I had my first brain tumor operation on January 7th,2006.
There were some "trade-offs" as my doctor put it.
Vision and speech were strongly affected and after going to two social security hearings I was deemed "unemployable" even for at home phone work.

But I could still play music,work with my old Ford tractor (at home) and make sawdust in my bridge work.
I had to sell my lobster boat and traps,but I found new ways to move on and a new sense of accomplishment and joy in living.
Dear friends are so important to me.

I think my banjo playing is still growing and I learn something every time I pick it up.

It also helps to have a wonderful old (1895) Brunswick pool table and a fine McDermott stick.

While I was working, I tried to stay in shape, and practice music, with what little free time I had. Weekend were for bar gigs and yard work and home auto upkeep. I used to dream about unlimited time to work out and play music. My lovely bride dreamed of the same thing, with her passion being sewing. We spent our final working years paying everything off and preparing. Then the time came. The first thing we did was get rid of TONS of accumulated crap. We joked that if we didn’t use it in the last 6 months, it was outa there. Then we sold the house and bought a condo. Yay! No more yard work or outdoor maintenance! My wife set up her sewing room, and I joined the gym down the street. We’ve been living the dream for over 5 years now. I’ve ran several marathons and even IM triathlons, and practice music several hours a day. My wife sews, and spends lots of time volunteering with a local animal rescue. My music life has changed as well. No more bars and late nights. Now it’s church, and daytime gigs for older folks and senior communities. There’s other stuff, but that’s it in a nutshell.

I dunno whether or not I've found, or even looked for, "meaning," but neither my wife nor I had any trouble adjusting to retirement [at the age typically considered typical] ....we just take things as they come* .... yard work takes up lots of time.  Wonky feet, knees and elbows make significant activity activity unpleasant at best, but c'est la vie.  I do a lot of procrastinating.

* however the time to get rid of TONS (?) of "stuff" is not too far off ... am now debating in my head which is preferable ... an online auction or an in-person one.   [And I'm not makin' much progress  ]

I found after I retired that I had more to do than before when I was working.

When Dave was still alive, we went to jams and festivals early so we could get in with the jams. We also traveled around the country just enjoying the landscape and stopping at campgrounds and meeting new people. We worked in the yard together. We went places together.

Now, I keep myself busy with hobbies: I knit, crochet, cross stitch, sew, all those things. I make crocheted stuffies and donate them to different organizations that need toys for needy children. I go to the senior center and join another group of ladies who do handwork. I have friends who I play cards with, go out to eat with. I spend a lot of time with my poodle.

I still play the banjo, although not as good as I used to.  Arthritis has taken its' toll.   There's no jamming or festivals close to me so I've had to become a closet picker.  I do have my Band in a Box so I can play along with rhythm and feel almost like I'm in a band.  I don't do much on the  guitar and have put the mandolin away.

I just relax and enjoy life. It's great not having to get up, get dressed, fight the traffic to get to and from work. I don't have to worry about cold, rainy, snowy, icy days or days so hot it's better to just stay inside.

First retirement was 2-22-2002 from my Gummint job.
Irene and I went visiting, driving in a Chevy pickup with a camper cab, for shorter trips, (and of course, NOBODY wanted us sleeping in the camper, at THEIR house). Airfare for jets on longer trips (Grandkids in Alaska).
Made cookie tin banjos, Irene wove rugs on her Kessenich loom, did gigs, went to jams, went to Art & Crap Fairs, to try sell the rugs and banjos, generally enjoyed life.
SECOND retirement was when pancreatic cancer killed Irene.
Moped around for a while, then kept on making banjos, doing gigs, attending jams.
Eventually met Mary.
Kept on making banjos, doing gigs, etc. But did the gigs as a duo, since we both play banjo.
THIRD retirement was after I got out of the hospital. Was having a continuing hallucination.
They STILL don't know if it was a little bitty stroke, or what.
The pills I must take have lowered my enthusiasm for everything, and my sore back has made it difficult to load the gear into the SUV for gigs.
Only do daytime gigs within a reasonable distance.
Have begun contemplating getting rid of SOME of the banjo making materials.

====================
One of my friends got his lower leg amputated after an industrial accident. The company is giving him a desk job, but I offered to teach him some chords and carve him a wooden leg, so he can busk as a pirate on the weekends.

Geez MIke... just now I get a Facebook ad for "Organic Lion’s Mane capsules—supporting a clear mind and clean energy, day after day." 

Maybe both of us could use some of that "support" ???   ... clear mind AND clean energy... what's not to like??  

