# How do you build a fulfilling retirement?



## Dufresne (Mar 4, 2015)

Hi all,

I spend lots of time calculating and crunching the numbers to get to my ideal retirement income at age 60, nine years from now.

I really don't know how to go about planning for what I will actually want to do once i get there. My children came later in my life, so they will just be finishing up university when I retire. My wife is seven years younger than I

When i imagine what it looks like and what I'm doing, I picture myself exercising, golfing, keeping up the maintenance on my home, and hanging out with family and friends.

I'm not sure how i will fill my days. I hope the picture gets clearer for me as I get older and closer to my retirement age. 

So, how will you build a life after work, or if you are already retired, how did you find happiness/fulfillment?

I want to stay active and engaged, appreciate nature, and maintain excellent health for as long as i can.


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## lightcycle (Mar 24, 2012)

What do you like to do today? Why can't you do more of that when you're retired? What have you always wanted to do but never had time? Why should your interests be any different then than they are now?

You're still the same person, except that you have 8-10 hours more per day to do the stuff that you are doing right now.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

Dufresne said:


> So, how will you build a life after work, or if you are already retired, how did you find happiness/fulfillment?


One option is to start looking into activities/hobbies that you're interested in now, it'll give you a better idea of the time and money involved to really pursue them when you are retired.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

Look at what you do on the weekend and what you run out of time to finish on Sundays? That will spill over into Mondays and Tuesdays. The add some interests for Wed-Fri. Example: I walk every MWF and then to go breakfast with my walking buddies. I still use the weekends to catchup.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

I've been watching the way some of the staff from my workplace (& others) retire and make this lifestyle change.
One fellow suggested not to retire simultaneously with the other spouse, but to "stagger" the retirement dates.
Others have done a large amount of work *before* retiring so that retirement is less abrupt, and more seamless. Some are taking advantage of the "Life-Long Learning tax incentive" - that is, they are going back to university to study this or that - sometimes for use in a p/t job, others just for fun. others are travelling. a few continue to work p/t. 
Many folks who do retire, I've seen, take an unpaid year off from work to "try-out" the transition - then, if it goes well - they cut the ties for good. We have an interesting 5 yr pgm here where an worker can take 80% of their pay for 5yrs, and take the 6th yr off with the banked 20% per year -that way you are taxed in a lower bracket and there is little change to ones income for the 1st yr of retirement.


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

Read this book:

http://www.erniezelinski.com/How-to-Retire-Happy,-Wild,-and-Free.html


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## OldPro (Feb 25, 2015)

There's a saying Dufresne which is, 'you can't see there from here'. It's very applicable to retirement I think. You can only see the world from your current perspective and trying to see beyond the horizon is really just speculation. 

Things change when you retire. Some take to it like a duck to water and for others it is difficult. Generally, people who have little in the way of interests outside of their work and who see their selfworth as being based on their job title have more trouble than someone who when asked 'how was your vacation?', always answered 'too short'. I'm sure you get the picture.

I've been retired for 26 years now. I can tell you that for me, how I fill my days has never been a problem. There's another saying you may be familiair with. 'Work expands to fill time available.' The same applies in retirement. Instead of having to get a project done in a weekend (paint a room for example) you take more time doing it. You do a better job of painting the trim for example or you give the walls a second coat because you could have got away with one but it will look better with two. 

I always remember in my early years of retirement, ending up on a Greek island and going to a local 'kafenion' (coffee shop/bar/hangout) for coffee in the village where I ended up living. At first, going for a coffee was a 20 minute time user. The locals laughed at me. Eventually over time I learned that going for coffee was not about drinking a coffee. It was about socializing and discussing and solving all the worlds problems. You can't do that in 20 minutes. It takes several hours at least. Kcowan is telling you the same thing.

You learn what 'taking time to smell the roses' really means.


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## Userkare (Nov 17, 2014)

I've been retired for just under a year. For me, the time seems to be flying by. My biggest fear was that I would be bored if I didn't have to go to work M-F; but that hasn't been the case. 

Staying fit is important to me. In the summer months when I was at work, I had a spare bike stored in the office. During lunch hour, I would cycle ~10Km to a park beside the Ottawa River and have a light lunch before heading back to work. I couldn't really enjoy it so much because I knew there was a time limit. Now, I'll do a 20Km or 40Km trip along a bike trail before lunch, and take my time, enjoying the scenery. Even if I have a home maintenance project to do later in the day, I'm not rushed because there's no rigid schedule. In the winter, I shovel the snow off my 200' long driveway myself. If there's less than a few inches, I'll use a shovel; for deeper or heavier snow, I'll use a blower. When I was working, I dreading going out before dawn to clear the snow, and just wanted to get it done quickly so I could get to work on time. Now, I don't care if it takes me a couple of hours; it's great to be outdoors in the crisp clean air. 

So, as others have said, in retirement you can do the same things you do now in your spare time - only more of it, and less rushed.


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## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

I don't as much see myself occupying my time with family and friends, although I'm sure that will happen to a certain degree. I also don't see myself on the golf course, unless I want to take my anger out by throwing my clubs as far as I possibly can ... yes I've dreamed of doing that ... HATE the fact that the game of golf hates me LOL. 

