Thank you to everyone who showed an interest in my previous post about my retirement planning process. Although I had been asked to write about it by a blog reader, I really wasn't sure if anyone else would be interested, especially since it all happened almost six years ago!
As I mentioned in the previous post, the major portion of my retirement planning focused on financial matters. However, once I had decided I was going to retire and people got to know about it, the number one question everyone asked was not if I could afford to retire, but, what was I going to do after I retired? What would I do with all my time? I really hadn't given it a lot of thought, until then, but, I had vague ideas of spending my time doing all the things that I didn't have enough time to do when I was working, such as my crafts projects (knitting, crocheting, quilting, etc.), gardening, getting the house organized, and just, plain relaxing!
But, people had other ideas! My doctor was concerned that I would spend too much time, sitting around. "Get a dog", she said, "You'll be forced to take it on daily walks". "No, thank you", I said, "The cat wouldn't like to have a dog around", but, I made a mental note to start walking on a more regular basis.
Friends and colleagues asked if I would travel. I gave that some consideration, but, I knew that I was a homebody and, in any case, I didn't want to travel on my own. Even if I were to go with a group of people, I would still have wanted to share the experience with my daughter and she was working full time.
My daughter was concerned that I would be lonely and bored by myself at home, because she knew what an introvert I was. So, I assured her that I would make it a point to interact with other people. It was then that I came up with a few things to do in retirement. I even made a time schedule to keep me on track! I still considered it as part of my overall monthly balanced life goals and added a sub-category, under Time Management, for Retirement Planning to make sure I submitted my retirement paperwork on time!
Here are some of the non-financial things I considered doing after retirement:
Spiritual: I planned to resume Friday night meditation sessions at the Temple and there were weekly services I could participate in if I wanted to. In addition, at the time, there were monthly prayer gatherings that I attended. At the beginning of retirement, I went to the Friday night meditation sessions two to three times a month.
House: I had many plans to deep clean, declutter, and organize the house in retirement! I would have all day to get the house as clean and tidy as I liked, without waiting until the weekend or find time after work. At the end of the first month, I had deep cleaned several rooms and had gathered 20 bags of decluttered items to donate.
Garden: I was going to get some long term gardening projects done after I retired, as I would have more time to garden. Some projects took longer than planned and some have not been done, yet, but, tending to the garden was definitely on my list of retirement activities.
Family and Friends: Again, I was going to get together more often with them and visit them, etc. I made it a point to visit relatives and to get together with friends. There were visits to some places of interest with my friend R who was one of the few friends who was free to go places and do things with me; we went out to lunch, we toured gardens and cultural monuments, we watched some movies at the library, etc. We had planned to do some other things, too, but, then, there was a pandemic and that put an end to those plans.
Community: I considered attending meditation sessions and participating in the temple activities as a community activity. Then there was blogging. In addition, I was participating in the American Heart Association's drive to raise awareness of congenital heart disease by knitting red hats for newborns. One of the new community activities I decided to participate in for additional social interaction was joining the weekly knitting club at the library. I attended it several times, although it didn't quite deliver the social interaction I was hoping to find, mostly because there was a language barrier between me and the other participants. I stopped attending it after a few months, but, at least I tried.
I had also considered becoming a volunteer, at the library or a museum. I went as far as to obtain the applications and then, decided it was not for me!
Leisure/Crafts/Hobbies/Me-Time: This was the area I had planned to do most in retirement! I had several crafts and hobbies I wanted to spend more time doing - knitting, crocheting, patchwork and quilting, sewing, scrapbooking, etc. I've always felt that I could spend the entire day working on my craft projects. Unfortunately, when I do that, I tend to neglect the other areas, such as house cleaning!
I had also wanted to resume piano lessons once I retired as now I'd have time to practice. I started taking piano lessons from my neighbor S and I enjoyed them, switching to online lessons once Covid hit, but, after some time, I found it hard to keep up with the lessons and it became more stressful than joyful, so I stopped.
