What do you plan to do when you retire? How many people actually follow through on these plans successfully?

I have been working on being in better shape and increasing physical movement as I get closer to retirement age. My mom once said the worst day of her life was when my Dad retired. After 40 years of marriage she had her routine and my dad no longer had his but was bugging her.

So I won’t say I will travel or read teh greta books, I plan to keep pretty much as I am doing now, but without having to drive my kids around, and with more time during the week to get outside and be active.

I will continue to work part time.
I will travel
I will spend more time on my hobbies—astrophotography and music
I will backpack more and get in the best shape of my life
I will enjoy my growing daughter and visit her frequently once she moves out of the house

Our work ethic and pressure to be “productive” to the bitter end is something I resent.
Remember the saying * You are a human BEING, not a human DOING!” There is nothing wrong with in-joying relaxing days, no rigid schedules and just being instead of doing.
Many people can;t adjust to a life of leisure because their programming is so hardwired and they are not self aware enough to question their belief systems.

I am not one of them.
I could happily putter around, garden, relax, take drives, explore new places without one bit of guilt or angst.
Sadly I will probably never be able to retire, but I did have a great and lengthy phase of only having to work part time and I loved every minute of it.
In-joying leisure does not make one lazy and if I ran the world nobody would work more than a 6 hour day. haha

I plan to climb mountains in the lake district.

They say that whatever you plan for retirement, something will prevent you from achieving your plans. One wag adds, “In that case, what I plan to d is stay in bed all day.” That’s one reason we traveled a lot before retirement. Peripheral neuropathy and Alzheimer’s got in the way of other retirement activities.
If travel is your goal, make a list of the places you’d like to go and rate them by physical difficulty to achieve. Start with the hardest. We did that, but should have done it earlier in life. Borneo did us in.

My dream is to own my own business so that I can continue to work on my own terms (somewhat) when I am older.

This is a good question and one that, as you mention, not enough people ask. I am nearing retirement and have been thinking about what I would like to do.

I do not do much socializing and have no wife and family. I have this great fear of dying alone. I visited a nearby retirement community to see what it would be like. The guy I met arranged for me to have dinner with some of the residents. I met with them and found them to be well educated and very pleasant dinner companions, but my gut feeling was that I am not ready for this.

Ideally I would like to work part-time. I do some online tutoring in the evening and I would like to continue doing that. I have thought about setting up my own math tutoring Web site, but keep putting it off. I once tutored someone as part of a local ESL program and might do that again. I can’t bear the thought of being completely idle.

I lived in FL for most of my adult life and most retirees I came into contact with we’re loving life! Some worked in their retirement. Many just enjoyed their grandchildren, travelled, and did stuff with friends. Pool, cards, theatre, exercise, dinner out, etc. My parents are retired and they and their peers enjoy being retired. My dad still “works” a little. He turned his hobby not a job. He makes decent money doing it, but doesn’t need the money to support himself and my mom. My mom helps him a litte with his hobby and fills the rest of her time with friends, and her daily routine.

I haven’t worked in over 3 years and my day fills right up. I do want to work again, but I don’t worry at all about what I will do in retirement, assuming financially I will be ok. I plan on travelling, enjoying my time with my husband, being with friends, living in a place I love.

My wife and I both took early retirement late last year. We’ve always been amazed and perplexed by all of these people who say “I’ll never retire….I’d be too bored”. Or even the more strange: “If I won the lottery, I would still go to work to keep from being bored”.

To each his (or her) own, but I would rather sit on the back patio all day, every day and watch the squirrels get frustrated by not being able to reach that bird-feeder than drag myself to some job every day and deal with issues and headaches, stress and problems which only results in making wealthy people even more wealthy, while I proceed to only accumlate more little holes burned into my stomach lining.

To us, retirement comes down to doing exactly what you want to do every day vs. doing what OTHER people demand that you do every day.

Get your pilot’s license. Learn another language. Volunteer to help others. Go to the gym. Become a decent harmonica player. Or just watch your flat screen all day next to a bowl of popcorn

ANYTHING is better than solving very avoidable problems (usually created by others) all day, every day, and going to meetings where everyone thinks they sound dynamic by saying “move forward” and “at the end of the day” over and over and over again….
.

@OneBadApple I agree 10,000% and welcome to Fluther! :-)
Our obsession with “productivity” is insane in this culture. I too would have no problem puttering around all day and smelling the roses and watching the birds. I think a lot of people are so conditioned with diehard work ethics and fearful of being alone with themselves that the thought of doing nothing is fearful to them.

Amen and amen, @Coloma and @OneBadApple. I was describing the retirement community where we live here on Fluther many months ago. I said I can do what I want and I’m the kind of person who can sit on the lanai and watch the birds, the squirrels and the golfers and be happy. Someone said it sounded miserable and they’d rather die first. It isn’t that I sit on the lanai and watch the golfers all day, there are a kazillion things to do here. It is that I am happy where I am.

My husband has to be doing “something” though. We are total opposites in that respect.

I’m pretty sure I will not get to retire. It’s likely I’ll die at work.

^^^ Me too, but I did enjoy a lengthy stretch of part time work and prosperity. Not anymore. Bah Humbug!

My previous post reads like I live in a retirement community on Fluther. lol I need to take a refresher English grammar class.

I plan to work in a volunteer capacity part-time, travel and be with my husband.