"Retirement" lol, not in my lifetime.

Sloth! The only one of the 7 deadlies of which I'm still dependably capable.

I retired at 69 ,, got stage 3 colon cancer the next year,, kept on keeping on,,, going to jams, working on new stuff on banjo and guitar,, started up a YouTube channel,,,swimming once or twice a week,, drank gallons of CoLite....daily aerobic exercises and stretches …. getting grouchy when I can’t do things as quick as I used to,, drop stuff ,, forget names constantly,, busking 3 hours a week at the farmers market,,,,,,, but, but I hate sleeping in until 9….

Heart Attack...

I find or make projects to do...

The bucket list is a tad shorter......

17 years ago today was my last day at work. Retirement is about living your own life however silly it may seem to others. As a famous poem [ I think it was Desiderata] stated.. "I am not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not expected to live up to mine.". Some people would ask me if I would have enough to do. I then explained that I have never really had my own time since September of 1953 [age 6] when I started school. By September of 2009 I was finally going to get my own life back. Some people ask me what I do with all my time. My favorite reply is " I'm not sure, but I do lots of it". After 17 years of an assortment of things I never seem to have quite enough time. If I wake up in the morning without hearing organ music or smelling candles I can conclude that I have the fortunate wealth of another day.

I'm trying to hang on until 70 (if AI doesn't take my job first), but even then, I won't fully retire - for one thing, I love what I do.

But there's a big difference between reaching full retirement age and being forced to quit working in your 40s. I'd suggest looking into a change in careers - plenty of things you can do from your own home (following doctor's orders of course). That is, unless you're wealthy enough not to have to work. In which case... nope... I still wouldn't stop doing what I do...

I retired to play music that I didn't have time to do when I was working. Primarily, I played old time music (fiddle, banjo) and clarinet (community orchestra) when I was working. After retiring I started also playing Irish music (whistle and wooden spoons), singing (sacred harp) and classical and other music (trios with friends) and other musical activities as they arise.
I'm a physical person and, while I don't go to a gym, I do things by hand (like splitting and sawing fire wood and other physical tasks (like shoveling snow and pushing an electric lawn mower).

I retired this past May at 66 after 46 years in computers/IT. I made sure I was completely out of debt - cars and house paid off, no credit card balances. Between SS and retirement savings management I was able to replace 90% of my previous income. I was planning on spending more time playing but haven't quite made it yet. I am still making and selling Tranjo travel banjos and that business is keeping me busier than I expected (hurray!). I'm also having some back pain issues which make it hard to sit at my workbench or play banjo for more than a few minutes at a time. Once I get the back pain resolved I can begin to enjoy retired life and start to travel more.

Sam

I'm not gonna put mucho doh-rey-me on it, but isn't a retirement income of 75% of working pay some sort of rule-of-thumb?

To a significant extent, I've/we've gone with one of my mammy's mantras .... look after the dimes and the dollars will look after themselves .... though I'm pretty sure I/we "waste" more than she would/did.  Her young adult years were during The Depression .... later she'd occassionally remind us: "Sometimes I wish I'd never heard the word 'save'."

I didn't have to choose, my "job" disappeared as it was lease renewal time and the online marketplace had already destroyed specialty retail, which was all that I have ever done. I have taken to riding bikes and spending more time alone with Nature, which has become my Church. I do go out to clubs more, and I do now drink more, but all under control. I have not magically started doing more chores! And honestly, my body was more ready for a break than I had realized. I do miss my store, as I was proud of it and good at what I did, and I no longer have any outlet for whatever abilities and talents I possess, but overall I'm really enjoying my retirement.
But I was 67. At age 40 I would be finding a new career of some sort.

Retired at 70 so I could get two surgeries for diveratulitus, a new heart valve, viral pneumonia, sepsis, mersa, RA, A fib and failed kidneys. Other issues , but these are the biguns. I get up every day with a smile on my face and thank God I'm still here. Being a roofer for 50 years was a bad choice.

I retired in '02 at 56. My OTTP (Ontario Teachers Pension Plan) is enough to get by on. We immerdiately sold our Toronto House and moved to Kingston and eventually found a home with more land than the cramped big city house. I found that there were things to do outside the home. I spent a year on the Community Editorial Board of the daily paper, also became a board member of an alternative paper. I'd been a commuting and fitness cyclist back in T.O., and was co-chair of the Toronto Cycling Committee, also a Can-Bike instructor, so I joined the local cycling club (lots of out-of-town rides) and was a founding member of Cycle Kingston (CK), the cycling education organization. That was in the first two years. I'm still on the CK board.