Looking back, the biggest impact on my planned retirement activities was the Covid pandemic. I stopped going places and doing things that would require social interactions. I am not someone who needs to be constantly doing things or going places or being with others, in the first place, so I didn't feel like I missed out on anything (except, perhaps, grocery shopping in person!) I found plenty to do at home and enjoyed it.
More recently, I have started going to the library, have visited the temple, and visited family, but, I am not quite ready to be without a mask in public and prefer to keep my risk of exposure levels as low as I possibly can. I am constantly weighing the benefits of going out or doing something against the risks I take of getting ill, and usually, the risks outweigh the benefits, for me.
On the whole, I am enjoying being retired. I like being able to spend my days at home, doing mostly what I want to do, on my own schedule. It works for me.
But, yes, if anyone is considering retiring, ask yourself not only if you can afford to retire, but, what you plan to do after you retire.
Your account of retirement planning was really interesting to read Bless.The pandemic definitely changed everything for everyone. Have you kept in touch with your friend R perhaps you could start to do some of the things you once enjoyed with her? I do understand your reluctance to mingle for risk of becoming ill though. I rarely see anyone wearing a mask now probably the risk of catching Covid is low although there are other seasonal germs about I agree. I do understand that living on your own has to be a big consideration too.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you are happy and content with your life that is all that matters.
Thank you, Eileen. Yes, I've kept in touch with friend R. I've invited her over a few times, but, she has declined my invitations because she goes out and about and she is afraid to expose me to any germs. It's OK; I'll ask her again, later in the year, after I've had my fall flu vaccine and my Covid booster.
DeleteCovid numbers are quite high in my area, according to the news; there is a summer surge, apparently.
I am quite happy and content with my life as it is. The pace of it suits me!
When TheHub retired we had big plans, and we all know how that has turned out so far. I have decided until he has been home a full calendar month without going in to the office ( or meeting at someone else's office) I am not willing to even talk about any travel plans with him.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry that the plans you've made have been pushed to a back burner for now. Maybe retiring full time was a bit too drastic a change for your husband and he needed to work part time to adjust! Maybe settle for traveling for a shorter duration? Maybe a week long visit somewhere, once a month, and then, he goes back to the office for the remaining 3 weeks?
DeleteThis is a lovely post full of good advice. I had many plans similar to yours. Healthier eating and more regular exercise are on my list. More time for crafts and for visiting family has been lovely. And I never knew how much I would love becoming a gardener (which helps with diet and exercise} I was advised to get a dog. But I do not want the responsibility. I feel truly blessed to have reached this time, and to be able to enjoy my days.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. I know that you are keeping yourself active and involved with family, friends, and community, in retirement. Bob, too, with his many projects. It's good to have many interests to keep one engaged.
DeleteThis is really interesting. I'm not quite retired - although certainly I think I'm more retired than not! - but Mr FD is. He mostly goes from sedentary sitting in front of the TV to 60+ km bike rides. He does do a bit of computer work too, but that's about it. Me, I do more things than him, but I also do less exercise. I like the idea of your monthly goal review too, as it keeps you more conscious of what you're doing. Maybe I should do something like that... It shows where you have been NOT doing what you planned...Love FD xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, FD. Each person's retirement is different, depending on the person and his/her interests, isn't it? You both visit places, attend concerts, do things together or individually, and as long as you are both happy, then, it's a good life. Like Mr. FD, I, too, tend to be quite sedentary sitting in front of the TV (although, often crocheting or blogging while I do so), but, unlike Mr. FD, I do not go on any bike rides! So, I must force myself to walk for 15 minutes or so, on a daily basis.
DeleteI have found the monthly goals review to be very helpful. I try to do a little bit in each of the areas that are important to me, at least weekly, if not daily. :)
I think the wonderful thing about retirement, is that you are free to do whatever you choose, without the time constraints of a working week.
ReplyDeleteI have many ideas about how I would love to spend my retirement, I just hope that I can continue to be healthy and active. Xx
Yes, one of the best things about being retired is the freedom to choose how to spend your time! Sometimes, however, I tend to fall into the trap of thinking, "Oh, I have all the time to do it later" which leads to procrastination! Being healthy and active is important, too, to enjoy retirement to the fullest.