One thing that I noticed recently is that those that had interests,hobbies,things OTHER
THAN WORK to do in their spare time well before retireing adapted easier than those
that centered there lives on work or even there kids and Grandkids.
Surely they must have had goals to complete ( personal goals like travel, photography etc)?
I too worked myself too much and looked forward to retireing.
I love that I do not have to deal with work problems,people etc
Except now the problems are with fellow seniors accepting there situation.
I hear complaining everyday from whiners.
Two ladies well into there 80’s and 90’s but have good health complain that they are not
entertained for lack of a better word! They had gotten used to someone else taking them out to lunches,dinners,events etc too much. So much so that when these relatives had other things to do, that these ladies are left “stunned” to do anything on there own.
I had to tell them to go out! Walk around, visit people, stores , as everything is in a two or three block radius.
I have now distanced myself from these two ladies as I soon realized that they just want
to complain and do nothing constructive about it.
I keep busy doing things that I like to do, and have now changed my plans to include getting up very early ( 7am) and going out for a walk,cafe,library,take pictures to download later and
create ,thrift shops,researching my Family Histories,plotting pedigrees,flea markets,farmers markets, a lot of things to do daily.
It keeps me in shape.

I had not planned to retire until I was at least 75. Unfortunately, a car crash in which I was a passenger changed all that 9 years ago when I was only 50. Living with chronic pain took away my ability to plan.

@Dr_Lawrence
Sorry to hear that.
Are you able to do anything ( painting etc)?

@Inspired_2write, we just helped bury a friend in February who would have been 101 on May 30. He still golfed, played bocce on a team and was on a 9-ball pool league. He went to mass twice a week and walked everyday. He was going to bowl, but he was losing his eyesight so quickly, it was very difficult for him to see the pins.

I know people who are in their 70s and they aren’t as young as our now deceased100-year old friend Anthony. He walked everyday. Rain or shine he was out walking. One neighbor put a chair on the corner of their lot with a sign saying sit and rest a spell. Anthony thought it was done specifically for him. He was so thrilled with their kindness, he talked about it until the day he died.

There are young 90 year old people here and old 50 year old people. It is all in your mind. You have to keep moving too. That is another key to staying young and healthy. Keep moving. Our community has more than 1,700 organized clubs. We have a lifelong learning college where you can take classes without worrying about grades. We have a community harder, a woodworking shop, nightly music and dancing…I could go on and on. If you are bored, it is your own fault.

@Inspired_2write I used to do fairly good stone carving of animals both real and whimsical and I was working on a steam locomotive at the time of the crash. Unfortunately it is in the same state now as it was in April 2004. I was in a rear end collision again about ten days ago and since then I have been in my adjustable bed with my legs raised most of the time because it is less painful than standing, walking or even sitting in my recliner. I still enjoy photography but I currently have no means of transportation. The car that was rear-ended was a rental – my last car died in December, 2012.

I am enrolled in an extension course at Harvard about Justice and Political Philosophy. This gives me some intellectual stimulation and I live with my two dogs who are good company and rather amusing. As an indirect result of my disability, I am unable to sponsor my wife of 10 years to come and live here in Canada with me. I hope to have a car again someday soon and then we will be able to visit each other frequently. I just saw her last week after four months being apart because of the lack of a car. Ironically, while we were together, our rental car was rear-ended. I don’t usually experience misfortune but this post might suggest otherwise. I am hoping to qualify for one of those scooters they advertise on late night TV. That would allow me to get out of the house on my own and take care of many more things on my own. I’d enjoy being able to shop for my food, pick up my mail and get outside with the dogs when the weather is pleasant. I’d pack my camera and take pictures of things I see during my adventures outside the house. I do love to read and I have a kindle that can even read the books to me when I want it to do so. At 59, I have too many years of retirement ahead of me but that is way better than the alternative!

@Dr_Lawrence
Is it still possible to do stone carving? or do you have to stand?
You seem pretty busy otherwise. Good for you!
I often wonder if advanced age (101 yrs) is in our DNA?
Good Luck.
Write your story, in a book.
Easy to do on www.blurb.com site

@bkcunningham
Sounds like you have a variety of things to choose from.
Yes I recognise a few residents who seem to wallow in there troubles, and they are in there early 60’s.
I noticed in those that are older ( 85 yrs old) seemed calmer and resigned to there situation better.
The one lady who is in her 90’s and complains and gets everybody worked up, was like this when she was younger too.
A personality problem of Not knowing how to cope, or “that is” her cope style.
I’d rather dwell on happy thoughts and possibilities rather than sad or negativity.
You are both doing your best to carve out a happy existence and that is what is
important to longevity.

Try not to worry about what other people are doing. Just be glad you are here for a purpose and find out what that purpose is. Are you unfulfilled? Or are you simply asking a question on Fluther with nothing better to do? Think about it.
I love being retired ! I can plant my garden, water it, pick my roses and give bouquets to special friends, enjoy the weather in our lovely yard, watch tv, sit in our hot tub, read as many books as I care to read , learn how to cook food from other cultures, work on my genealogy, visit my daughter ,play with the dogs, shop to my heart’s content, talk to my friends on the phone. The possibilities are practically endless.

To answer the second part of the question: I don’t know anyone who followed through on their retirement plans.

My grandfather’s retirement consisted of being forced out of his own business by loan sharks he owed money to for gambling.

My other grandfather was beaten to death under a bridge before he had the chance to retire.

My father-in-law retired only to sink into a deep depression within a year. He’s been struggling with that for twenty years now.

My father, after ten years of dreaming about his retirement, finally did. Couple months later he was diagnosed with cancer. He was dead within eighteen months.

@cookieman I’m stunned. That is so horribly sad ! I am truly sorry for you !

@cookieman
I understand in a lot of cases people were sidewinded from
retiring as planned.
I am sorry that had happened in your families.
I am talking generally about the conception of retiring.
It shows that EVEN in planning something that life can
throw curve balls throwing us off course at times.
It gives good reasons to take the time to “smell the roses”,
in short to take time out for ourselves whenever we can.

Thank you @Aster. I’m not sad at this point – just hoping for better results.

@Inspired_2write: Certainly.