Since going back to work after Christmas I spend more and more time dreaming of retirement. My enthusiasm for working is at an all-time low.
I find that I'm increasingly uninterested in what's happening in the workplace and its petty politics, whilst gaggles of young newbies strut about like they own the joint!
It may be an effect of turning 62 or even having been in the same job for way over a decade and possibly even the British winter, which makes me just want to curl up and hibernate.
Things like having to get up early every day and spend my best daylight hours in a place I don't want to be are increasingly irksome. I keep saying to workmates 'I'm getting too old for this!"
On the flipside, I envisage retirement to be a sun-lit vale filled with joy, jammie dodgers, car boot sales and chocolate milkshakes!
I would get up late, eat boiled eggs and soldiers and idle away endless happy hours spent messing with toys and doing marvellous stuff like write another toy book, pen some short stories or catalogue the hundreds of vintage big box VHS horror videos I have!
There would be plenty of time for more trips out with the family and even more holidays. Basically fun, fun and more fun!
Gorblimey, it sounds like a second childhood!
But what is it really like? Have any of you retired?
I retired at 52! (I was lucky, it was possible, so I did it). It is absolutely marvellous. People told me I'd wonder how I ever managed to find the time to work and it's true. I find myself thinking most days how great it is and I'm 60 now!
ReplyDeleteAw, I want it even more now Kev! Sounds great! Currently all I can think of is sleep. More of it, specifically in a morning!
DeleteWhile retired from my career as a Graphic Designer I still work as a general dogsbody for my wife's law firm. Sleeping in late and enjoying life may work if you're a bachelor but Mrs. Moonbase may have other ideas!
ReplyDeleteha ha! I hope to get at least a few lies-in Terran! Its all academic as its become clear that I may have to carry on grafting for another five years! Snaggen rassen frassen rassen as Mutley would say!
DeleteMy retirement was forced by my sudden deafness. Since then, I have been busier than ever using my previous work skills and newly acquired ones to do all those things I'd put on the back burner for years.
ReplyDeleteThis old dog is still learning new tricks!
and what tricks they are Looey!
DeleteOverall, it's pretty good. Having been self-employed for years, it's nice to have a regular guaranteed income, and the bus pass is useful too!
ReplyDeleteWhat you have to remember though, is that as you get older, various ailments appear, so you can't always do as much as you expected, so you tend to take pleasure in smaller things. You feel the cold, too! There is sometimes a feeling of being far closer to the end of things than the beginning. Having said all that, retirement can be pleasant, and still creative.
thanks for your insights Andy. I may try to drop a day at work first of they'll let me and get a taste of what more time off would be like. The Missus is already retired. I may drive her nuts!
DeleteWoodsy, I retired from Civil Service back in June of last year and - at least for me - it hasn't yet been a walk in Sunny Dale Park (que audio track with birds chirping, children playing, and Cinderella singing in the background). Just like you my interest was lagging. To put it lightly, my "Give-a-Crap O-Meter" was pegged at zero. That, along with health issues, made it a bloody chore just to wake up in the morning and face 'those people'! Here it is going on seven months and the health issues are finally settling down to the point where I can somewhat enjoy retirement. I'm still waking up about the same time as I' had been (too many years of early rising to just start sleeping-in) and there has been one constant positive note to this whole retirement thing - I have time for my blog as whim dictates and I the only boss I have to answer to is the one I married many moons ago! (oh, leave us not forget the 8-yr old granddaughter 'boss') LOL. My advice is: if you feel secure enough with what your retirement income will be GET THE H * * * OUTTA THERE! :-) Your mental health lays in the balance.
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