A typical day of retirement

An actual LinkedIn conversation:

Hey, Donna, how are you? It’s great connecting with you. I came across your profile, and it was very impressive to me. If you don’t mind me asking, what is it you do for a living currently?

Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

I am retired. I mostly read, write, cook, play golf, hike and putz around in the garage making art (or something like it).

Thanks for your inquiry,

Donna

Hi Donna,

Nice! I’m a business owner expanding in the area. I’m looking for like-minded individuals who are wealth-building focused or extra income could help.

Are you looking for an opportunity to make extra income?

Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

No, thank you. I appreciate your interest.

Donna

As I have said many times, I would go back to work if I had to for financial reasons or if something struck a passion. In the meantime, school’s out for summer!

Here’s how I spent yesterday, an ordinary Friday. Proof you don’t have to travel the world or spend a fortune to enjoy retired life (unless you want to).

  • Scanned the news and did the NY Times mini puzzle in bed. Got up around 7 a.m.
  • Breakfast of fresh strawberries, yogurt and homemade granola. Coffee and juice. Newspaper.
  • Computer time.
  • Scrubbed the shower.
  • Wiped down the plantation shutters upstairs.
  • Walked for an hour.
  • Had Dale videotape me from behind whilst swinging a club and wearing my new golf skort to ensure no butt exposure. There was more exposure than I intended, but I’m going with it anyway!
  • Practiced putting on the putting mat out in the garage.
  • Brushed the kitty. Fur bombs everywhere.
  • Got a new Indian Instant Pot cookbook from the library the day before and began to compare and contrast recipes from the Indian Instant Pot cookbook I already own. Discovered you can cook rice at the same time as the main dish if you have the right tools, so spent some time researching on Amazon.
  • Accompanied Dale to the market to buy cheese for the evening’s menu and sushi for my lunch.
  • Watched several hours of U.S. Open golf tournament. Repeated, “Phil, you fucking idiot” many times. Had supermarket sushi and a light beer for lunch on a TV tray while I watched the Open.
  • Did my upper body weight routine.
  • Swam in our pool for about 20 minutes. Bobbed around for a while. Dried out under the sun and then came in to get cleaned up for happy hour.
  • Watched more golf and then helped Dale with dinner – pizza on the outside pizza oven.
  • Opened a bottle of Zinfandel we buy at a local winery for $7 a bottle.
  • Listened to some music while we enjoyed pizza on the patio. Dug into the vinyl vault for Kansas (because we love Dust in the Wind) and a little Clash because you can’t go wrong there.
  • Went to bed early. Like 8:30 or so. It was a cool night, so the windows were open.

Just another day of retirement! Work? Not missing it.

15 thoughts on “A typical day of retirement”

    1. You win that one easily. I am always amazed at how productive you are. And your planning!

  3. I retired 10 years ago and have never regretted it. I like your assessment of your skort for golfing, very clever.

    1. I hope I still feel the same way after 10 years! I really hesitated about the skort — too short? Am I too old? And then I just shut down that noise and said go for it!

  4. I should keep a list some day of what I’m doing too!! I get so tired of people asking me if I’m doing a lot of traveling. My days are like yours and that’s just perfect. Sounds like you get more done in the mornings than I do. I like starting slow but always wish I got more done. Priorities and their consequences, right? I would have to be sick to go to bed at 8:30 though!!! 😉

    1. I know what you mean about the questions. It’s like you aren’t really retired unless you’re traveling all the time. Been there, done that. I do go to bed early. Always have. Even in college, if I had to study for a test, I’d go to bed early and set the alarm for 3 a.m. I don’t keep a detailed list of things to do but an index card with 15 categories. I glance at it periodically to see if I’m mostly on top of it all. I’ll have to do a post about it.

