Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

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dbCooperAir
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Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by dbCooperAir »

I'm a number of years out from retirement, at one time I thought I knew what retirement would look like. As I get closer those older thoughts seem fuzzy and to be honest don't really seem to align todays values/thoughts.

I'm curious what the typical retirement day looks like after 5 years of retirement for two different groups. You define retirement anyway you please, leave as much or little backstory as you wish.


If you retired between ages 50-55 what did/does your typical day look like 5 years latter, was it what you thought it would be?

If you retired between ages 65-70 what did/does your typical day look like 5 years latter, was it what you thought it would be?

Bonus question:
If you retired between ages 50-55 what did/does your typical day look like 20 years latter, was it what you thought it would be?
Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. | -Dwight D. Eisenhower-
Wild Willie
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by Wild Willie »

Retired at 58 and it has been everything I thought it might be, but you can't just sit in a rocking chair. You need either a hobby or maybe some volunteer work. I fish and hunt so that takes up some of my leisure time. I like to read and play with my grandchildren, meet other retirees for lunch sometimes and generally, just enjoy the "slow life". And, if I get bored, I take a nap. Can't beat that.

Good luck with your decision.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by cheese_breath »

Age 74, retired at 56. First five years after retirement did whatever we wanted. Caught up on several things around the house... painting, repairs and miscellaneous projects. Scheduled vacations according to my time preferences, not an employer's. Lots of day trips anywhere from 50-100 miles from home. Now almost 19 years later I have assumed the 'wifely' housekeeping responsibilities and primarily remain close to home due to DW's health issues which keep her mostly homebound. But still manage to get south in the winter to visit DW's daughter for Christmas holidays.
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The Wizard
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by The Wizard »

I retired at 63, but am only about halfway to your five years of experience.
I typically arise between 6 and 7 and plan my day based on weather and things that need doing.
If I'm heading out of town, I strive to avoid rush hour traffic and usually succeed...
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midareff
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by midareff »

Retired at 64 a bit over 3.5 years ago so this may be helpful. We wake up between 6 and 8:30 AM whenever we are ready to get out of bed. Wife will go out to exercise walk 5 miles or so (it's South Florida) and then hit the condo's gym. By the 10 to 11 AM realm we have finished our first thing things (LOL) .. mine being reading on the computer and are trying to figure out what we want to do with the rest of the day, eat out, eat in, shop, movies .. whatever. I generally go out to exercise walk about an hour in the evening and she generally goes with me. Everything is easy breezy..... time to exercise, read, explore and pursue the things we wanted too when we were working, but couldn't. If we want Sushi at 2 PM we know a great Japanese place and we eat out whenever the mood strikes. We travel when we want to..... Europe for three weeks last July/August, just got back from 6 days seeing fall colors in the mountains of North Carolina.

No stress, no strain.... shop on off days and times when the world is at work. Rush hour traffic is a faded memory. Netflix, a BIG flat panel and a killer surround system with a reclining couch doesn't hurt the evenings any either.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by zagyzebra »

I retired at the age of 41 in order to get out of the rat race and concentrate on raising my toddler child. We downscaled. Bought a farm in Oregon, far from the big city. Did farm things, relaxed easy life. Acquired pets and animals. Relished being a full-time mom, chief chef and caretaker of animals. Got lots of exercise. Didn't get to travel as much, though, because of my school-age child. Then, at around age 52 or so, right at the beginning of the recession, I started to get the itch to work again -- both out of financial necessity, but also the feeling that I wanted to grow an enterprise again. I dabbed into one thing and another, but never quite found a fit. Then, something happened that literally catapulted me back into more than a full-time job. And for the last five years it's as if I've had pay-back for all those years of early retirement. Now, approaching age 61, I'm finally ready to retire-ish again.

