Retirement so far…

I retired 4 months ago and started listing my likes and dislikes. I’ll update my blog post as things change.

What I like about retirement:

• How wide open my days are – I try to fit one or two tasks in each day, but really enjoy being able to be spontaneous and just go with the flow of any given day.
• How much time I can give to my kids. I can be present without feeling the constant pull of work. I truly believe this has helped my kids and improved my relationships with them.
• Waking up when my body is ready, not when the alarm goes off. I initially panicked every-time I slept beyond 6:00 AM until it finally sunk in that it was OK, the world won’t end if I sleep until 9:00 AM or beyond.
• Took my first vacation in over 20 years that I did not have to respond to constant work emails, tasks, or meetings. One of the major reasons I retired was the constant workload being sent to me day and night even when I was on vacation – it just seemed like each year got worse. This was the most present I have been on a vacation since my honeymoon. I felt guilty at first, but finally was able to relax and enjoy myself.
• I can finally work on things that actually interest me. I am going to be redoing my Options Trading Website and I started writing a book on how to invest for people who hate the subject. The best part is that I can work on these things at my pace, there is no deadline.
• I genuinely feel more healthy. Besides getting enough sleep, I started mixing up my workout routine and slowly switched out of diet coke with coffee and water.

What I don’t like about retirement:

• I miss the regular paycheck – definitely has added a bit of stress moving from: (using income to create assets) To: (using assets to create income). Luckily, I really enjoy finance and investing, so I am taking this as a retirement challenge. Gives me a chance to prove myself with my investing and trading prowess.
• I also miss the daily social interaction with my co-workers, but to be honest – that really disappeared when COVID hit, and I bet the office is still empty today.
• Many folks in your life will assume you have nothing but free time and want you to do their annoying stuff. I have had to push back hard on this misconception. I retired to work on things I find interesting, period. If I wanted to continue doing things I don’t enjoy, I would have stayed employed.