A New Retiree
Finally, I am a new retiree! I retired in 2022 and at times it felt like I planned retirement since 1922 with spreadsheets and budgets. Everything centered around having enough money to live in retirement. Financial planning for retirement of course is important, but what about the rest of your retirement life? What the hell are you going to do with all that time?
Prior to retirement, when out walking the dog with my wife, people asked, “What are you going to do when you retire?” Or they would tell me “You have to have a Plan”. I had some vague plans, projects around the house, work on a couple of classic cars … and just plain relax. What you don’t have, said the wizard, is a plan.
Here I am, newly retired with a financial plan but no daily retirement routine. Nothing. What to do with my Day? Week? Year? I have no clue … yet. I could have planned something ahead of time, but that is not my style. Where I go, what I see and what I do has always been loosely scripted. This is no different, I am going to wing it! Is this a good approach to retirement? Probably not, but that’s all I have a this point.
One piece of good news!
Once retired I quickly forgot my old job. I was never a career type person and leaving work was one of the best decisions I ever made! I have absolutely no regrets! I could not believe how quickly work became a distant memory. Work is for poor people, unfortunately that’s why I did it so long!
I am still adjusting as a new retiree, weekends are a thing of the past as every day is a weekend. I mixed up Tuesday and Thursday a few times since someone made the mistake of starting them both with the letter T.
Now I need to start finding stuff to do to keep me occupied. That is one reason I am doing this blog, to keep busy. Building a website and producing a blog sounds interesting, challenging and fun. Once something gets into my head I want to see what I can do with it. I am always looking for new ideas, something to try and mostly someplace to go. If nothing comes of this I will try something else. I don’t want to become complacent or lazy in retirement!
Am I here to help you? Do you need ideas or are you just bored? I could care less, that is all up to you! If I accidentally help or amuse you that is great. I hope you get some inspiration and try new things. Maybe you are planing your retirement and want to see how quick this unravels so you know what not to do. Most people will tell you this is the wrong approach, but I never listen, ask my wife.
Plans, what plans?
So my retirement is very much unscripted. The only retirement plan I committed to was retiring before death. Good news! I’m retired and I am not dead … to the best of my knowledge. Since everyone seemed so concerned about my retirement, I turned the tables and asked those same retirees “What do YOU do in retirement?” To my amazement, I didn’t get any great answers. Sure, there were a few people that travel, garden (god I loathe gardening), read, some had hobbies, but many people couldn’t explain their typical day. They just fart around all day, the place must stink. I began to wonder if they were hoping I could provide them with a few good ideas.
During retirement you have a lot more free time which is very easy to waste. Already I see how a day can be frittered away because this retiree has done it! There always is time to do something tomorrow when retired, urgency is seldom on the agenda. Do you think retirement means you can relax, put your feet up and do nothing but eat and watch TV? That is a recipe for death, or at least and early death. Nothing wrong relaxing occasionally but I will really relax when I am dead!
When my wife returns from work she frequently asks what I did that day. Sometimes I can only explain about 2 hours of the day. Woke up, had coffee, breakfast, worked out, shower, lunch. That leaves 4 hours unexplained! Thank god I am not trying to explain things to the police. “Where were you the day of the robbery sir? Well I had lunch. What about the other 6 hours that day? I think I had some snacks too.”
Honestly I am busy most of the time. It didn’t take long between planning a trip, unexpectedly summering in Maine and some new hobbies including this blog.
Why The Grumpy Retiree
Many blogs are about travel, food or clothing. Where to go, what to eat, see and be seen. Follow their advice and you will look better, feel better and smell better. Does anyone need a Tik-Tok Influencer in their life? WTF. If you need influence on how to dress or where to eat and go, take the money you are wasting on all that crap and buy yourself a life. This blog is not going to be for you.
I’m now Vintage!
Why The Grumpy Retiree? Doesn’t everyone want to be happy in retirement? I am always grumpy about something and I want to pass on my crabbiness to the world! Sharing is caring after all. In between some sarcasm I want to present a lot of information related to retirement. Also, I needed a name for the blog and everything else was taken damn it! The Grumpy Retiree seemed to fit me perfectly.
Am I really Grumpy? Yes and (sometimes) no. I can be cranky, sarcastic, a bit hot headed, I’ve thrown a sneaker and a few tools into the front lawn. That’s just normal stuff, isn’t it? I tell my wife I am not grumpy, I am misunderstood. Honestly I like to have a lot of fun; drink wine, get drunk, roll in the grass naked like my dog. Who doesn’t like that? I just get a little more aggravated than the average person. Maybe it’s that dried grass I rolled in.
What’s Next?
What will you find here? A lot of travel information and itineraries aimed at retirees traveling independently. Restaurant and food reviews occasionally, especially when traveling. Currently I am navigating Social Security and Medicare, what a mess that is! I will tell you what I find and hopefully provide a tip or two. Mostly it is essays of everyday retirement life. After all I am here mostly to amuse myself and possibly you … and stay busy!
This blog describes how I get along in retirement, what I do and where I go. I am starting without a plan but I don’t expect to end that way! Good, bad or otherwise, let’s see what develops. Having no plan may not be for everybody, it may not be for anybody. Now when my wife asks what I planned for the day I can explain my plan is to make a plan!
If you follow me that is great, but I really hope my posts inspire you to seek your own adventures. This is my story, (and I’m sticking to it!)
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1 Comment
My First 2 Years of Retirement: How to Survive - The Grumpy Retiree · March 15, 2024 at 12:20 PM
[…] The next challenge my first year of retirement was crash testing my financial plan. Would it stand the test of time? My biggest concern financially is missing a meal, a bottle of wine or travel. I didn’t want retirement to mean sacrifices in our lifestyle. You can read more about my thoughts before I retired over at The Grumpy Retiree. […]