Talk of The Villages Florida - Adjusting to retirement

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I believe that it is important to keep in mind that your efforts over the course of your career no doubt helped others grow and advance .
One of my few satisfactions after leaving Corporate Life is that several who I hired and mentored have gone on to some amazing responsibilities .
And many who did not advance to such heights still built good careers which they tell me once in a while were due to my leadership .I helped many to advance such that they were able to raise their families in a comfortable Middle -Class lifestyle and send their children to College . It`s something to look back on with pride .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buffalo Jim (Post 944352)

You made a difference.

You just have to make a plan.

1. There is her day where we do what ever she wants.
2. There is his day where we do what ever he wants.
3. Than there is a day we go our own way and do what ever we want.
4. Than there is date night where ever other week the other has the plan and you all know about date night.
5. That leaves a day for shopping, clubs, meetings, reading, golf, other.
6. Than a day to do things with friends.
7. And a day to rest up for the next week.

How about starting with "baby steps"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fb32162 (Post 938542)

Anyone else find adjusting to retirement difficult? After decades of 60+ hr work weeks as a business executive, I was thrilled to be able to retire and live full time in TV. Now 3 months into it, I'm finding it very difficult to adjust to the slower pace. I've never had any hobbies and have never been a big "joiner" of clubs. I've explored a few hobbies and groups since moving here but none have appealed to me. I either swim or golf every day and I read a lot but that only kills a few hours a day. My career was so demanding, I never had time to be bored. It never occurred to me I would be bored in retirement. I've been told this is just a part of the adjustment phase. Any suggestions to assist my transition would be greatly appreciated

The adjustment often depends on your own work ethic. Going from being constantly on the go, above average work hours and few days off to doing esentially nothing is a huge adjustment. I tried it and it didn't work, so I got back into the workforce part-time. Now I work part-time for six months and the other six months take it as easy as I can.
But going from a working environemnt to what esentially a play environment will again take a period of adjustment when I get back to The Villages.
I then no longer have to be up at 5am ready to start work at 0630am, instead I can sleep in until 7am. I no longer have to be in bed early due to having to be up early the next day. My life is pretty much determined by what I feel like doing.
Next year, I will cut back my part-time work to half of what I did this year. Not that I need to work, just that I like to work.

Being layed off 3 years ago was initially a real bummer for me. Not finding work where we lived and relocating here has proven to me maybe it was a sign to do something else. I thought about how many years I was in the trade and what I accomplished. There are some aspects of my previous occupation I really, really miss. There are some that require physical feats I can no longer do. I'm still trying to find a good fit of my experience and talents for something I could do part time.

2 books to consider

There are a couple of books by Ernie Zelinski that address the non-financial challenges of retirement that are very popular and that I have found to be very helpful in my planning:

- The Joy of Not Working
- How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Both available on Amazon