Some People Get Worried As They Near The End Of Their Retirement Countdown

As you approach the end of your retirement countdown, it’s only natural to have some moments of anxiety.  On one hand, this is the time you’ve been working towards all of your life but, on the other, you’ll be entering a new period of your life with a lot more freedom.  Some people have a little bit of trouble when there’s no structure in their life.  This is not to say you can’t have structure, but if that’s what you’re looking for to give your life meaning, that structure will have to come from you.

It is a little surprising to me when I hear how many people struggle to fill the hours in their day.  After working eight, ten or twelve hours a day at a job for three or four decades, it can be a very big change to wake up each morning with no place to go, no calls to make and no meetings to attend.  As I worked my way through my retirement countdown, I had no apprehensions at all.  I had a list of things that I wanted to do, topics and things I wanted to study and a list of places to travel that would take years to get through.

My Retirement Countdown Started
Before The Pandemic

I’ve been able to keep my list going for the most part when it comes to things to do but, when it comes to our list of places to travel to, the pandemic brought travel to a grinding halt.  We lost over a year, as did everybody else.  We couldn't go south for the winter and two cruises that we had scheduled needed to be postponed. When things opened up again, we had trips cancelled for a different reason: political unrest.  As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons you try to make the tastiest lemonade possible.  We managed to adjust very well.  My wife and I actually became television watchers for about a year.  We both had jobs where there was just no time for watching a favorite show or even sports and the children had activities almost every weekend.  We caught up on two series that we had heard great things about which were The West Wing and Downton Abbey and we enjoyed them tremendously.  When the world finally got back to normal, our retirement countdown continued as we started to schedule the trips that had originally been on our bucket list.

One of the positives to come out of the world shutdown was the improvement in teleconference capabilities.  During my last year in Corporate America, after we had been purchased by a foreign company, we had a number of teleconferences scheduled and they were absolute disasters because of the slow internet speeds. Things have improved tremendously and the internet is exploding with possibilities. As you start to wind down your working career and begin your retirement countdown, why not take the time to lists some interests or hobbies that you might want to turn into a retirement "career"?  Why not take a cooking class or a woodworking class or learn to play the piano?  It’s all possible and will add immeasurably to your retirement enjoyment. Even better, why not be the person who gives the class?  Why not have a little business that's related to a hobby?  One of the fastest growing age groups for new entrepreneurs is retirees who have started their own website or internet business.  Why couldn't that be you especially if you would like a little bit more money to fund those dreams as you worked your way through those final years of saving for this time of your life?

Retirement is only the beginning.  You should always have a list of places you want to go and new things you want to do.  Don't ever stop learning.  There are so many things to explore in this world, the biggest problem is knowing where to begin.  Start a hobby, write a book, learn a new card game or become your local expert in mahjong.  Organize a trip for a group of your friends for the senior citizen's club.  Look for ways to create new interests and make new friends. But do it today.  Just like a rocket launch, you have a retirement countdown that begins right now. 

Your retirement countdown took you through years and years of work and planning.  It’s time to enjoy that time now but you have to be the one to make that happen and it all begins with a plan.  Put something on the calendar right now.  There is so much in life to enjoy, learn and experience.  People should wake up not wondering what to do but wondering how can I fit all of the things I want to do into the day I have before me?  Take the time to plan new experiences and new things to learn.  Making the most out of every day is a sure way to Enjoy Retired Life.

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