It's been 3 months in

by Ira
(New Jersey)

I have been retired 3 months now. It has it's ups and downs. My retirement anxiety is not as bad as it had been but I am still searching for a sense of purpose.

Over the past two weeks I have sent out emails to various non profits to volunteer. I am waiting on responses but it feels a bit unsettling while I wait

Anyone go through that..the unsettled feeling

I have no desire to go back to the career I left.Last two years at work were horrible for me. After a long career in Public Accounting I was extremely burnt out and it affected my mental and physical health.

Comments for It's been 3 months in

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Volunteering
by: Ira

It's now been 4 months into retirement. I actually thought finding volunteer opportunities would be much easier to find and get involved in. It's more like searching for a job in an unrelated field.

I am just starting to dabble in finance committee / fund raising at my synagogue, getting somewhat involved (getting feet wet) at another organization.

None of this comes close to filling up my plate. I do go to the gym 3- 4 days a week, like reading books, building plastic models (have one sitting on dining room table ) and hiking before the weather got cold.

Still have a lot of gaps in time and it's getting frustrating.

I don't have any interest in working PT or per diem in my ex field (senior tax manager at regional CPA firm). I could consider looking for some PT job to filling the time but not sure what to do. Working at a Home Depot or Walmart still seems beneath me (sorry to others that do)

Thoroughly frustrated right now. I thought filling in my time would be easier and faster.
Response to: It's been 3 months
by: Ken, CA

Hello,

It's only been 3 months? ENJOY the FREE TIME!

I retired after being an Accountant for Doctors for over 30 years! I do NOT miss Accounting, or the stress it puts on one! I skip all the email Accounting Job leads, all I have to do is read the job description and I say "HELL NO!"

I enjoy being free to go wherever I want, WHENEVER I want, with Whomever I want and have no major schedule.

Doing a bit of travel, many on spur of the moment (which is the best way to go!)

Give up the Accounting, I still would love to kill my family members who told me to be an Accountant!

Best Wishes

Kenneth in San Diego, CA
Know the feeling
by: Elizabeth , West Virginia

Linda, I know so well your frustration. I thought I had everything worked out when I retired at 81. I would volunteer and find new friends who share my love of knitting.

The craft groups were easy to find, but no one was interested in an old lady who uses a cane. Now please understand, I still drive my car and have no problems with communicating with people.

After so many years of working I just wanted to find a reason to get out of the house and interact with people. So, I concentrate on my charity knitting which I do enjoy. Don't know if my cane scares people, I named it Fred and we have traveled a bit of the world together. My main hobby was "chasing bears" with my camera.

I have a lot to offer, so it is their loss that they cannot see past age. Keep searching..it will come!
doing chair yoga and joined a fitness center
by: June in Deerfield WI

After being retired five years I realized I was not fit enough to participate in the Audubon and other activities that interest me.

I have been doing free chair yoga for six months, but decided to join a nearby fitness club. We will see how it goes. It means a tight budget, but if we do it right I will have increased energy for outings.

It takes time to adjust to retirement. I was uncomfortable for a year, but have done well lately.

Not looking forward to winter so am glad I have activities planned for the dark, cold months ahead.
It’s Been a Week
by: LZ Canada

Hi Ira. it’s been a week for me & I feel terrible about retiring too soon.

I am 63 & turn 64 in Dec. I was on sick leave for cancer & was off my job over a year. I was going to do a gradual return to work for 6 weeks but thought too much about my horrible commute which took an hour each way. I also was nervous about going back after so much time off even though I was 20 yrs at same job.

I’ve done nothing but lament & think now what for a week. I had one more year to go to 65 to get full pension now I’m short a few dollars. I feel sick.
Take time
by: Donna, Augusta, Mo

Retiring is like starting a new job. Give yourself time. It took me a good year after 37 years working as a RN.

Purpose will come. Get involved with your community. Be available to help your neighbors. I even adopted a 3 month old rescue took him to classes met people. Now I have a great dog 1 and 1/2 years later and New friends.

Keep your options open and enjoy your new well earned time. Get some travel in.

Good luck be patient.
Finding Volunteer Jobs
by: Linda/Nevada

The only kind of work I ever did for 44 years was in the accounting field so I understand your burned out feeling. As soon as I retired, three years ago, I got rid of all my accounting books and I never look at accounting job want ads.

I never thought finding a volunteer job would be so difficult. I keep hitting a brick wall. The organizations I have applied to didn't specify that they wanted someone with a specific work background but they will not extend any opportunities to just anyone unless they meet certain skills.

Since I am on a strict budget, I cannot afford to travel twenty or thirty miles a day to a volunteer position. It has been hard for me to find something closer to where I live. I have also tried to find work that I can do from home, but still no luck.

I have decided to concentrate on relearning my language skills in French and Spanish and I have increased my selection of books to read. I am also taking advantage of the free classes that are offered by my local library system. I will soon be attending a six week course on writing your memoir and I have also enrolled in a meeting about interpreting your DNA test.

I would still like to find a volunteer job. Maybe I will, someday, find something where I can use the skills I have.

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