One thing I have discovered is that retirement without a purpose feels aimless -- at least to me and most of my friends. We seem to keep really busy with second careers we have either been forced or fallen into. In my case, I became a designer after having made a quick fortune in marketing in my younger years. Another friend became a documentary filmmaker. Another a purveyor of historic photo collections. Etcetera.
BigLaw Survivor
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by BigLaw Survivor »

zagyzebra wrote:I retired at the age of 41 in order to get out of the rat race and concentrate on raising my toddler child. We downscaled. Bought a farm in Oregon, far from the big city. Did farm things, relaxed easy life. Acquired pets and animals. Relished being a full-time mom, chief chef and caretaker of animals. Got lots of exercise. Didn't get to travel as much, though, because of my school-age child. Then, at around age 52 or so, right at the beginning of the recession, I started to get the itch to work again -- both out of financial necessity, but also the feeling that I wanted to grow an enterprise again. I dabbed into one thing and another, but never quite found a fit. Then, something happened that literally catapulted me back into more than a full-time job. And for the last five years it's as if I've had pay-back for all those years of early retirement. Now, approaching age 61, I'm finally ready to retire-ish again.

One thing I have discovered is that retirement without a purpose feels aimless -- at least to me and most of my friends. We seem to keep really busy with second careers we have either been forced or fallen into. In my case, I became a designer after having made a quick fortune in marketing in my younger years. Another friend became a documentary filmmaker. Another a purveyor of historic photo collections. Etcetera.
Respectfully, most stay at home parents would argue that leaving work to become a full time mom isn't exactly "retiring." Your timetable reads that you stopped working to raise your toddler child, then went back to work 11 years later when he or she grew up and now find yourself working harder than ever. Not exactly the same thing as "retiring at 41."
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dbCooperAir
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by dbCooperAir »

zagyzebra wrote: Bought a farm in Oregon, far from the big city. Did farm things, relaxed easy life. Acquired pets and animals.
I know you did not mean it this way but it made me chuckle. Farming and relaxed easy life don't go together, that is unless you are truly retired :wink:

I tell all my friends if I ever won the loto I would spend it all farming, still waiting for my loto ticket that I buy every New Years to hit :beer
Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. | -Dwight D. Eisenhower-
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dbCooperAir
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by dbCooperAir »

midareff wrote:Retired at 64 a bit over 3.5 years ago so this may be helpful. We wake up between 6 and 8:30 AM whenever we are ready to get out of bed. Wife will go out to exercise walk 5 miles or so (it's South Florida) and then hit the condo's gym. By the 10 to 11 AM realm we have finished our first thing things (LOL) .. mine being reading on the computer and are trying to figure out what we want to do with the rest of the day, eat out, eat in, shop, movies .. whatever. I generally go out to exercise walk about an hour in the evening and she generally goes with me. Everything is easy breezy..... time to exercise, read, explore and pursue the things we wanted too when we were working, but couldn't. If we want Sushi at 2 PM we know a great Japanese place and we eat out whenever the mood strikes. We travel when we want to..... Europe for three weeks last July/August, just got back from 6 days seeing fall colors in the mountains of North Carolina.

No stress, no strain.... shop on off days and times when the world is at work. Rush hour traffic is a faded memory. Netflix, a BIG flat panel and a killer surround system with a reclining couch doesn't hurt the evenings any either.
Thanks for the reply, this is what retirement is starting to look like for myself, maybe a little less travel. Its far different from what I was thinking when I was in my late 30's, maybe I'm becoming wiser :wink:

I find it interesting that funding my retirement idea from 20 years ago vs. today is vastly different. Heath care cost is not what I was thinking it would be today however!
Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. | -Dwight D. Eisenhower-
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by Sheepdog »

Let's see. I retired at 65 in 1998, so what was it like in 2003-04? Investment wise? I had passed the 2000-02 market downturn and it was recovering. My 2003 investment performance was the best since '99. I bought a new Dodge Intrepid. I loved that car. My 5 year plan to reduce taxes (converting 25% to Roths and selling off most taxable accounts for expenses) was complete so that my federal income tax was down to $95 in 2003 and $0 in 2004. I scheduled an Hawaiian cruise for 2004. Two years later, in 2005, we bought a cottage on a lake.
I was volunteering regularly to keep busy especially as an officer in a non-profit Old English Sheepdog Rescue. I exercised regularly, walking and jogging. I started my Indy Colts season tickets. We enjoyed attending concerts and other sporting events every month. I still do all those things.
Retirement was as good as I could have hoped for (and still is).
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zagyzebra
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by zagyzebra »

zagyzebra wrote:
I retired at the age of 41 in order to get out of the rat race and concentrate on raising my toddler child. We downscaled. Bought a farm in Oregon, far from the big city. Did farm things, relaxed easy life. Acquired pets and animals. Relished being a full-time mom, chief chef and caretaker of animals. Got lots of exercise. Didn't get to travel as much, though, because of my school-age child. Then, at around age 52 or so, right at the beginning of the recession, I started to get the itch to work again -- both out of financial necessity, but also the feeling that I wanted to grow an enterprise again. I dabbed into one thing and another, but never quite found a fit. Then, something happened that literally catapulted me back into more than a full-time job. And for the last five years it's as if I've had pay-back for all those years of early retirement. Now, approaching age 61, I'm finally ready to retire-ish again.

