fulfilling and energizing.
My wife and I are plotting our move to Europe, which we’ve been considering for the last few years. Good friends of ours moved to Nice, France two years ago for a six month visit to see how they would like it. They just signed a long-term lease on a place and aren’t planning on coming back anytime soon. Many retirees may not realize how doable it is to relocate overseas. Once you establish a base in, say, Europe, you can have your cake and eat it too – exploring a new part of the world on a daily basis and not spending a lot of money to do it.
And I just learned that our local library offers some type of online or downloadable foreign language learning app for free to anyone with a library card. The range of free offerings at the local library is amazing – another thing worth checking out when one has nothing but time.
I’m hoping people will share their experiences on the below question. My husband and I can’t quite decide where to move fulltime but are interested in escaping the NY winters.
“…spending a few winter months in a warmer climate and coming back to Colorado for April through December. We have a lot of things to sort through before we do this, but I have a question for those of you who either have done this or want to: *how do you manage taking care of your house while you’re away?*”
Some ways to handle the house:
-Engage a property management firm – costly and potential for quality issues
-Load up your home with automation and cameras, check on it/arrange alerts for deviations and engage a neighbor or their teenager or a known handyman to be “on call” to check on the house when your automation indicates a need or on a routine basis. Pay the person so they stay engaged and don’t avoid you upon your return for fear of being asked to perform the task again.
– Network with those in fluid housing situations – a lot of folks rent and not all have long term leases. I am thinking of the folks I routinely see and pay already for services (Hair dresser, nail technician, massage therapist, etc.) Or friends with adult kids still getting their feet under themselves and perhaps are under employed an not yet living independently. There are a lot of awesome folks who will trade a bit of property management for free or reduced rent.
-Sell the house and get a maintenance provided property (condo or townhouse) and look at the HOA fees as your travel insurance.
If your are traveling in winter to escape snows then don’t forget to get a snow removal service as well, nothing screams empty house like a un-plowed pristine driveway, days after a snowfall.
Consider increasing your insurance policy and relocating valuables when you travel for an extended period of time. Break-ins happen all the time regardless of what you do and if you are in town or not. Mitigate the worry and get out and travel.
Thanks! My husband and I go ’round and ’round on a) selling our house and moving to a smaller, maintained property so it’s easy to just lock the door and leave for a period of time. Or staying put and getting out and traveling more (while hiring a snow removal service). That’s what we’re currently doing but wondering why we’re not spending more of our time in the “wonderful” vacation spots. YOLO, etc. Unfortunately, there is just enough aging family near where we live that we feel we can’t cut ties here entirely.
I guess things will sort out, eventually, and your away-from-home maintenance tips really help.
I just retired about 5 months ago and have been trying to fill my days with good things and it was a bit of a struggle. Then I rediscovered my love of plants and gardening, both veg and flower. We had been doing a little gardening but it was hard to find the time. Now I’ll be able to garden to my hearts content. Good exercise plus your own organic food!
Great tips for me —- thanks.
Over the years, I’ve sang in over 100 weddings and over 100 funerals—- also, I’ve sang in church many times : too many to count.
Crockettsings.com
So, in 2019, I’ve started traveling to small churches in all parts of Texas (soon other states) to share my singing talent by singing OLD hymns —— no charge — just love offerings!
Creating this music ministry has been interesting and I plan to continue doing this now and on in to retirement—— at least that’s my plan; I’ll see what God has in store.
Trying to remember that we must retire to something——. Hopefully, I’ll continue to add to my list: golf, eating better, travel , etc.
#13 – Sleep really jumped out at me. So happy you are sleeping better, longer, and your dreams are no longer reflecting anxiety. This has got to enhance your waking hours for both productivity and emotional balance.
This subject of sleep has been an interest of mine for decades. Here are three quick-result sources for the improvement of one’s slumber:
1) Weighted blankets
2) Binaural beats
3) Paul McKenna’s “I Can Make You Sleep” book/cd
Thank you for mentioning 3 sleep sources for me to research. Sleeping more than 2 hours at a time, even in retirement continues to be evasive for me. Sleep is so important for good health.
“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” – General George S. Patton
Really feel for you, CB, and am wishing you peaceful slumber. Hope you will check in with some good news soon!
Wow
You hit a cord with this one.
I could have written this list! Excellent.
