Has your first year of retirement gone as planned?

I'm almost 9 months into retirement now and I'm curious as to how my initial experience compares with others who are at this point. So far, retirement for me has been very enjoyable. Leading into the end of my working career I was concerned about two things; becoming bored in retirement, and not having enough income. For the most part, that hasn't been the case. Financially, we are doing better than I expected. I am able to add to our savings account after every monthly payment we receive. I say this not to brag, but to show my gratitude to be fortunate enough to be able to retire comfortably. Not everyone is this fortunate. My day begins with no alarms, I get up when I feel like getting up. That sounds like I sleep in, but I'm actually up by around 7:30 every day. This actually IS sleeping in compared to when I was still working. I get up, make coffee, feed the dog, check my email and forum messages, then I meet up with other old codgers at a nearby Bob Evans. When my wife and I aren't both busy at the same time, we do a considerable amount of dining out, and just enjoy each other's company. She retired 5 days before I did and she now volunteers at a service dog training facility (which is also where our youngest daughter works). The reason I said "for the most part" is because a lot of keeping myself occupied depends on the weather. We are currently in a frozen weather pattern that looks to be sticking around for a while...problem is, I'm an outdoors person, but not in the winter. I still get outside, even in the cold, but this isn't my favorite time to be outside. Since retirement, I've joined an RC flying club (yes, I fly), and just recently purchased a motorcycle. Unfortunately, neither are any good in the winter. Somehow my days still get filled with enjoyable projects, interesting online reads, motorcycle threads, automotive threads, youtube documentaries, etc....occasional TV programs, streamed movies and series', listening to the music of my choice on Alexa, and the biggest bennie, spending more time with my grand kids....they're only little once...I remember how impressionable my grand parents were when I was little, I want to leave that memory with my grand kids.

My retirement's going at least as good, or better than I had hoped for...how's your's going?
Your retirement sounds a lot like mine. I retired at age 50 almost 4 years ago from a Government job with a pension, SS supplement, and a TSP account. I bring home more money from just my pension and supplement than I did when I was working due to having a lot taken out of my pay checks. I have not touched my TSP yet. I'm also debt free.

My day sounds a lot like yours. I have not went back to work and don't plan on it and I rarely ever get bored. We live on a farm so I do stuff outside, exercise, go to different forums and groups I'm interested in on the internet, have breakfast or lunch with other retirees when we get the chance, and basically anything else I feel like doing. I always find something to do. I love retirement and feel lucky to have been able to retire so young.

My fiancé still works at the place I retired from and has a little over three years left until she is eligible to retire at age 50. We plan on traveling a lot when she retires so I'm waiting patiently for her to get there.
 
Mine has gone better than I expected. My stress level dropped about 95%. I moved from a major city of close to 3.5 million people with the resultant crowding, traffic, noise, crime, long lines anywhere you went and those kind of issues to a small community of 3000 people.
I actually know and talk to my neighbors and they know me by name at local restaurants, stores and the post office. I enjoy the wildlife and can see the stars at night. That kind of life is good for the soul.

Financially I was well prepared, I was able to sell one home and pay cash for the other and paid off a new vehicle within the first year.
So it wasn't going to cost much to live in retirement. As a former Tesla employee, I had stock holdings from an employee stock purchase plan. And TSLA stock went absolutely ape in the last year and a half, and now I will have a very comfortable retirement.

If I can give advice to anyone who is years away from retirement, the best thing you can do if max out your IRA/401K contributions and if you own a home, pay it off as early as you can. Basic stuff. It worked for me, and then the stock market gains were a bonus that I really didn't need and now provide some money to travel, and have fun while I'm still healthy.
 
Mine has gone better than I expected. My stress level dropped about 95%. I moved from a major city of close to 3.5 million people with the resultant crowding, traffic, noise, crime, long lines anywhere you went and those kind of issues to a small community of 3000 people.
I actually know and talk to my neighbors and they know me by name at local restaurants, stores and the post office. I enjoy the wildlife and can see the stars at night. That kind of life is good for the soul.

Financially I was well prepared, I was able to sell one home and pay cash for the other and paid off a new vehicle within the first year.
So it wasn't going to cost much to live in retirement. As a former Tesla employee, I had stock holdings from an employee stock purchase plan. And TSLA stock went absolutely ape in the last year and a half, and now I will have a very comfortable retirement.

