I retired from my 29 year job on May 1,2020. Yes, I managed to retire right into a pandemic.
How Retirement Happened
After starting my career in banking I switched over to the software side of things because of my love of computers and software. I ended up at the same company for 29 years. It started as a fairly small company where everyone knew everyone and we had direct contact with the owners. Unfortunately it was eventually bought out by a big corporation that got bigger and bigger. As with most big companies there was constant cost cutting and layoffs as well as a shift to as much offshoring as possible. I probably stayed around longer than I should but the saving grace was many of the people I started out with stayed together and things were mostly tolerable within the group I managed.
I planned on retiring somewhere around the age of 68. However the company offered a buyout of sorts to people over 60. It wasn’t anything too great financially but more layoffs were looming so I took it. One good thing was that I could delay my last date several months which would take me close to my Social Security full retirement age of 66. I calculated between Social Security, savings, and probably a part time job we would be OK.
So Much Has Happened
I told my retirement story in another post here. The short version is I retired into the start of a pandemic. The last six weeks of my career were spent managing my team remotely. My retirement party was on Zoom. Travel was out and even a part time job was risky as I fall into a high risk category.
What I Learned
Time Goes Really Fast
You would think with finally having all that extra time on your hands time would go slower. After all, you aren’t spending most of your working hours working or commuting.
But time does seem to go even faster, at least for me. Maybe that’s because I have things I really want to get done and my days are pretty full. There still always seems to be never enough time!
Some Little Things Are Really Cool
I really love not going into work on Monday mornings. Monday is just another day.
I like going to stores at off peak hours when they are less crowded. I avoid stores on the weekends like the plague!
I like being able to escape to our little travel trailer in the country whenever we want.
Some Things Are Harder Than Expected
Money goes faster than expected. I did lots of planning with budget spreadsheets and financial calculators. It is all the unexpected expenses that surprise you.
I miss my friends from when I worked. Many of them I knew for over 20 years and even though we try to stay in touch it’s never the same.
Health problems do start popping up. I’m very grateful that nothing too serious has appeared but it’s more than it used to be and I know as I age it will probably get worse.
Some Things Are Easier Than Expected.
I worried about what I would do with myself all day. But I’ve kept pretty busy between my interests in writing, building websites, programming, and other “nerdy” activities. And I read much more than I did before.
I was afraid I would spend too much time in front of the TV. That hasn’t happened and in fact I find TV kind of boring these days. There are so many more interesting things to do.
So, the bottom line is retirement has been different than expected but still pretty good. And I have more plans that may make traditional retirement almost obsolete anyway.
For those of you that are retired what have been your surprises?
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