Tag Archives: Retirement

Retired

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Let the record show that I’m officially and fully retired from paid work. My final night shift ended at 9 p.m., April 16, 2015.

I first retired in the fall of 2013, after the motel closed for the season. A year later, fall of 2014, I decided to take on a part-time job, four evenings a week. Six-months later, in the spring of 2015, I decided to give up the part-time gig and return to full retirement. I think this time, retirement from paid work will stick.

Retirement. What could possibly go wrong?

Friends and countrymen, retirement is like ice skating. It looks easy, but it is difficult. Like ice skating, retirement requires practice. Also like ice skating, retirement involves risk, even danger, especially if done recklessly.

I’ll have more to say about retirement, probably much more. But not tonight.

— John

Retirement Ennui

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Folks who earn their living in a seasonal beach town get an adrenaline rush during the whirl of summer. Naturally, letdown and loss follow when the music stops. By Christmastime, the “Wait till next year” anticipation sets in. Anticipation is good to have during the dark night and the cold winter.

This October, the music really stopped. For the last time. Retirement. Fin de siecle.

The motel will reopen in May, but it will reopen without me.

The initial experience of retirement is bittersweet for most lifelong workers, I would venture. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s disorienting, unbalancing. But probably not as bad as quitting smoking cold turkey.

I’m making too many changes, more quickly than is advisable. I’ve been thinking about and planning the changes for a year, at least. And heaven knows, I’ve experienced plenty of other changes along the way.

Equilibrium will return eventually.

— John

Rethinking Retirement

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An incandescent light bulb.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nothing that went before prepares you for retirement.  That light bulb has just clicked on in my brain.

From your first day of school through all the years of work, you’re taught to prepare, to strive, to advance, to make money and accumulate stuff. Always pushing on, always goal-oriented. Always another mountain to be climbed.

Nothing prepares you for retirement. (Except maybe golf. Should I have taken golf lessons?)    Continue reading →

Maybe The Sun Will Come Out . . .

Image

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Maybe The Sun Will Come Out . . .

Alternating random emotions as retirement comes racing at me.

Thinking About Retirement (What To Do With The Rest Of My Life)

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retirement

(Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

The Super Bowl has come and gone, and Groundhog Day as well. And what do I have to show for the winter?

It’s been, first of all, a lazy winter. That would be an objective report.

However, I prefer to look at it as a winter of reading, thinking, planning. I haven’t done as much blogging as I’d like. On the other hand, I’ve finally joined Twitter, and  I’m even beginning to see its usefulness. Feel  free to follow along on Twitter @BJohnHayden.

I’ve  joined the local gym, and I’m showing up on a regular basis. That’s important, because I’m now beyond denial. I recognize that if I want to do any useful work in the years I have remaining, it’s imperative that I exercise and conserve my health.

Mostly, I’ve been thinking about and preparing for retirement,  Continue reading →

Raise the Social Security Retirement Age? Huh?

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English: Demonstration in Barcelona on January...

Demonstration in Barcelona on January 22 against raising the retirement age (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

People are living longer, therefore the U.S. needs to raise the Social Security retirement age.

The above statement fills me with despair. It can be spoken with a straight face only by a young person or a rich person who doesn’t understand:  a) What it feels like to be sixty-something in the 21st century, and b) The place of the American worker in the market for human labor,  given the new-normal, flat-world economy.

Full disclosure: I come at this retirement age question from a Baby Boomer point of view. I celebrated (?) a 64th birthday in June. For which I’m grateful. It means I’m one of the survivors. I am now enjoying my 65th summer on the planet Earth, which is one of my favorite planets.

Continue reading →