What was the first thing you did when you retired?

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What was the first thing you did when you retired?

8 yrs ago

My dad retired at the start of the month, and when I asked him about what would be the first thing he'd do, he couldn't really answer – he was just so excited to retire. But it made me think, what would I do? And to tell you the truth, I think I'd sleep, maybe go on a holiday (but not likely the first thing I'd do) or just loll about for a week, maybe read a book from cover to cover. Not too exciting, but hey, it's a ways off for me yet so I have time to think about it. So, I thought I'd draw some inspiration from you all and ask you what was the first you did when when you retired. Or, if you haven't quite retired yet, what will be the first thing you do?

8 comments

I think you define by what you mean as retirement .

For more and more of us it means stop working for the man , and working on growing your own investments and living life to the full as we have always done ..

PlanB

8 yrs ago

I did some more trips in Aussie / Tassie etc and also had a full time job to look after my home -- garden / House painting / etc I also used to do my own oil changes and had looked after my Husband till his death.

Phyl.

8 yrs ago

Peter and I both had demanding jobs with Vic. Roads.

We took early retirement/redundancy packages, and bought a big Emu Farm with a few hundred emus and a big breeder.

We actually lost many hundreds of thousands of dollars as it all went 'bust' but friends with 'Ostriches' lost heaps more.

Life goes on and we love our retirment. I guess having been in jobs which were VERY stressful and long hours, retirement is a bit of heaven.

Every day is lovely.

Sophie

8 yrs ago

Many senior citizens do not have a choice when it comes to working past the age of 65…which is frustrating for some because many would rather stay in the work force. It depends on the individual. I retired early because my work was so stressful…it was impacting on my health. First thing we did was go abroad for several months…must say I thoroughly enjoyed the life of the lotus eaters for a while…but upon my return and when the holiday mood had worn off… I knew I had to do something else.

For me it was easy because there were a couple of hobbies which I loved and which I had very little time for in the past…so I went headlong into developing these. Although “working”… it’s at something I truly love and yes..there are some monetary rewards…that’s not the important thing however. What’s important to me is not waking up each morning and thinking “what shall I do today?” The question always in my mind is “what shall I do first?”

I still enjoy my social activities… friends…family…holidays and so on...nothing really has changed. So personally...retirement is not something I would even consider...not even if hampered by ill health...because there is always a way around anything (for me anyway).

Have had 24 years of retirement and hope to have at least another 17....

Have not retired fully - still do a few hours a week (cause I love it). But when I retired from full time work, we did did all the train journeys in Oz, both love trains. Spent a lot of time with the grandchildren and then did most of the jobs that needed doing to the house, which we had neglected over the years.