Pre Retirement Worries...

by Marie

I am 60 years old and have been working since im 15. I raised 2 great kids and have 6 grandchildren now. I can retire in 18 months. the thought of it both terrifies me, and is appealing.

when i think of those freezing winter mornings with ice one the ground, my alarm going off at 4 am- I think of how wonderful it would be to be retired and pull the covers up higher for a few more hours of sleep. most people ask them selves what they will do all day. my question is more 'who will i see today?" i am a people person.

my jobs always involved a lot of people, talking. i am married and my husband cant wait to retire, and tho i love his company i don't know that we will love seeing each other every day forever and ever from sun up. it may drive us mad.

so i know already that i need to be out of the house for some of the days of the week,. i do not like routine, where my husband is a creature of habit. i may want to wake up at 6 one day and 11 another. or wake up and be a dirt bag all day or jump into clothes and be very productive. i like the variation and i have to find a way to make sure i will have things to do.

i think the anxiety we are feeling is about closure. i feel (whether its true or not i dont know) but i feel like retirement cant be a slow death sentence if you dont watch it.

you need to stay busy and in touch with other people. you need a purpose for getting up every day. i think volunteer work is extremely rewarding, fun, enjoyable and you not only have a purpose, but friends and no boss!

some people are not realistic and think that retirement means a forever vacation. this is false. we'd be luck to do just a little more than before retirement bc money will be less, tho we have the time. so we better think of some free-bees to keep us busy to balance the expensive things.


i think i will be able to balance the time. im not sure my husband will be as happy as he thinks he will be bc he bores so easily now. he would never dream of reading a book and feeling accomplished because of it. i will find pleasure in many things- he needs action to occupy him.

i say make sure you have a plan as far as how you will spend your time, who you will see, catch up on visits. enjoy music like you did when you were 16, kick your sox off and get rid of rigid ways. im right behind you!

i want to sit up and do a 5,000 piece puzzle til the sun comes up. i want to tell a friend ill be ready in 15 minutes and be out the door. i want all the little things to cunt again, and i hope they will for you too.

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