One thing I have discovered is that retirement without a purpose feels aimless -- at least to me and most of my friends. We seem to keep really busy with second careers we have either been forced or fallen into. In my case, I became a designer after having made a quick fortune in marketing in my younger years. Another friend became a documentary filmmaker. Another a purveyor of historic photo collections. Etcetera.



Respectfully, most stay at home parents would argue that leaving work to become a full time mom isn't exactly "retiring." Your timetable reads that you stopped working to raise your toddler child, then went back to work 11 years later when he or she grew up and now find yourself working harder than ever. Not exactly the same thing as "retiring at 41."


To clarify, it was a CHOICE to go back to work. So I could have continued for the rest of my life being retired. For me, anyway, retirement got kind of boring in the end. The spice of life is to create. I can't roll through my days without creativity, and the opportunity to be paid for being creative again became more compelling than retirement. Maybe this was a result of nearly 15 years off without having to work. The 5-year project I was commissioned to work on is almost up. We'll see what happens next. At this point -- no plans. Retirement #2 maybe? Knowing me, probably not.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by tennisplyr »

Retired at 61 almost 5 years ago. I'm a "go with the flow" kind of guy. Get up around 7 am make some coffee and typically head out for some tennis or a long walk along the bay. I didn't have any major expectations about retirement, so with that said, the bar was fairly low. I do a bit of volunteer work, travel some and just appreciate all of the little things I didn't see before. I hate hearing the word bored, life is what you make of it. Oh yeah, Let's Go Mets. :beer
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BigLaw Survivor
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by BigLaw Survivor »

zagyzebra wrote:zagyzebra wrote:
I retired at the age of 41 in order to get out of the rat race and concentrate on raising my toddler child. We downscaled. Bought a farm in Oregon, far from the big city. Did farm things, relaxed easy life. Acquired pets and animals. Relished being a full-time mom, chief chef and caretaker of animals. Got lots of exercise. Didn't get to travel as much, though, because of my school-age child. Then, at around age 52 or so, right at the beginning of the recession, I started to get the itch to work again -- both out of financial necessity, but also the feeling that I wanted to grow an enterprise again. I dabbed into one thing and another, but never quite found a fit. Then, something happened that literally catapulted me back into more than a full-time job. And for the last five years it's as if I've had pay-back for all those years of early retirement. Now, approaching age 61, I'm finally ready to retire-ish again.

One thing I have discovered is that retirement without a purpose feels aimless -- at least to me and most of my friends. We seem to keep really busy with second careers we have either been forced or fallen into. In my case, I became a designer after having made a quick fortune in marketing in my younger years. Another friend became a documentary filmmaker. Another a purveyor of historic photo collections. Etcetera.



Respectfully, most stay at home parents would argue that leaving work to become a full time mom isn't exactly "retiring." Your timetable reads that you stopped working to raise your toddler child, then went back to work 11 years later when he or she grew up and now find yourself working harder than ever. Not exactly the same thing as "retiring at 41."


To clarify, it was a CHOICE to go back to work. So I could have continued for the rest of my life being retired. For me, anyway, retirement got kind of boring in the end. The spice of life is to create. I can't roll through my days without creativity, and the opportunity to be paid for being creative again became more compelling than retirement. Maybe this was a result of nearly 15 years off without having to work. The 5-year project I was commissioned to work on is almost up. We'll see what happens next. At this point -- no plans. Retirement #2 maybe? Knowing me, probably not.
I think you're missing my point. You're not "retired" in the eyes of most people if you're a stay at home parent. By your definition, my wife -- who stayed home with the kids and, once they grew up, made the "choice" to not get a paying job -- has been "retired" her entire life!

