Is retirement the answer to all our problems? It may not be but is a great way to live. It seems like I have learned to relax and even gotten to the point where I look at life a little different. When I decided that it was finally time to retire and quit working. I figured I had the retirement check coming in (from CF), my 401k/retirement money that I put in the market and then my Social Security check and I could make it.
Then the market went in to the dumpster and it was back to the budget for some necessary adjustments. I was like all of us that had money in the stockmarket, I took a big hit. I lost about 40% or so and that was my spending money for many years of pleasant and active retirement. The cash I was going to get from selling my house and paying off my mortgage was going to add to that nest egg. Alas, the housing market is down and I can't sell the house and get much from that so I will continue to rent it out and pay the mortgage payment that way. Wow, if I had decided to retire in August instead of April I think I would have stayed working and suffered a slow and painful death as a result of "burn out".
I will watch my budget and curb some of the trips and expenses and survive as best I can. I have my photography and learning to take great photos to help me enjoy life. I have the thrill of surfing the net and keeping up events to keep me occupied. Of course, I have the love of a good and very fun lady to keep me happy and smiling. Life is Good!!
I have talked with some of the people I have worked with and they ask how retirement is treating me and I say great. I was ready in so many ways to relax and enjoy retirement and I think I had thought it out and planned in some many ways and now it is working out. I realize now everyone can retire now or may not even want to retire now but it is a great institution and I think it is good to be on a slower pace with a little less stress.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Retired with a hobby
When I retired I knew I would have to have a hobby or two and it was important to keep busy, both physically and mentally. Little did I realize how your hobby, which was a part time thing when you were working, would be or could be a full time pastime when you retired. Although it is not stressful or creating any pressure it is very fulfilling and can fill your time up so you don't want to do hardly anything else or don't have the time to do anything else. Being retired is a completely way of life than I had thought it would be. A lot different than I thought.
I imagined that I would be a little busy doing things but didn't realize how comfortable it would get to do things as I wanted when I wanted. Within reason I just did things as I felt like it. Of course I had a great life partner and she was fun to be with and do things with. Being as we were both retired we tended to do almost everything at the spur of the moment or at least with out much planning. It is really nice because don't worry about planning things and worrying about a time schedule. Sure we planned a few trips or things to do but if we didn't feel like it when it came time we just did something else, or did almost nothing. We read, we listened to music, we went for a ride in to the country, maybe went to get a coffee or an ice cream, went shopping or maybe we just talked. It is so relaxing and so fulfilling. A lot of the time things can just wait.
Some of the day was spent doing our own things, by ourselves. We might work in the garden, or surf the net or work on a scrapbook or album. It was times like these that time would seem to get away from me. I would get so wrapped up in doing something and with nothing scheduled to do or that had to be done the time would just fly and next thing I would know it was late. Of course when I was finishing up on my school work and getting ready for finals I got real busy.
It seems to be so funny to be retired and talking about having to do finals. I did have them though and it was fun getting ready for them by taking pictures and writing story lines and studying up on terms and procedures. Photography is a great hobby/advocation in that it is so individual and what is good for one may not good for another. What you may think of for a subject for a project may not be on someone elses radar. I traveled around the Bay Area working on my final assignment and although I had a main idea and bet I changed my direction at least a dozen times before I completed it. I got an A+ on my Final and got an "A", 95% for the entire class. The great thing about it was that I learned a lot about photography, thank you Mrs.Craven, and had fun doing it, thanks again.
ENJOY
I imagined that I would be a little busy doing things but didn't realize how comfortable it would get to do things as I wanted when I wanted. Within reason I just did things as I felt like it. Of course I had a great life partner and she was fun to be with and do things with. Being as we were both retired we tended to do almost everything at the spur of the moment or at least with out much planning. It is really nice because don't worry about planning things and worrying about a time schedule. Sure we planned a few trips or things to do but if we didn't feel like it when it came time we just did something else, or did almost nothing. We read, we listened to music, we went for a ride in to the country, maybe went to get a coffee or an ice cream, went shopping or maybe we just talked. It is so relaxing and so fulfilling. A lot of the time things can just wait.
Some of the day was spent doing our own things, by ourselves. We might work in the garden, or surf the net or work on a scrapbook or album. It was times like these that time would seem to get away from me. I would get so wrapped up in doing something and with nothing scheduled to do or that had to be done the time would just fly and next thing I would know it was late. Of course when I was finishing up on my school work and getting ready for finals I got real busy.
It seems to be so funny to be retired and talking about having to do finals. I did have them though and it was fun getting ready for them by taking pictures and writing story lines and studying up on terms and procedures. Photography is a great hobby/advocation in that it is so individual and what is good for one may not good for another. What you may think of for a subject for a project may not be on someone elses radar. I traveled around the Bay Area working on my final assignment and although I had a main idea and bet I changed my direction at least a dozen times before I completed it. I got an A+ on my Final and got an "A", 95% for the entire class. The great thing about it was that I learned a lot about photography, thank you Mrs.Craven, and had fun doing it, thanks again.
ENJOY
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