I too was concerned about “being bored or unfulfilled in retirement after 40 years as a forester doing work I was passionate about with people that share that passion for the value of sustainable forestry for the social, ecological and economic benefits it provides to this and future generations.
My wife and I are doing what you are doing and loving it.
Thanks for this post!
I think I have to go with volunteering or working part-time for money as long as I can. I just have to do stuff with others for a greater goal it seems.
But, part-time would free up a bunch for more rest, cooking at home, exercise…basically stuff I all do now and that I can increase. And the question of what I loved most as a child…looks like I should move to a cabin/home in the woods and preferably by a lake.
This is funny and sad. Folks who hated being corporate tools now worrying about a lack of structure? Jeez.
Thank you for your post! This is very relevant for folks currently on their way to Financial Independence, Retire Early. We tend to work so hard during the accumulating phase and not to plan what we’ll be doing during our longer than average retirement. I could definitely use this as food for thought for myself and to guide my parents as they’re navigating through the “having nothing to do” frustration of their retirement.
1) When I was making my retirement decisions, a big one was whether or not to continue on as a part-time consultant. After doing some planning on retirement budget and activities, it became clear that I needed time more than money to do the things I want to do, so I decided to retire full-time. I can always earn more money, but I can’t buy more time.
2) I encourage everyone to not procrastinate in starting on their list of retirement activities. I jumped into my list quickly, but now three months into retirement, my wife had a stroke and I have taken on the role of full-time caregiver. You never know when life is going to throw you a curve, so get busy with your plans while you still can.
Thank you I was waiting for this to be discussed, thank your for the insights. Like many, I think I started doing some but not yet full time. I hate reading books and not sure if audible will be a good second best, I get bored easily. I am not sure about the social activities since I am also an introvert and no spouse or close friends to hang out with, my relatives are all very far..but will see if social/volunteer groups will be a good alternatives. But do post more ideas…. I like your site better than Rockstar!!
Great list, pretty much describes my life in the last three years I’ve been slightly early retired. The only thing I’d quibble with is that you can be healthier after you retire. Very few people in this country can honestly say that work prevented them from getting proper exercise. Laziness and over indulgence are what prevents affluent countries’ citizens from being healthy. While my wife and I still run many miles a week just like we did before retiring and play tons of tennis I can’t say I’m as healthy. Every year I’m a year older and carry more sports injuries and physical degredation than the year before. We are extremely healthy for our ages but we aren’t close to what we were ten years ago, nobody is unless they were really couch potatoes ten years ago. But even though the best you can do is to fight a strategic retreat against eventual death it is worth the fight!
Great question by a reader and something I am glad you addressed.
It is nice to see that happiness of early retirement really does not have to be a mirage.
I can’t wait till life slows down for me and I am able to do things I want to do and not have to do. I think it says a lot that when I am at work most of my thoughts are about how I want to write and improve my blog. That for me I think will get a big boost when I retire.
Wow, the “Socialize” section freaked me out for a minute. I could have written almost exactly the same thing.
My wife is an extrovert, and it took us a long time to reach a balance. I think we’re both looking forward to freeing up time and spending more with others. As it is now, exhaustion from our jobs plus me being “peopled out” means we don’t even see friends as often as we’d like.
I’ve been thinking that having a bit more alone time combined with a lot less time where I’m required to be extroverted (work) would mean that would change. It’s great to hear that it did for you.
I’d like to encourage you to look into Pickleball. The Springs is a mecca for the sport and if you’re tennis inclined, you may love it. It fills my need for social, exercise and competition/improvement. I love that you can drop in and rotate play with a bunch of different people. It’s an easy sport to learn but a hard one to master. Oh and it’s inexpensive–tennis shoes, sunscreen and a $100 paddle and you’re all set on community courts.
We split our time between the Colorado mountains and Scottsdale and love it. Our favorite pastime is watching winter from the desert with our internet camera. We’re on year three of this and haven’t had any significant problems leaving either home. We turn off the water in our mountain home and have cameras that allow us to keep an eye on the outside and give us the inside temperature. Our neighbors keep an eye on our places but could hire a property manager to do more thorough walk through if needed.
I’d suggest you rent and really checkout a locale before purchasing. We wanted a warm winter climate within a day’s drive of our mountain home which narrowed our possibilities. Spending time in the desert preserves and on the bike paths made Scottsdale the right choice for us. When we’re not playing Pickleball, we’re mountain biking and hiking in the preserve. It’s heavenly.
