January marks five years of publishing Retirement Confidential. In honor of this anniversary, I suffered through pages and pages of old posts to cull some of my more cogent thoughts about life after work. I hope you enjoy the recap.
Thank you for making it all possible. Happy New Year!
- In large part, retirement is about making it to the finish line and doing whatever you can get away with.
- Many retirees are probably unemployable. Not that we’re uppity, but our bullshit meters are pegged. Oh, and our inside voice is now our outside voice.
- While big retirement goals typically require planning, preparation and commitment, in the art of the slack, it’s important to set a low bar for the routines of daily life.
- I got my first Social Security payment this month. That was fun. While I don’t miss work, I do like to be on the receiving end of money.
- As a childless couple, we want to spend our principal … just not all at once. I like the idea of “die broke.” However, I would like to avoid being alive and broke.
- We add layers and layers of accommodations and behaviors to earn a living, and we start to believe that’s who we really are. Retirement is a journey toward freeing ourselves from expectations and accepting we don’t have to be more than we are.
- One thing I’ve learned in retirement is there’s something to be said for wishful thinking. I have been on both sides of the attitude spectrum, and nothing good ever happened when I thought the glass was half-empty.
- I woke up the other morning thinking, “I should get a job.” I used to like people. Maybe I could learn to like them again.
- Retirement can be the opportunity to discover or re-discover who you are when nobody is watching.
- What if we don’t need to continuously improve ourselves? Here’s a radical thought. What if being content is what it actually means to reach our full potential? What if being alive is our greatest accomplishment?
- I’ve had weird retirement dreams lately. I’m working at my old job but wondering why there isn’t more money in my bank account. Did they forget to pay me? Then I realize I wasn’t working at all and haven’t had a job in years. I wake up happy.
- Illness definitely affected my professional timetable. My first bout of cancer woke me up to get serious about work, and my second bout woke me up to get serious about life.
- In the grand scheme of things, I haven’t accomplished much. I consider making enough money to retire my greatest achievement.
- Retirement can be an unbelievable opportunity to pursue nothing – and that is everything.
- I’m not one to document goals, accomplishments or disappointments. If I wanted to do all that, I would be working.
- I never get sick of retirement. Even when I read the news, and it’s all horrible and depressing, I think, well, at least I get to sleep in.
- On multiple occasions, my boss said I couldn’t take vacation. I think she just got nervous when the flock wasn’t there. When I retired, I had more than 30 days of vacation paid to me because I never got to use it. Yo, girlfriend, guess who’s on vacation now?
- In many ways, it would have been easier to keep working. At least you get paid to avoid self-reflection.
- Once you have enough to get by without a job, time becomes more important than money or stuff.
- Waking up without an alarm is one of the greatest joys retirement brings. I waited my whole life for this.
Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary of this blog. Putting together a list of thoughts you have shared on retirement was an awesome idea. I greatly enjoyed reading through them.
Thank you, Donna. I’m glad you liked it!
Laughter and real nuggets of wisdom in your realizations about retirement and life. One of the things I most enjoy when I read your blog is how you peg thoughts or feelings that I think many of us have or are still grasping at and can’t figure out how to express. And then you come along and do it for us.
Thanks for taking the time to cull your past posts to share these particular thoughts with us. Made my day!
I’m honored to have made your day. It did take some time to cull through them, but it was well worth the effort. The rearview mirror reveals all!
I loved your list. When I get together with friends who are still working, I sometimes feel a bit of shame that I’m not “doing more”. I haven’t started a company or a non profit, not taking exotic vacations etc. I’m just enjoying each day (most days) and need to remund myself that that is enough.
I played golf with a guy last week who was planning a trip to Machu Picchu, and I was like, man, I’m not worthy. But I’m like you. Happy to be here.
Great list! I enjoyed reading each line and had a laugh or two as they hit home. I think you got it right with the best thing being not to wake to an alarm clock.!
It is the greatest gift, says someone who had to get up at 4 a.m. for years.
While I’m laughing at these I’m also thinking that you’ve given me a lot to mull over! I really enjoy reading your posts. I think you have a pretty good attitude about life and retirement, and I think your writings are helpful for regular people. Thank you for your years of writing. Happy new year!
Thank you so much. I do try to keep it real.
So much of your list resonated deeply with me! Congratulations on your 5 year Blogoversary, Donna! Raising a glass to the next 5 years…
Deb
Thanks, Deb. I appreciate your kind words and always look forward to reading about your latest adventures.
Amen! And well said.
Thanks, and Happy New Year to you.
I absolutely love your quotes. There is one that is not included which is my personal favorite from you – “Success comes with baggage I no longer wish to carry.” I’ve been retired for the same length of time, and that quote really resonated with me. I keep it as inspiration. I look forward to all the gems you give us in the future!
I am so flattered that actually have a favorite quote — even one I didn’t include. I did try to keep the list short, but now I kind of want to go back and do an expanded version.
Oh Donna, how I wish you were my neighbor! These quotes are all absolute gems. 😄
Wishing you and your hubby the very, very best in 2023.
Thanks so much, Tamara. Happy trails to you!
I just found this blog, and now I’m going to have to spend the time to read 5 years worth of blog posts. Because I love these nuggets! “In many ways, it would have been easier to keep working. At least you get paid to avoid self-reflection.” I’m cracking up!
Oh, but wait, I’m retired…so I have time to read 5 years back! 😎
Welcome, and thanks for the lovely feedback. That is also one of my favorite quotes.
I feel obligated to warn you there is a fair amount of repetitive drivel nestled in between those nuggets. But, hey, it’s all part of the journey. And you have the time.
What a fabulous collection of retirement musings. I can relate to so many of them. The second to last one is something we all need to keep in mind.
Have a terrific 2023… I look forward to (at least) 5 more years of your posts.
Thank you, Janis. I hope you have a great 2023 as well.
These are all fabulous quotes/observations! They’re all so clever, they should be on one of those internet quote sites under the retirement tab.
Thank you so much! Sometimes I think we get caught up in the long narrative of a story and forget about the small observations.
#6, 9 & 10 resonate with me. I’ll be sharing this. Donna, it’s just excellent. When asked what I would do in retirement (~10 yrs ago), I replied that the things I used to do 5pm, I would do between 8 & 5. Truth be told, it usually gets handled between 10 & 5! And that’s accomplishment enough. I’m still not over the slow mornings. Happy New Year to you and Dale.
Hi Mona! I’m with you on the slow start. I’m up, but not much happens before 10 unless I’m playing golf. Happy New Year to you, too.
1. “Our bullshit meters are pegged.” I love this about quote returning to work.
I also feel this way about ever dating again if something happened to my precious husband. I simply could not endure the amount of B.S.
2. I occasionally torture myself with all the wrong decisions I made during my work life even though I was always considered a good employee. But I was damn near genius with handling a small amount of income. We are sitting pretty in retirement because of this skill. One of the tricks is to be sure you have a mate with the same financial mindset.
We have a lot in common. I’m very good at torturing myself, and I’m definitely with you about the dating thing.
As for retirement, I didn’t start making a big salary until my 50s, so by then the saving skills were locked in.
Absolutely loved this – you’ve nailed it as always. I snorted aloud at “our outside voice is now our inside voice.” I have shared this with all of my retired friends – you have the unique ability to express what we are all experiencing succinctly. Happy New Year and keep the posts coming!
Thank you so much for the kind words! Keeps me going when in doubt. Happy New Year to you, to.
I’m a little behind in my reading and I’m so glad I did decide to read this. I loved it. Your points are right on target.
Thanks — so glad you enjoyed them!