I spent a bunch of years on the Cataraqui Trail Management Board, which was quite the learning experience after a lifetime in Canada's two largest cities.

It took some years, but I gradually got back into music. I joined the country jam up in Sunbury, playing acoustic backup. That led to joining the Bluegrass Jam and meeting musical friends. I found other open mic situations, as far as Prince Edward County, where I do stage stuff and play at the seasonal Quarter Moon Coffee House (during COVID I was even on a Zoom open mic, Fiddler's Dream, out of Phoenix, AZ - hi, Larry!). A few years ago I discovered the jams at the Seniors Centre (Kingston's is the largest and most active in Ontario) and now lead the "Advanced Jam" and take part in the "Coffee House" session. I started an on again, off again session at my house that resulted in a few gigs that we did for free (Homegrown Live, Food Sharing Project, EarthFest). Live Wire hosts intimate concerts, there's the Limestone City Blues Fest, and now Mondo Banjo is coming back to Wolfe Island (there are posts about it here on the Hangout).

We didn't even have drivers' licenses in Toronto, so we had to learn. Soon enough we were driving all over the area. We had some paintings, but now have lots more, thanks to the studio tours and antique shows that pop up all over the region (last weekend we were in Merrickville, the weekend before in Westport, and so on). Our daughter went to Queen's U. and lives here, so we can take the granddaughter on the occasional day trip.

Now I'm 80 and have had some medical issues (boy, am I thankful for our health care). I've done hardly any cycling this year, but hope to make up some next year, health permitting.

If you can imagine it, and your health permits, you can do lots of stuff.

I'm 64, retired when I was 55. I have yet to find anything bad about retirement.
I still live on the farm. So there's still much to do. I could cut firewood until death. There's is always some maintenance being neglected. So, if you don't forgive yourself for negligence you will be miserable. Fortunately I've been a musician for a long while, so letting real-life problems slide is not new.

You could drill an oil well or mine for gold or invent things for a side hustle. But that's not really retirement. Obviously, just my opinion. One works to get the conveyor of meaningful income running. It's hard for the brain to switch gears for some. I was more than ready to hop off the corporate treadmill.

In my country (New Zealand) "retirement' age is 65. That is the official age one can apply for superannuation benefit (paid by the government and we call it 'the super'). I applied for and received it but it was taxed at a higher rate due to my earnings. I kept working till I was 68 (I'm 73 now) when I realised my body didn't want to cooperate with my type of work. Because of my love of banjos, I increased my repair/restoration hobby as well as my Biblical studies. These and my DIY work round my property keeps me fairly active. I will continue to do these until I cannot.

retired at 62 1/2 , because of bad back and knees... pre diabetic ,, and on thyroid meds.. as soon as i retired i had to take on a job as caregiver for my 90 year old mother in law.. who lives with us. my wife still works and so its all on me from 7 am till 6 pm. my day starts a 5am ..cooking breakfast for the wife and getting her lunch together and get her out the door by 7:20. then 2nd shift starts about 8:45 to 9 am.    i cook all the meals and do all the dishes. do things you have to do for a 90 year old woman. help with the washing ,, mow when its not 95 degrees . she has been with us for 6 1/2 years now.. still going like a timex.

she will probably out live me ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

After my SSA hearing results I found out I qualified for a VA and Social Security retirement of a small amount,but enough to stay in my home and maintain a small amount of money at the end of the month.
Just got back from the bank where I got a small loan for $140 a month to get half my house roof reshingled.
It helps a lot to have a 778 number.

quote:

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Originally posted by steve davis

After my SSA hearing results I found out I qualified for a VA and Social Security retirement of a small amount,but enough to stay in my home and maintain a small amount of money at the end of the month.
Just got back from the bank where I got a small loan for $140 a month to get half my house roof reshingled.
It helps a lot to have a 778 number.

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Steve,

I don't understand what a 778 number is?

Thanks,

ken

i think he means credit score

I retired from my first career job at 56, after 30 years. Retired again at 64. I'm 76 now. I think that the hardest thing for people in retirement is the loss of their identity, which is often tied to their job. Whenever I meet someone, one of the first things they ask, after my name, is what do you do. In the case of retirees, I just got off a river cruise with 190 retirees, what did you do. It defines you. It is hard to say, I'm a nothing. The last decade I've answered that question with, I'm a banjo player. I have to say, it has been a good conversation starter. Much better than going into the way-back machine and talking about what I was, which is not near as fun as talking about banjos. So my advise, if you're going to be something, be a banjo player.