First Full Day of Retirement: Surreal

I recently returned from a close to two weeks vacation in London and returned home yesterday. I had a hard time adjusting to the time, but made it happen. I turned in early to be in my local time zone. It went pretty well, got up about 2 hours before my alarm went off. 

Big Ben and Houses of Parliament 

As "usual", I started putting the remaining things back like my toiletries, clothing, and sort for laundry. Done. I just started a load of laundry and hurried back upstairs to do some other things to tend to. But, the funny thing I noticed as that I was cramming everything in to get things done like I had somewhere else to go. But no, I have taken 8+ hours back to do whatever I wanted to do. I constantly paused catching myself realizing, "What's the rush?" I just realized I needed to pace myself now that I have more hours in the day to do things. 

Taking a break at the Tower Bridge, London 

This morning, I planned on going to the gym, having breakfast before 9am, checking my emails, etc. But it dawn on me that I don't need to rush. I do know I need to have structure as I take on this new phase of my life in retirement. Whether I will not work at all or work part time/ full time remains to be seen. I just need to settle in and take in this moment. It's a great feeling, Indeed it's surreal experience. 

Let me see how this week goes and I'll fully realize I'm on retirement, which is a good thing!

Independent Retirement: Is it Easy to Retire and Live on my Own?

I'm literally 5 months away before I pull the trigger. I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this retirement journey. Looked at my finances as usual, looks like I'm in rather good shape; budgeted for a couple of trips I'll be taking before my retirement and after. 

Next week will be my 60th birthday and that number, 60 is quite large and intimidating. I never thought I'd see myself being 60, I always thought it was someone else, but wow, I'm going to be there soon. What I also looked into was my health. I've lined up a couple of yearly medical routine check in with my primary doctor and also schedule an eye check up. 

All usually around my birthday. Cross fingers I won't encounter any significant changes in my health. I do admit I've gained quite a few over the years. Not sure if was due to getting older or I'm less active these days. I've been doing free weights, some running, and strength training but not at the level I was when I was in my late 30s and 40s. Don't want to admit I'm slowing down, but I think I have to be self motivated post Covid era. Many friends and colleagues are on their own schedule and I find myself training on my own and having to call people out for get togethers. Seems like everybody I know are becoming home bodies.  

This seems to be a precursor in my impending retirement. The fact that I'm living on my own and quite comfortable doing it isn't going to be a tough thing to do. It's not a transition there. But the activities I'll need to create on my own will be key to my success in living in retirement on my own. I won't know how I'll feel or encounter after being in this stage for the first few months. I see it as a honeymoon period. I'll take off for a week for London as one of my bucket list trip. I've never been to London. So I'm going to take it easy but hit the spots that interests me. I won't go all out and try to cover all the attractions. As always moderation. When I get back, then I'll need to settle back in. Most likely downsize more in terms of paper work as many won't be of concern. I could probably place some or all in the cloud or server. Goal - to be paperless but have documents accessible from anywhere if needed. 

So, here I go in counting down my months before leaving the building. Stay tuned! 

2025 is Here: How am I Feeling?

It's 2025. My countdown to my retirement date is July 1st. I'm quite anxious at the same time scared. But, I've been planning this for years and now that I want to pull the trigger, I have this unease, at the same time excitement to leave my present employment and really take some time off. 

All these emotions running through my head lately is not a surprise. It manifests in my constant checking of my financial health. I'm always logging into my account to see if I have enough to retire. In addition, I'm scrambling to fund a healthy emergency fund, for the just in case moments. Also, taking stock of my health at this time. I have not been running or working out as usual. I walk alot but it's not quite what I find as good. Sleeping hasn't been any easier, for years, I don't sleep a full 6 hours. If anything, much less. Wonder if it's because I'm getting older and "we" old people don't sleep like our days of going to clubs at late night and sleeping till noon. Those days are gone. 

As I settle into 2025, I'm reminded that I've got this, it's my own discipline that may go off kilter. Recently, I booked a hotel and airfare to travel to Las Vegas as a pre birthday holiday. But realized, that I had to save for my big trip to London this summer. That trip is a pretty penny. I ended up cancelling my hotel reservation and received credit for my flight on Southwest. It reminded me that I had to start to rein in my expenses for other experiences that costs more. 

Sunset at Ala Moana Park, Honolulu, Hawaii 

I'm also transitioning my behavior as if I'm retired already. I don't want to be a penny pincher in retirement, but be sensible. If I want to take off somewhere I need to plan and budget. Retiree perks are great since we are not working anymore. We can travel on a mid week date for great airline deals, travel during off season, and eat and drink anytime of the day at my leisure. Strange thought but that's what the advantages of a retiree earns or gets, is time on your own terms. 

I'll continue to manage my last few months for retirement and get to the point of leaving the building one last time. I've worked over 45 years in different capacities, but this last year is a tough one. From starting as a paper delivery boy, hotel front desk worker, executive assistant, and to now a college admissions coordinator really comes full circle. 

This post sets a nice perspective on where I am and hope that the remaining posts sheds more clarity and light for my eventual retirement.

Stay tuned, there may be a slight twist to my adventure?