Britbike forum Forums Thread Like Summary - re-tired

publisher told me last week my paper ist kaput on Nov. 10 i am therefore 're-tired' involuntarily....been editor 16 years lived by deadline now gone from 200mph to 35mph not quite sure how to act my wife retired last year after 48 years in banking she's happy as lark... i'm not sure how to act/feel some of you re-tirees chip in please with advice

ref-- I will tell you a little story.
Some years ago, I was CEO of a fairly big company in England.
The workforce was fairly old so people retiring at 65 was quite a common event.
When someone retired it was the custom to have a collection to buy them a retirement present and also a big card which everyone signed.
There was then a presentation in the works canteen.
As CEO I gave the presentation.
When talking to the retiree I would ask them what plans they had for the future now that they were retired.
Some would say "I have this hobby which I have never had enough time for-- I want to spend more time on that-- then I want to visit the grandkids and spend more time with them etc etc".
Frequently I would see these guys around town 4 or 5 years later looking very fit and happy.
On the other hand some guys responded to my question by saying" I dont really know-- not really thought about it-- I guess I will sleep in late, go down to the pub at lunchtime and go to the local soccer match on Saturdays".
Almost invariably the guys in this second category were dead within 18 months.

The lesson to me is that you have to plan your retirement in the same way that you plan your life pre retirement.
Decide how you want to spend your retirement--- set yourself goals, strive to meet the goals. It is not such hard work because instead of working for someone else you are working for yourself!
I have now been retired for 15 years and I have never been busier.
When I meet someone for the first time they ask me what I do and I tell them that I am retired.
Sometimes they say "Good heavens-- how do you fill your day?"
to which my response is to say
" No problems in filling my days-- in fact I am so busy that I can never figure out how I ever found the time to go to work!"

Just my two cents worth of course.
And I hope that you enjoy a long and happy retirement!

I need to retire…..but I’m haunted by something Mike Carter (RIP) said to me the last time I saw him. “Don’t retire”. We didn’t go into details but I think he blamed retirement on that cancer coming back and taking him out.

I’m just waiting for the wrong person to say the right thing or the right person to say the wrong thing.

My employer has been really good to me. So I can’t leave them in a bind. We have 72 superintendents and they all have a job. You’ll receive a $2000 bonus if you find someone to hire……we’re short 17 superintendents. People don’t want to work blue collar jobs…..comes from years of people saying you have to have a four year degree to amount to anything. We made it look like blue collar was undesirable. New superintendents now come from college with a degree in Construction Management….. boot strap is pretty much a thing of the past.

I had big plans laid out for my retirement….. they are all on hold now. I left home and went to work in 1968……been making a living with my hands ever since.

tridentman thanks for advice i am 70 but feel lots younger (most days) i have a freelance writing job with a regional magazine for 33 years and will keep doing that am also building the 71 honda SL175 quasi military bike and of course our 'estate' always needs landscaping work....another chap i know who left the banking world said give myself a few months to let dust settle it took my wife a year to decompress from that industry last year i did a story about a 100 year old WWII veteran he said 'the rocking chair will kill you'

wife says i should write autobiography i asked her for title suggestion she said "That's easy, call it 'Pissed Off One Day and Sad the Next'." sheesh have had to work like dog since i was 14 years old mebbe i will take brief breather de Lawd telling me "Alan, let Me help things evolve in the upcoming chapter of your life"

I'm not all the way there yet, at 68 I still need an income a bit higher than social security. I did however quit the $hyteshow place I spent almost 30 years at and found something much more relaxed and enjoyable. Just as well because I like the structure that a job provides in my life right now. I work 4 days a week, have Fridays to myself and get to spend all weekend with my wife. One thing I have noticed is people in our age bracket are in demand and most employers will do what they can to accommodate you. The average 20 something year-old today seem to lack the ambition, skills, and even the understanding of what it means to hold a job, but they expect to be paid top dollar anyway.

update a potential buyer-fish for the paper is sniffing at the bait reason publisher losing $$ is we cannot find an ad sales person or delivery driver to replace the ones that left nobody wants to work! dont laff or throw up but here i am with the fish god i look like [***]!!!

had 2 job offers today one freelance for local advertising agency and another write weekly blog for local tech company kinda like not going 200mph for a change if someone buys paper i migbh 'opt out' of full time editorial rat race

I didn't want a blue-collar job. I got TWO 4-year degrees but ended up working virtually nothing but blue-collar jobs (all the jobs my parents said that I'd have to work if I didn't get an education.) In the modern world of internships unless you can live in the parents' basement until the job actually pays you will never work in your profession.
Two college degrees, 2-year electronics degree, forklift experience, guess which one will get you a job interview!

In my case Mom died in January, my shift got laid off in March and I never looked for another job. Mom worked for UT, with a real pension, lifetime health insurance, and significant savings. I'm retired on HER retirement plan, because in the modern world of temp employment I never had a retirement account of my own.

Paid cash for my modest house and paid off my credit cards, life is good, now.