If I can give advice to anyone who is years away from retirement, the best thing you can do if max out your IRA/401K contributions and if you own a home, pay it off as early as you can. Basic stuff. It worked for me, and then the stock market gains were a bonus that I really didn't need and now provide some money to travel, and have fun while I'm still healthy.
I was born and raised in my small town but report to our Houston office … have to go there on a fairly regular basis … just enough to know it’s not for me.
Medical providers moved out and after two years the staff in Houston did not know me … I was constantly filling out stuff while they did long fingernails.
One opened back up here 4 months ago. On my 2nd visit I walk in with a mask on mind you, good morning Mr —— just have a seat … checked your profile already … all is up to date …
 
I don't know how to make this next observation without coming off like a jerk, but I'll try.
For the 30 years before retirement I had a few setbacks. Negative cash flow real estate investments, very expensive divorce, new wife's business failure during the Great Recession, etc. Got used to being thrifty.
I have been retired for coming up on 5 years now. House is paid off, no debt, more income in retirement than I expected. No desire to leave a larger estate when I kick the bucket.
Unless I start sending money to Italian princes in Nigeria, reactivate my "canceled" Social Security number, or replace my windows with Renewal by Anderson I have no idea how I'll spend what is coming in.
 
Coming up on 35 years of retirement. Enjoyed every darn bit of it. Cars and yard to keep up, motorcycles and 3 wheelers to play with, guns to shoot in my back yard, good friends and neighbors. Best of all, a wonderful woman who has stuck with me for 47 years. Currently have two each dogs and cats but one cat, a Maine Coon, doesn't know he is a cat. Enjoy feeding and watching wild birds year round. We enjoy eating out and finishing our 2nd virus shots shortly. A glass of wine for supper finishes the day nicely. At 87, yeah, its been a good run. :D
 
I don't know how to make this next observation without coming off like a jerk, but I'll try.
For the 30 years before retirement I had a few setbacks. Negative cash flow real estate investments, very expensive divorce, new wife's business failure during the Great Recession, etc. Got used to being thrifty.
I have been retired for coming up on 5 years now. House is paid off, no debt, more income in retirement than I expected. No desire to leave a larger estate when I kick the bucket.
Unless I start sending money to Italian princes in Nigeria, reactivate my "canceled" Social Security number, or replace my windows with Renewal by Anderson I have no idea how I'll spend what is coming in.
You don't sound like a jerk. You sound like someone who is enjoying retirement that they worked hard for. I hope to join you in a couple years.
 
Wife still works but I retired at 54. Trying to get her to retire, maybe soon. By contract she has to give 2 years notice so she still has some time. Financially we are fine, no debt etc. I'm a little bored but it's because my wife is not always available to do things with me. After 26 years I still love hanging out with her. 😁

Our move to Tennessee is occupying most of my time now.
 
I'm almost 9 months into retirement now and I'm curious as to how my initial experience compares with others who are at this point. So far, retirement for me has been very enjoyable. Leading into the end of my working career I was concerned about two things; becoming bored in retirement, and not having enough income. For the most part, that hasn't been the case. Financially, we are doing better than I expected. I am able to add to our savings account after every monthly payment we receive. I say this not to brag, but to show my gratitude to be fortunate enough to be able to retire comfortably. Not everyone is this fortunate. My day begins with no alarms, I get up when I feel like getting up. That sounds like I sleep in, but I'm actually up by around 7:30 every day. This actually IS sleeping in compared to when I was still working. I get up, make coffee, feed the dog, check my email and forum messages, then I meet up with other old codgers at a nearby Bob Evans. When my wife and I aren't both busy at the same time, we do a considerable amount of dining out, and just enjoy each other's company. She retired 5 days before I did and she now volunteers at a service dog training facility (which is also where our youngest daughter works). The reason I said "for the most part" is because a lot of keeping myself occupied depends on the weather. We are currently in a frozen weather pattern that looks to be sticking around for a while...problem is, I'm an outdoors person, but not in the winter. I still get outside, even in the cold, but this isn't my favorite time to be outside. Since retirement, I've joined an RC flying club (yes, I fly), and just recently purchased a motorcycle. Unfortunately, neither are any good in the winter. Somehow my days still get filled with enjoyable projects, interesting online reads, motorcycle threads, automotive threads, youtube documentaries, etc....occasional TV programs, streamed movies and series', listening to the music of my choice on Alexa, and the biggest bennie, spending more time with my grand kids....they're only little once...I remember how impressionable my grand parents were when I was little, I want to leave that memory with my grand kids.

