Pros/Cons of Being Retired

 CONS:

1. Less annual income
2. Potential boredom
3. Less activity
4. Less purchasing power
5. Limited mobility
6. More doctor's appoinments
7. Physically restrained
8. Indication of old age
9. Not much of life left
10. Friends are dying
11. Greater risk of illness
12. Not around people

PROS:

1. Don't have to kiss the bosses ass anymore
2. Have less opportunity for stress
3. Can sleep in as long as one desires
4. Open schedule for traveling
5. Can travel more
6. Spend more time with children/grandchildren
7. Have more leisure/recreation time
8. Have plenty of time for yardwork
9. Can focus on hobbies
10. Can save money on gasoline
11. Can save money of buying clothes
12. Have the opportunity to downsize

...CAVEAT...

One of the biggest hurdles one faces whether single or married is having enough income without working to retire.  Another hurdle is how much debt are you carrying into your retirement.

Sources of income once retired will come from:

• Savings
• Investments
• Social Security
• Company retirement programs
• Sale of a house when downsizing

In my case, that is to say my wife and I, we relied on savings and Social Security to retire and when we sold our house and downsized the profit that we made was just an added bonus.  We also put some of our saved money in a high yield CD for 18 months to generate more savings.

From 2015 until 2020 when COVID hit, we traveled at least every other month for a week; in fact, we traveled so much (at least for us) that we got the travel bug out of our system.  Now, we just go to Myrtle Beach, SC twice a year for a week.

We will soon stop our MB,SC trips in the next 3-5 years because of age.

My main hobby now is writing novels and in the process of writing novels I have to do research and that research helps keeps my mind active.  I also maintain two blogs daily which keeps me busy as well.  In the mornings, I watch FOX News for a couple of hours, but hardly ever anything else.  None of the shows, movies, or series interest me, so why waste the time, I tell myself.

Before my back surgery, I was walking around the neighborhood for about an hour or a mile whichever was less.  I did not walk fast but I did not walk slow like window shopping either.

I hardly ever sleep past 9:00 am, usually up around 7:30-8:00 am, and shower and shave every other day instead of every day when I was working.  I eat 2-3 meals a day, not large, just enough to be filling and I snack twice a day on Captain's Wafers (1 pack) or 2-4 Lemon Orea cookies.  I have coffee in the morning and SAM's water the rest of the day.

My wife and I go out to eat once or twice a week.  I usually eat half of what I order in the restaurant and bring the other half home for another meal the next day.

I fill up my 2015 Venza every other week as opposed to every 3 days when working. 

Finally, my wife and I were debt free when we retired which made a big difference with our decision.  Plus, my wife and I never needed to live anything but a simple lifestyle which also helped.