Thanks for this two-houses info: “We turn off the water in our mountain home and have cameras that allow us to keep an eye on the outside and give us the inside temperature. Our neighbors keep an eye on our places but could hire a property manager to do more thorough walk through if needed.”
Your being able to drive fairly easily between your two heavenly places sounds ideal. And I’ve only played pickleball once (fun!) and never thought about the social aspects, especially for meeting people in a new place. (-:
Ok, just spent the last 30 minutes watching “how to play pickleball” videos. LOL!
Looks like fun!
Funny, even the videos are addicting!
Check USAPA.org for places to play–reach out to the location contact before going to see if you can get some guidance and borrow a paddle. If they can’t provide, they can probably refer you to a location that could.
Let me what you think 🙂
She’s not exaggerating ESI. Many people think pickleball is an “old person’s” sport. It most definitely is not. I’m not sure this is the case everywhere, but down here in FL, the pickleball players are very welcoming. If you show up with a racquet, they just ask you to come in and play.
I’ve played a number of racquet sports over the years and this one is my favorite. It’s not as demanding as racquetball but similar in style and stroke.
Beware however… once you try it, you’ll be hooked!
We play at least once a week and always looking for more games.
I like this listing of things to do. I am looking forward to all of that in the future. I’ve recently started playing ultimate frisbee (at 44) and would like to go watch some of the high level tournaments in the country throughout the year.
I think your idea of running a marathon or 5K is great! I try to run a 5K about once a month. It gives me an objective for my exercise. I try to beat my previous time each race. By participating in a race, you meet a lot of like minded people and since most 5K’s are designed to raise money, you contribute to a worthy cause at the same time.
I’m impressed with your daily step count, ESI. I’m shooting for 10K a day, but my average over the last several months has been a little less. I live in a place where it is very difficult to walk to shopping areas.
Thank you for a great list of suggestions. I’m looking forward to “retiring to” managing the family farm. It is mostly leased for grain crops — however there is some pasture available this year, and I am looking forward to beginning a small orchard. I also plan to move back to my hometown, and will most likely be active in the community once again.
I appreciate the bit about vacationing/wintering in a warmer climate as well. (Yes!) I want to travel more —as we are able; we mostly fly now to be able to spend more time hiking; in doing so, we miss a lot of scenery. When we have longer blocks of time, driving, rail will be more accommodating. My husband dreams of traveling to Alaska, and Denmark as well, and will want to spend longer than a week in t hose places, exploring.
John, your list is spot in. I retired two years ago at age 53 and love it. I’m plenty busy (exercise, volunteer, some consulting on the side once in a while, learning Spanish, got a new puppy, invested in a real estate rental property nearby). Structure is the key for me and all my activities are such that I they are busy at different times and/or can easily be put in the back burner when necessary. Meditation is one other thing I’ve taken up and I’ve benefitted quite a bit. After 30+ years of corporate work, retirement does require some focus. As you note, though, the key is I pretty much only do what I choose to do. And that is better than any day at “work”! Thanks for your insights.
Like many others, lots of similarities. After I left my corporate job, high stress and weekly travel, I bought a restaurant. Now, most people will think that owning a restaurant is a 60+ hour a week job, but I structured the organization so it’s at best a part-time job for my wife and I. Yes, we could make more money if we were more involved, but that’s not where we’re at. The restaurant provides a very nice income which allows us to indulge ourselves with travel. My wife finally put me on a quota; no more than one fly-away trip a quarter. We still have many places we want to visit but we’ve travelled extensively in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Scotland, London, Paris and many trips to Mexico, where we will take delivery of a condo in a few month on the Mayan Riveria. Currently finishing up the planning on a 2-week tour of Alaska that we’ll do in June.
I tell people the restaurant is like my half-way house, a bridge between my corporate life and full retirement; and encourage people to find their own “bridge” between full-time work and full-time retirement.
The final act is my business career will be investing in international properties., principally single family dwellings in places, like the Mayan Riveria, where you can reasonably anticipate capital appreciation and cash flow from rentals.