There's a difference between being "retired" and not having a paying job . . .
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by englishgirl »

BigLaw Survivor wrote:
zagyzebra wrote:zagyzebra wrote:
< snip > Etcetera.



Respectfully, most stay at home parents would argue that leaving work to become a full time mom isn't exactly "retiring." Your timetable reads that you stopped working to raise your toddler child, then went back to work 11 years later when he or she grew up and now find yourself working harder than ever. Not exactly the same thing as "retiring at 41."


To clarify, it was a CHOICE to go back to work. So I could have continued for the rest of my life being retired. For me, anyway, retirement got kind of boring in the end. The spice of life is to create. I can't roll through my days without creativity, and the opportunity to be paid for being creative again became more compelling than retirement. Maybe this was a result of nearly 15 years off without having to work. The 5-year project I was commissioned to work on is almost up. We'll see what happens next. At this point -- no plans. Retirement #2 maybe? Knowing me, probably not.
I think you're missing my point. You're not "retired" in the eyes of most people if you're a stay at home parent. By your definition, my wife -- who stayed home with the kids and, once they grew up, made the "choice" to not get a paying job -- has been "retired" her entire life!

There's a difference between being "retired" and not having a paying job . . .
I am not the person you're talking to, but I don't think it's like that at all. If you had retired from full time work, and both you and your wife had gone to putter about on a small farm, then I'd call that retired. Even if there was a young child at home that you happened to be raising. The point is that both would be at home with no other income. That's quite difference from one partner working full time while the other stays at home raising a child - for a start the opportunities for the family to do things together are much more limited when one of the adults is tied to a place of work for 40+ hours a week.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years latter?

Post by BigLaw Survivor »

I guess we have different definitions of "retired." I'd call it "downsizing to raise a child, then going back to work." But that's fine.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by LadyGeek »

This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (retirement planning. I also fixed a typo in the title "latter" to "later".
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by dbCooperAir »

LadyGeek wrote:This thread is now in the Personal Finance (Not Investing) forum (retirement planning. I also fixed a typo in the title "latter" to "later".
Thanks, not on my game today, typical!
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by zagyzebra »

Retirement is in the eyes of the beholder. To me, raising a child without having to work was retired. It was a walk in the park compared to the 10-year stint of building and running my own agency, and the previous 10-year commitment of working for other people. When you come to the point where you don't have to work for a check, you're retired -- that's my pov. I think retirement translates into different things for different people. Some people prefer to continue working part-time, or volunteering for a passionate cause, or achieving their dreams that they couldn't do when they were working full-time. Other people consider it leisurely mornings, matinees and day time naps.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by zagyzebra »

zagyzebra wrote:Retirement is in the eyes of the beholder. To me, raising a child without having to work was retired. It was a walk in the park compared to the 10-year stint of building and running my own agency, and the previous 10-year commitment of working for other people. When you come to the point where you don't have to work for a check, you're retired -- that's my pov. I think retirement translates into different things for different people. Some people prefer to continue working part-time, or volunteering for a passionate cause, or achieving their dreams that they couldn't do when they were working full-time. Other people consider it leisurely mornings, matinees and day time naps.
Since I have always been the breadwinner, and my partner has never worked, and I decided to throw in the towel at age 41 by downsizing, then yes, I guess you could say I retired. My securities broker used to say that I was the only person he knew who actually did this, whereas everyone else talked about doing it. For the first 5 years we travelled all over the world with our young child, and then when he became mandatory school age, we settled on a farm and, yes, I guess you could say we puttered. Chickens outside the kitchen door sort of thing. Now, we're all back in the big city. It's been a full and varied life so far.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by Independent »

I retired at 59. I don't remember exactly what I was doing at the 5 year mark. I know the third year was devoted to my wife's cancer treatments (successful) and some unrelated surgery. During the fourth year one of my children had a personal tragedy and we spent more time with her. Then, another adopted some children and we enjoyed helping there. The first year, I spent two semesters taking college courses.

So "typical" is not what we had planned for, and I don't think I could pick out one "typical" retirement day. It's been up and down dramatically. But, being retired has allowed me to do the not planned things when I needed/wanted to.
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Re: Typical Retirement Day, 5 years later?

Post by TheTimeLord »

Thanks to everyone who replied. This thread has been very informative.
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