Random Thoughts on Retirement

May 1, 2023

I’ve been retired for almost three months now and my new lifestyle is beginning to sink in. Some things are exactly how I envisioned them and other things are very different. I thought I would share some of these random thoughts with you, just in case you are thinking about taking the plunge into retirement.

Paralyzing Fear

Even though I spent months analyzing my finances before I took the leap into retirement, I still had an acute fear of running out of money. I did Monte Carlo simulations, calculated my draw-down, optimized my taxes and selected the proper age to take Social Security. The simulations showed I had a very low chance of failure, yet I was still freaking out about living on my investments. This was exacerbated by my burn rate and taxes being higher than I expected and it paralyzed me from spending money on some of the things I needed. These past couple weeks, a calm has settled over me and I know I will have enough future income to reduce my draw-down and improve my standard of living. I have booked my vacations for this year and started fixing up the house.

Sitting in my Desk

One thing I didn’t expect was to spend so much time sitting in my desk. One of the biggest reasons I chose to retire is because I didn’t want to spend the next 9 years sitting in the office, while life was passing me by. So, instead of sitting in the office at work, I have been sitting in my office at home. It’s kind of like déjà vu from the pandemic. I’ve decided to schedule office hours and force myself out of the office every day. I have so much work to do, but I also have to live a life away from work and my computer. I need to spend way more time outside and I’m just starting to do that.

Every Day is Saturday

One of the most awesome things about being retired is that most every day is like a Saturday. I wake up when I want and do what I want every day. I rarely have to jump up and get going, unless I have a vacation planned. It’s not like a traditional working person’s Saturday either. I don’t have to catch up with all of the chores, because I keep up with the chores all week. I can hit the bank or the post office, not on my lunch hour. We can take a nice walk and eat at all of the restaurants that are too crowded on the weekend. We can catch a Happy Hour, without having to rush home before it ends. Rushing around seems like a thing of the past. Life is a lot more relaxing now.

Learning & Creating

A very big part of my retirement so far has been spent taking a course to learn how to launch a business. So, just like work, I am researching new concepts, sitting in Zoom meetings and creating materials for my new projects. I have also started to ramp up my content creation for my blog and YouTube channel. I know you guys haven’t seen the fruits of all this labor yet but trust me it’s coming. I’m about to post a lot more content in the future.

The Bottom Line

Retirement is mostly what you make of it. Hopefully, you will have the financial resources and good health in retirement to make your decisions based on your burning desires, instead of your money and health.

“As your life changes, it takes time to recalibrate, to find your values again. You might also find that retirement is the time when you stretch out and find your potential.” – Sid Miramontes