[mgm4444]

Are you retired? If so, how well did you adjust? How long did it take you to adjust? ... How old were you when you retired? Did you have a plan beforehand? Has anyone reversed their decision and gone back to work?

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by mgm4444

Are you retired? If so, how well did you adjust? How long did it take you to adjust? ... How old were you when you retired? Did you have a plan beforehand? Has anyone reversed their decision and gone back to work?

I'm retired. I adjusted well. It took me about ten minutes to adjust. I think it was a Monday morning and I was preparing to shave.
Had I been living in The Villages at the time, it wouldn't have taken me ten minutes. Been here eight years and haven't had time to get bored.
No, I didn't have a plan. Still don't. I take it one day at a time.

[Campbell soup]

Yes, I am retired. I would guess it took me about a month or so to adjust. I was 54 when I retired.
No real plan before hand. That was over two years ago and I have never …never ever reversed my decision. Retirement is truly wonderful! Especially when you live in TV.

[njbchbum]

I'm another who adjusted to retirement in about ten minutes; and yes, I had a plan:
in my twenties - celebrated attaining a college degree, getting a corporate job, got married and bought a house;
in my thirties - buckled down to get serious about my job[s];
in my forties - got serious about making serious money and assembling a retirement portfolio - started with payroll deduction savings bonds and ended the decade buying a vacation home [before I was 50! - paid the deposit on that house with the savings bonds!];
in my fifties - had hoped to retire at 55 with enough money to do what I wanted and be referred to as eccentric; missed the 55 yr old goal and came close to the eccentric part [bought into the Disney vacation timeshare];
in my sixties [just got there recently] - retired at 61 [Aug '08], came home from my Disney trip [Feb '09] with a home in the Villages [an unusual vacation souvenier] and will go and apply for early social security some time in between my Fall vacation in Maine, a few weeks in the Villages and Thanksgiving in Maine!

Haven't really had too much time to have adjustment problems - have been too busy enjoying all that my husband and I have worked for.

I don't think that I would ever go back to work unless we suffered an economic setback. I want to use this time that I have 'paying it forward'. There are many people who have not been as fortunate as I have been and I want to do whatever I can to bring a smile and a good deed to them.

I'm retired. I retired at 52. I started planning my retirement when I was about 32 years old. I loved my job, but always had a goal to retire early. I used to work 60 to 70 hours a week (salaried). About 5 years before my retirement I started to delegate more and gradually reduced my hours to roughly 40 hours a week. When retirement came, I had pretty much adjusted. For over 9 years my spouse and I traveled the country in a motor home. I should mention that we started looking at The Villages about 16 years ago. We toured it at least 4 times. We knew that when we were ready, this could be the place for us. Last year was the year to buy. We have never looked back and we are so excited about our decision to make The Villages our home.

PS I no longer get up at 5 AM. I have moved it all the way to 6 AM and sometimes even 7 AM. I've been retired for over ten years. We kept the motor home and use it for extended adventures.

[Yoda]

I had been researching retirement for about 5 years. I had now plans to retire until my wife could. At age 65 I was edged out of my job. Forced to retire so to speak. Although it was unexpected, I had no adjustment problems at all. I have not had time. My wife on the other hand had a few months of adjustment.

Yoda

[swrinfla]

I had no real plan when I retired a little over seven years ago. I actually retired after a long holiday weekend spent nursing near-pneumonia and feeling not only sorry for myself but disliking even the thought of going to work again when (and if) I felt better. I took advantage of the time off to do some math and realized that I could afford to retire now. A month later, I was no longer working!

I had been at a travel agency, and mostly enjoyed the work, but the aftermath of 9/11 was so hard on travel agencies, that there wasn't any fun in it anymore. On top of that, the agency owner and I (essentially the financial guy) didn't see eye to eye over whether we were going down the tubes or making enough to pay the bills. The agency is still there and seems to be making money, although certainly not as much as it used to.

Two years after retiring, I startled everyone by announcing my move to The Villages. I haven't regretted one minute of retirement, and highly recommend it, especially here in TV!

SWR

[golfnut]

If you think you might want to retire and the numbers are OK, go for it....GN

[Mintjulep]

I had a forced retirement at 53 from an accident. 3 years later hubby retired (last year) at 58 for him.

We LOVE living here and 'retirement' life.
Our retirement financial plans are well in place...
Tho they did take a huge hit from the slowing economy.

But do miss a bit of separateness, and doing some separate things.
Too much togetherness leaves us nothing new to talk about.

So we both plan to look for a part-time, low stress job that will satisfy some interests and that we will enjoy doing.
And maybe offset some of our our health insurance costs

We're still young and mentally feel like we are playing hooky anyway...
And feel we will still have plenty of play time...

[Bettiboop]

Originally Posted by Mintjulep

But do miss a bit of separateness, and doing some separate things.
Too much togetherness leaves us nothing new to talk about.

I've wondered about that as it pertains to my husband and I when we retire. I'm thinkin' it would be good for our "health" - if you know what I mean - for us to make sure we have some separate interests as well. We enjoy doing things together, but do need a little space too.

[army one]

The biggest adjustment I have made in retirement is to remember not to set the alarm clock. I enjoy getting up when I want to and enjoying my first cup of coffee without having to watch the clock.