Rate your retirement

I should rate my retirement a 10, but I am such a whiner I'm knocking it down to a 9 due to my body getting old too fast. I'm only 66 (will be 67 in less than a month) and retired one year and 4 days ago, but since I retired it seems like every time I do anything my body breaks down. I love to walk but from walking too much now I've got a splint pad to wear on my foot, special shoes, stretchy ankle supports, stretchy knee supports, and I'm having some foot pains that will probably need to be addressed medically eventually. And last night I ordered some walking sticks/trekking poles.

I can't do the Tai Chi class because having done it one time my shoulders (ligaments or tendons in them I think) developed burning pain and its been 3 or 4 weeks and one still isn't completely back to normal.

I had to start bone medicine this year because that dexascan they do when a person starts Medicare showed some vertabrae are so decalcified they are at high risk of fracture. Aaaghhhh, it's like retire and immediately become decrepit! I expected to have more vitality and physical ability for the early years of retirement. My 'Go-Go' years look to be more like 'Go-oops-ouch' years.

At most I can do one thing in a day, there is no energy for doing a this and a that, I'll do a this and then its time to go home and collapse.

But otherwise my retirement is a thrilling unexpected 9. My original plan had been bare-subsistence finances and rattling around alone in my endless-maintenance-issues but otherwise paid off house in Nebraska, but thanks to the awesome real estate bubble last spring I've been able to escape Nebraska, and relocate to an affordable smaller apartment in an amazing retirement community with access to an exciting metropolitan area. And I'm so happy with my building, it is such a nice feel to go through the lobby and see a bunch of 80/90-somethings sitting together on the beautiful chairs in the pretty mirrored sitting areas having some social time (though for myself I hope to be frisky enough to go to the clubhouses and beyond for the next several years).
 

I would rate my retirement an 8 out of 10, and I was forced into retirement during the pandemic. I was lucky enough to have socked away enough to live on when I got "the axe".

I rate it that way because I no longer work 24/7, travel all over the globe and answer emails 10 hours a day. I no longer have projects that are due or have to answer to anyone. I sleep better, I'm healthier (my physicals prove that) and I have less stress and anxiety. I can spend much more time being in the moment and really enjoying my days.

It would be a 10 if I could find some volunteer work a few hours a week to break up the monotony and allow me to give back to the community. I'm always searching.
 
These are the best years of my life, by far. But since there's always room for improvement, I'll give it an 8.

I'm having fun using AI to generate code. I was looking for a simple backup program for my PC but couldn't find one that I liked, so I wrote my own using AI. What would have taken all day if I wrote the entire script myself only took about 10 minutes with ChatGPT. It takes care of all the tedious aspects of programming and only requires the design!

It's a little weird, though. It made a mistake and I felt bad about correcting it. And I always thank it after it helps me with something. I guess I don't want it to kill me. :ROFLMAO:
 

I retired from a paying job at the age of 58 with no regrets. Both homes mortgage free and am debt free.

I'd rate my retirement a 10.

Health is good and I enjoy not having life dictated by a clock and schedule. I enjoy the tranquility of living rural on a 100 acres of land and enjoy all the wildlife that frequents it.

Life is good!
 
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Initially, I felt a bit lost and didn't think I was going to enjoy retirement but, three years on, I think I have cracked this retirement lark and am enjoying my freedom. I love being able to do what I want and not having to try and fit my social life around my work life. I would rate my retirement as 9 but, come the warmer, longer, sunny days, it will likely be a 10+. :)
 
i had planned to work til 70 because i had no "plan" when I retired. My employer had other thoughts and pushed me out the door. Thought I was doing them a favor by coming in early, working late, working holidays and rarely took a vacation. In the 15 years I was there, I may have taken 4 sick days. In a staff of 50, three of us were chosen to work during pandemic. Everyone else home. I did resent that.

In the end, it didn't matter. Came in one day and someone else was sitting at my desk and my job duties had been reassigned. I ended up walking out after i told the boss what I thought of her. She denied it was age discrimination.

Next day I woke up and said "now what". I ended up volunteering in a senior center cafe which I enjoy. The hardest part was admitting I too was a senior. I would rate retirement as a 7 because I still feel lost.
 
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@Youngster ..... Scott, question for you .... having looked at your website to some extent

When do you find time for kicking back in retirement? You stay so busy with writing! ;)
 
hollydolly said:
in this country homes on the coast are not generally expensive, but of course just like inland one can buy an expensive home anywhere.
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Sandbanks, Dorset, has claimed the top spot, breaking the record as the most sought after and expensive place to live in the world after a bungalow on the exclusive seaside resort sold for £13.5 million. A modest, waterfront bungalow, with a floor space of just 2,909 sq ft, this equates to £4,640 per square foot making it more expensive than homes in Monaco, London, New York and Hong Kong. Following a quip by some journalist, Sandbanks is often dubbed: Mayfair-on-Sea.
 
Oh! Maybe 8 or 9: my health is reasonably good for a 77 year guy. I have traveled to many, many countries. Sufficient funds makes me not worry about prices. For fun I love watching interest rates go up and up and up. Hurray for higher interest rates.

Oh yes, not working anymore gives me a lot of time for reading, exercise, hiking and sometimes even "chasing the ladies." Ha, ha!
 
horseless carriage said:
Sandbanks, Dorset, has claimed the top spot, breaking the record as the most sought after and expensive place to live in the world after a bungalow on the exclusive seaside resort sold for £13.5 million. A modest, waterfront bungalow, with a floor space of just 2,909 sq ft, this equates to £4,640 per square foot making it more expensive than homes in Monaco, London, New York and Hong Kong. Following a quip by some journalist, Sandbanks is often dubbed: Mayfair-on-Sea.
Click to expand...
I'm glad I don't live there. I have a feeling that those that do live there are bad, snoddy neighbours. You can keep them all!
 
I rate my retirement a 10, am enjoying doing the things I never had time when I was working e.g volunteering, dog sitting,reading my books ,sitting out in our community garden with other residents
I bought a retirement clock couple months before I retired in 2011, the 2nd hand has the days of the week. Sometimes I have to look at it to see what day it is because I have no idea where the weeks/ months/years have gone
 
I didn't fully retire until last year. Prior to that I was working on a contract basis after leaving my full-time job in 2015. I love being retired. I highly recommend it ;). I'd rate it a 10!
 
At 1. I'm not retired. I work part time. My job was literally killing me and I'm not joking. But I should not have gone part time until I had bought a place of my own. I didn't see the fires coming or the low volume and increase in housing in my area. So I don't know what will happen. Plus my stepfather is a major burden to me.
 
Very mixed, I have been retired for 26 years. We did some traveling with a small travel trailer, Canada to Mexico and coast to coast, plus a few cruises. Our 50th anniversary was on a cruise ship in Alaska, our 60th was back here in Florida.
My wife passed away last December, I greatly miss her.
 
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