      1. I’d be interested in hearing about that. I have lots of lists – meals, projects, books, tasks by week and day. And then some things I do every day don’t make a list. I sometimes blame my lack of progress on my lists on those things. 🤷🏼‍♀️

  5. Your day sounds appealing. My day went like this: Wake ~ 7 AM, listen to the radio and read blogs for the first cup of coffee. I never get tired of the slow mornings of retirement. Clean the kitchen (a leftover from yesterday’s to-do list) while the chicken breasts roasted in the oven. Make spicy chicken salad. My favorite CKUA radio programs played in the background while I putzed in the kitchen. Cut grass at my mom’s x 2 hrs. That included trimming and a return trip home to get the weed wacker cord that needed to be refilled. I hadn’t checked it prior to loading the equipment in the first place. Cool off and shower. Now it’s raining and I’m deciding whether or not to attend the chuckwagon races 45 min away. Choose some music for the road. Maybe it won’t be raining there. It wasn’t but I was glad I had my jacket and gloves with me. Enjoyed the races and caught up with some friends. Declined an invitation to stop at a friend’s on the way home, knowing that I would be out past my bedtime. Home ~ 10 PM. Unwind and to bed. A perfect day in retirement doing some of what needed to be done and some that wanted doing with lots of personal choice and no punching the clock.

    1. What a great day! I like what you said about doing what needed to be done and lots of personal choice but no punching the clock. Perfect.

  6. Sounds great. I wake up 5 am. have coffee, walk for 30 minutes. Then shower and breakfast. Almost always our own eggs. Then the day takes on whatever. I don’t golf but do go to the gym for weights.
    Hey, where do you get the wine? Is it in ElDorado county? or Placer?

    1. Hi Chris! I read your blog, and you are super-disciplined and productive. Sounds like your husband is doing great after his medical procedure — excellent news.

      As for the wine, we like to try lots of wineries, but the best bargain we’ve found is bottle-your-own at Charles B. Mitchell in Fair Play (El Dorado County). I think the price just went up, but it’s around $8 a bottle for a case of bottle-your-own. A little bit more if you buy bottles from them. We bring our own — just rinse them out with hot water (no soap) and let them air dry. Store upside down in a wine case. The next event is over July 4th weekend. They have an outdoor pizza oven and serve those all day, too!

      Here’s a link:

      https://charlesbmitchell.com/

      The Zinfandels are particularly good. You can taste first — they usually have a selection of three. It’s fun to do the bottling, labeling, corking, etc.

  7. Hi Donna, Thank you for always making me laugh!

    Yeah, the whole ‘What do you do all day in retirement?’ Q. gets under my skin. You ask because sitting in front of a computer with a phone to my ear, or worse, in a strategic planning meeting, was so scintillating???

    So, my day went like this: Awake at 5:30 am, pleased to have slept through the night, coffee and blog reading till 6:45am, then up to vacuum my husbands closet for a new closet system being installed today. Decided to rearrange our master bedroom while I was at it, trailed the handyman once he arrived at eight, confirming closet rod and shelving heights, plus tacked on two more small jobs ‘since he was here’, quick run to two harfdware stores for needed supplies for the added jobs, put husbands closet back together after handyman left, vacuumed, washed our three sliding glass windows with water, distlled vinegar and a squeegee – so easy, who knew! – finally stopped moving long enough to make an acai bowl for a late lunch, dusted our master bedroom, off to phsical therapy, home for a small glass of wine, made chicken parmesan, pasta, and a salad for dinner, dishes, then streamed two episodes of Blue Bloods before heading to bed at 9:00.

    Today was an at home day, which occurs about once a week. Tomorrow I’ll be out hiking and then volunteering all day, the ying to the above yang.

    1. You are so right. Brushing my cat is more fun than a strategic planning meeting. Thank you for sharing your day. I think it’s cool for retirees and aspiring retirees to see how real people are spending their time. I like the balance you talk about as well. Yesterday was four hours of driving to and from a golf event, plus all day in the sun. Today is an at-home day.

Comments are closed.