DeleteYou did have some good plans. The pandemic messed with everyone. I do have some travel plans, in the US to visit family and friends, but I'm also a homebody. And my decluttering hasn't really been successful so far. That'll happen eventually!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. Sometimes, we need to change our plans a bit to accommodate reality, but, being able to adjust is a good thing, isn't it? Travel plans to visit family and friends are good. I know you've already visited your sister over the summer, so you've started on those plans.
DeleteDecluttering is a process, isn't it? It's a constant peeling off of layers, I think. I am challenging myself to a month of decluttering in September; a minimum of 300 items (10 items a day) or almost 500 (as many items a day as the date - 1 on the 1st, 2 on the 2nd, up to 30 on the 30th); would you like to join me?
That's a lot of items! I did give away a box of 500 staples last week, will that count as 500 items? :D. You have a great idea, and I will try to keep up!
DeleteYes; going by my past efforts, I think 300 is more achievable than 500, but, I've done it, before. You can't count the 500 staples from last week, because that was last month's decluttering! This is a new challenge for the new month! :D
DeleteTi sei fatta degli ottimi piani per la pensione, soprattutto quelli relativi alla parte hobbies, che quando arriverà il mio momento di andare in pensione occuperanno la parte principale del mio tempo
ReplyDeletePer Google Translate, Stefania said:
Delete"You have made excellent plans for your retirement, especially those relating to the hobbies part, which when my time comes to retire will occupy the main part of my time"
Thank you, Stefania. I think retirement is the best time for doing hobbies! :)
I would love to spend my retirement reading, crafting and gardening, and some traveling. 😊
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget writing more books! I'm sure you'll find plenty of things to do once you retire, Nil. :)
DeleteI laughed as soon as I read the "get a dog" suggestion! I once told a friend to think about getting a dog as seriously as she would about having a baby! Dogs change your life drastically and I'm very happy to enjoy neighbour dogs without responsibility for them. I think being introvert helped a lot of us during the pandemic because we could always fall back onto our crafts and gardening and blogland. But I would hate to go through it again, there was much that was missed during the restrictions, and for those who have health concerns, I still see them with masks or not attending events.
ReplyDeleteYes, getting a dog is a big responsibility, isn't it? I have my hands full with Dancer, as it is! I am one of those people who still wear masks and avoid attending many events. It's not ideal, but, it's what I'm comfortable with.
DeleteBless, thank you! This was more than I could have wished for, especially your detailed considerations of retirement in all aspects of life. I appreciate the thoughtfulness with which you approached this series. If/when you have time for one more post, 😊 I'd love to know more about what you'd do differently in hindsight, if anything. Again, many thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! I hope it was helpful. Right now, I can't think of anything I'd have done differently, but, I'll try to do another post, maybe focusing on what I plan to do, moving forward. :)
DeleteA future-focused post sounds exciting. Thank you!
DeleteYou are very welcome. :)
DeleteAs others have said, this has all been so interesting!
ReplyDeleteJust reading about your thought process (and input from others) brings such insight.
Personally I always pitied people who wondered what I'd do all day?
Not pitied as in being judgmental but - I have such a rich home life doing simple domestic activities, gardening, reading and working on whatever handcraft has caught my attention at that time, that my days are easily filled. Honesty, I'm quite delighted by it all and very appreciative that I get to live my days in this fashion without working.
Yeah!!! No more work. lol
Thank you, Debra. I came across my planner from back then, and I just took a quick glance at it - all the days were filled with meetings, project deadlines, and appointments, etc. for work and then, blank pages! LOL. No more office work!
DeleteIt is a bit of an adjustment for most people, I think, to go from being busy/having their day structured to having little to no schedule and all the time in the day to do whatever one wants to do. It does help if one has hobbies and interests, places to go and things to do. I have lots to keep me busy at home and there's a backlog of projects, so I am not at all bored!