My retirement's going at least as good, or better than I had hoped for...how's your's going?
I liked it for 6 months but then went back to what I liked best, full time work. I am doing the same thing for less than half the money but activity matters most.
l know what others may think but I enjoy it.
 
My first full year of retirement included the great recession of 2008/09. I watched my portfolio drop by 37%, but fortunately I had saved nearly twice as much as my minimum needed for retirement. All during 2008 I bought the equity market drops, and made all of my losses back in two years. My portfolio is now 75% higher than when I retired in spite of withdrawing from it every year for the past 14 years.

As far as adjusting to my the change in life style, I adjusted on my way out the door from work! Couldn't be happier! 😁
 
Keep doing something and you will be fine. Its really sad I see members of my family retiring, and some of them have NO hobbies and nothing to do. So they just sit at home and I can see them rapidly aging and starting to get medical issues, especially mental concerns.

It's the saddest thing I have seen. Make some friends and go fishing, or play some shuffleboard on the beach. We are in our 30's but we are saving 25 percent of our income direct to a pension plan, so we will be good to go.

Our plan is to sell our properties, and buy a condo on a beach somewhere and enjoy exploring/walking and doing whatever we want.

I used to think we would buy a place in florida, but non-US destinations are looking nice as well.
 
My first full year of retirement included the great recession of 2008/09. I watched my portfolio drop by 37%, but fortunately I had saved nearly twice as much as my minimum needed for retirement. All during 2008 I bought the equity market drops, and made all of my losses back in two years. My portfolio is now 75% higher than when I retired in spite of withdrawing from it every year for the past 14 years.

As far as adjusting to my the change in life style, I adjusted on my way out the door from work! Couldn't be happier! 😁

You were very smart with your game plan.

Few folks save 2X the minimum needed for retirement.
 
I ended up having to retire on SS disability about 15 years ago because of a back injury so my retirement hasn't been near what I was expecting. I'd thought that would be a time my wife and I would be able to travel and do things together we enjoyed. As it worked out I'm home while she's working toward her retirement. I'm also in constant pain. When she retires we won't be able to do lots of traveling like we'd planned since driving more than a couple hundred miles in a day makes my back pain considerably worse. I wouldn't be able to drive 200 miles a day on a constant basis either maybe once a week or so without having a terrible impact. Thankfully during my working years I made decent money, had the house and cars paid off with some money in the bank and in retirement funds. We don't and never have tried to live beyond our means so we're able to keep the bills paid and have a few things we want on my SS and her income so I don't have anything to complain about.
 
So far, retired life is EXCELLENT. Life is good, almost 8 months in. Something new each day!

Spending on the house is a little more than I thought......flooring.......concrete.........new HVAC ($$$$)..........shed.........water system.....but manageable. Not a surprise, but more of a heads up. No matter what moving and new house, budge a bunch extra.

Stay healthy, stay limber!
 
I failed at semi-retirement... I was an exec in high tech, after my severance due to a buy out, I started a consulting practice which went well, but slowed down w/ COVID. Wound up with some down time, which was good as my Parents needed a lot of my time. When that settled, I truly had down time and felt lost...like losing my mind lost, and irritable to be around to the point where pretty much everyone around me said "you are becoming a @&%$*..find something to do!!!" I just joined leadership at a startup..much happier.

Guess I am just wired to work...
 
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I retired at 55 years old. Real Estate Investments allowed me to do so. I am at almost 10 years retired. Plenty to do. Plenty of travel (even during COVID) in our travel trailer-cruises prior to COVID. Been to The Baltics, St Petersburg, Russia, Estonia, All over the Caribbean. etc. I think I only have 4 or 5 states before I have been to all 50. The $700.00/month healthcare insurance payments will stop in December when I reach 65 years of age.
 
My plan was to retire 6 months early in April 2020 instead of October 2020 when I would reach the state retirement age of 66. Logic being I'd have the spring and summer ahead of me instead of the winter. Good plan but then we had this **** virus that spoilt things a little and meant no foreign holidays. One good outcome of the virus is getting into the habit of walking 4 miles every day summer and winter. Other than that I've had plenty to do around the house replacing one bathroom in the first lockdown and then the another in the 2nd lockdown this year. I still have more jobs to do than time available.
 
Retired at 58 and I am 67 now. Staying busy with house work etc. Only took 1 trip overseas to Dubai, Mecca and Medina as wife wanted to. Sometimes I do miss work as I retired from a defense contractor and always had peek into future technology and the euphoria of knowing something that won't see the daylight in my life.
 
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