How do you spend your retirement days?

by Wendy, Retirement Enthusiast

When the Wall Street Journal writes about Retired Lives, I read, mostly out of curiosity.

The PEW Research Center says that retirees (age 60+) sleep over 8 hours a day. They break down retired days like this:

  • 8+ hours sleeping

  • 7 hours on leisure - 4.5 hours on TV, computer/electronic device

  • 3 hours on chores

  • 1 hour eating

  • 1 hour personal activities


    • The leisure time is spent on electronic devices, visiting family, etc... activities that don't cost a lot. That's the main point of this article. Many retirees daily activities (computering, reading, exercise, walking, and "puttering" as WSJ used this term) are low-cost activities.

    They also say men over age 60 spend 2 hours a day on paid work. Two Hours? I've never heard of two-hour jobs, so I assume that means ten hours a week, so likely 2 five-hour days? Women, after 60, work one hour and 12 minutes on paid work.

    QUESTION: SO what do YOU think? Does your daily lifestyle break down as the experts think it does --OR-- are you one of the unusual ones? Tell me more!

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    Source: "How Retirement Looks, Hour by Hour" from the Wall Street Journal 7/9/2019

    Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-people-do-in-retirement-hour-by-hour-11562338744

    Comments for How do you spend your retirement days?

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    My Lifestyle
    by: Irwin Lengel, Lakeland FL

    Wendy: In response to your post about Retirement Trends, allow me to share some of my two cents on the subject.

    Sleeping: Go to bed around ten and get up around 6 but of those so-called 8 hours of sleep, I probably only sleep about 5-6 hours what with bathroom calls and not being able to shut my mind off.

    Leisure time: Take a typical Wednesday – Up at 6, stretch, sometimes take a walk, eat breakfast, post to FB, go to Line Dance class – then probably shop some before stopping for lunch. Come home and do a few chores that need attending to around the house. Eat dinner around 5 – go to clubhouse to play Mexican Train with several friends and neighbors. Return home and watch about 2 hours of TV before retiring for the evening.

    Eating: All totaled, I would say around 2 hours each day

    Personal activities: about one to two hours each during weekdays.
    The leisure time is spent on electronic devices, line dancing, and socializing….activities that do not cost a lot. Anything to keep our minds and our bodies from stagnating.

    In the beginning of our retirement years we both worked part-time for Busch Gardens two or three days a week. When that was done (we did it for about 3 years) I taught various commercial insurance programs to up and coming insurance professionals and also wrote various insurance curriculum to assist students that were studying for various insurance professional designations, i.e., CPCU, ARM, AIM, and so forth. Didn’t really keep track of the hours because even though I was being paid, I considered it to be fun and something I enjoyed doing – retired or not.

    So, our daily lifestyle is similar to but not exactly like what the experts think a retiree’s life is like. I would consider us to be one of the unusual ones.

    As to my source – what made me write this was a Facebook blip recently posted by Jane Hawkins which was a "Ladies of the Night" Performance - "You go girls!"

    Had anyone ever told me prior to our retiring that I would be writing funny material, posting funny sayings on Facebook, line dancing and starring in performances at Nursing Homes, VA hospitals, Retirement Homes, State Fairs, written two Kindle e-books, and what have you – I wouldn’t have believed them. But the truth of the matter is that we are still doing it and have been retired 23 years come this December.

    Which proves the point – once retired – we can do almost anything we want to if we but put our minds to it and say to ourselves: "What will make me happy?"

    Prior to seeing the post Jane Hawkins recently posted, if I had to use a source that has enabled me to look at retirement the way we do, I would have to say it is:

    Well, not exactly my profile site but your site, Wendy, because had I not followed much of the advice you have provided over the years, I doubt seriously that I would have done a lot of the things we have done in retirement.

    http://community.retirement-online.com/profile/IrwinLengel
    How I Spend My Retirement Days
    by: Canadian Retiree

    Well I haven’t broken it down so precisely but I do have some activities to fill up the void. I

    ’m taking a water colour painting class and piano lessons. I also try to exercise as much as possible. I’m starting a volunteer gig tomorrow. I also take courses online when possible. My husband and I are doing a few house updates and possibly planning more.

    Keeping busy as much as possible .

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