We met some friends in Belize 2 weeks ago. We stayed in a brand new million dollar home built to generate rental income. Tony and Cheryl were the owners, Tony is 86 and Cheryl is maybe 20 years younger. For the 2 1/2 years it took to build the house they lived on their catamaran in the lagoon alongside the house.
Tony is a good example for ALL of us!
We live in Highlands Ranch, CO in a retirement community, Gleneagles Village. I am 75 my wife is 65, and I have been retired for 11 years. I teach retirement planning seminars in Denver and around the country, but don’t sell any products or services and offer a free blog containing retirement articles on my website. Living in our retirement community allows us to lock the door and spend 4 months of the winter in Ajijic, Mexico where we rent a one bedroom apartment on a year-round basis. We are here right now, but head home on March 31. Life is good!
What do you do with your CO home when you are away? Does anyone watch it for you?
My retirement has gone to the dogs …
My working life consisted of boarding a plane every Sunday night and returning home Friday night (if domestic travel, and lucky with weather). I had about 40 hours at home each weekend. I longed for a dog …
So my first purchase post retirement was a puppy. We enrolled in classes, and more classes. We started competing. It has been fun training her, and we’ve earned an impressive number of titles in nine different dog sports. An unexpected bonus is I’ve met a lot of new people, some of whom have become great friends.
Owning a dog (now three dogs) has provided exercise (daily walks, training), a hobby, a new social network, events (dog shows, trials, and workshops), reading (training books, naturally!), travel and more.
This was a great article – thank you.
Your retirement sounds wonderful for so many reasons. I’m curious about where you live–near a city with an airport?
Turning 52 this June. Planning to pack it in after 28 years as a high school teacher. The wife will keep going until 55. For me, retirement will be about health, fitness and raising money for charity doing something I really enjoy. Namely, teaching young people to DIY Invest. It’s a win-win-win.
Did I mention I live in Toronto? So come December, I join the legions of Canadian snowbirds heading down to Florida to skip winter.
I had a car accident 1 day after my retirement party which left me unable to walk. I’ve been in a Rehabilitation facility for 3 months 24 hours per day relearning how to walk. So right now I’m pretty busy. Once I can leave here & get my own apartment I plan to learn to be a web developer; front and backend using HTML, CSS and JavaScript as a hobby. If it turns out to earn me a little funds that would be great. I would like to immerse myself in this lifestyle to travel to conferences. I would like to learn lots of new languages and meet new people.
I’m sorry to hear about your accident, that was some really bad luck at a time that should have been so great for you. I’m a retired software/database developer. I know a lot about web development but I haven’t done many websites from scratch. I like doing the backend database work more than the web-based user interface (but I’ve done some HTML/CSS/JavaScript). I have what I think would be a good idea for a new website that will be helpful to a particular set of kidney patients. It could probably generate some money through ads. If you’d like to be partners on it, I could concentrate on the backend stuff and you can do the frontend visual parts, and I can teach you and assist with any parts you have trouble with. I’m in the very beginning stage on this project and have no particular deadlines, so you’re free to learn and work at your own pace. I’m sure nobody else will implement this particular idea, so if it takes months or years to do, it’s up to us. Reply back if you’re interested, and we’ll figure out how to exchange contact info.
Hi Mike W. I would be interested in partnering with you. I think you have a great idea although I don’t know the specifics. I will be concentrating on mental health issues. I have a son who has schizophrenia & a daughter who is bi-polar. I would like to create a website that assists in obtaining all types of assistance; housing, employment training, training in becoming more self-efficient, raising awareness and funds in creating a non-profit organization to meet their challenges and needs in innovative ways not yet met. I’m in Texas. Where are you?
I’m in Las Vegas. Please email me at mikewilliams778899ATgmailDOTcom, and we can continue the discussion offline.
Hi Rick Williams, Can you check the e-mail you provided me with, rickwilliams778899ATgmailDOTcom
I tried it 3 times and I’m told there is no such e-mail. Please advise. Thanks.
mikewilliams778899ATgmailDOTcom
mikewilliams778899 @ gmail . com
Remove the spaces. It’s mike, not rick.
🙂
Nice. Although I actually never work so I can’t say I’m retired. My parents just have enough money to provide for me and my kids. We don’t splurge but we’re also not so thrifty. So basically we live moderately. I’m 36, my kids 10 and 9. No jobs, no schooling, just living. Basically doing everything that makes life worthwhile. All those on your list plus meditating.