What I do see myself doing is taking University level courses, mostly targeting learning new languages and cultures. I'm also looking forward to some travelling in unique locations, far away from beaches. The two goals really go hand-in-hand.


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

I'm more recently retired and can only relate what has happened with me and how I prepared. First off I absolutely think retirement is great. I don't know how I worked and had time to get things done before. 

I first moved from working F/T to P/T. That was a good transition plan and my wife had fully retired around the same time. When I began feeling more interest in staying home and less commitment to work I fully retired after about 30 months. I also had spent a good of time thinking about how I would utilize my time and read numerous books before stopping work fully. I made activity lists for both common things and things I wanted to do/try new, and for different seasons. I made bucket lists for travel. This is always a work in progress as things get dropped/done and new things get added. 

For me a fair bit of what I'm doing is the same things I did away from work, which of course I enjoyed. They just take a lot more time. I also read a lot more. I surf the web more. I exercise more. My motorcycle rides go longer. I do more home projects. We walk the beach more. We go on hikes and picnics more. I stop and talk to people all the time during a run, when I'm out during errands etc. I NEVER used to do that. We planned to travel a lot. I guess that happened since we have/will be away 21 weeks of the first 52. Now I really have to hustle when I'm home to get all those projects done and look after everything. Guess what- it all seems to take more time now. 

If you're someone who is used to dealing with change, problems, planning and are flexible you'll do fantastic. Don't worry at all about how your time will be filled. If you aren't it may take more work to stay occupied and fulfilled, but if you work at it you'll make it happen. IMO, spending time around other people is important so if friends and family are available that sounds like a great plan.

Oh, and did I say how much I enjoy retirement.... I really, really do.


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## Jorob199r (Sep 4, 2014)

I'm going to spend my retirement non stop cycling+travelling, especially when I'm younger and still fit. It can be very economical if you can rough it a bit.


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## Homerhomer (Oct 18, 2010)

OldPro said:


> I always remember in my early years of retirement, ending up on a Greek island and going to a local 'kafenion' (coffee shop/bar/hangout) for coffee in the village where I ended up living. At first, going for a coffee was a 20 minute time user. The locals laughed at me. Eventually over time I learned that going for coffee was not about drinking a coffee. It was about socializing and discussing and solving all the worlds problems. You can't do that in 20 minutes. It takes several hours at least. Kcowan is telling you the same thing.
> 
> .


have you tried explaining to them how Tim Hortons drive through work ;-) 
I know those village kafenions quite well, what a different life style ;-)


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## OldPro (Feb 25, 2015)

Oh I could tell you stories Homerhomer.

Once I was expecting a rather important letter from Canada (divorce papers LOL) and kept checking my mail box every day. Then I noticed that no mail was arriving for my landlord either. So I went and asked my landlord if the Post Office was on strike or something. He said and I am quoting, 'It's August, the mailman takes his vacation in August.' 

In his way of thinking, that was all he needed to say. He expected me to understand that if the mailman is on vacation, you cannot expect to get mail delivery. You just way till he returns. In the lands where fast food and drive throughs were invented (N. America), people have no concept of what 'laid back' actually means.

Now imagine what happened when I had to phone my soon to be Ex and told her she would have to have her lawyer courier the papers to me to be signed because the mailman was on vacation. It took some convincing to get her to believe me. ;-)


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

???


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

Good for you 1980, that is a lot of acres!

Too much angst about retirement, I'm 62 this summer still doing part time work, but really I (mentally) don't feel any different than when I was 29

It's a big world out there, go for it!


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

????


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> I really don't know how to go about planning for what I will actually want to do once i get there. My children came later in my life, so they will just be finishing up university when I retire. My wife is seven years younger than I


I have a similar thoughts  Turning 49 this year... planning to retire at 55 (ideally it would be if i get laid off, should get pretty nice pacjage + IE for almost a year).... Our son is already 2nd year university, daughter at grade 8....so when i will be 50, she will be 2nd-3rd year university...
The problem (except income) ...my wife is younger than me by 8.5 years and I don't think she would like to retire at 46-47 ... my biggest wish when retired is to travel around the world and long term vacations.... but if my wife will be still working, we can go abroad only for 1 month per year...that actually what we are doing already 
As an option, my wife mentioned, that when I retire, she would like to find some kind of contract job in Europe or Australia...she is working in Architecture department in one of the biggest Canadian banks... she frequently getting offers from other Canadian banks and other high tech cimpanies like Amazon... the question how complicated for canadian citizen to find contract work in other countries...


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Here is pic of shore line


Wow! Very nice shore....expecially I like this small waterfall.... where is it? Maybe we need to go to vacation there  How warm the water in summer? Is it possible to swim?


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

???


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

Although my career was extremely time-consuming, I always felt it to be important to develop a litany of hobbies and interests outside of my job. I didn't have nearly the time to enjoy these things to their fullest extent. I had always had early retirement in mind, so I knew that one day I would be free to pursue them without any hindrance whatsoever. 

It has been wonderful so far...and I'm really just getting started.


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## Dufresne (Mar 4, 2015)

Jon_Snow said:


> Although my career was extremely time-consuming, I always felt it to be important to develop a litany of hobbies and interests outside of my job. I didn't have nearly the time to enjoy these things to their fullest extent. I had always had early retirement in mind, so I knew that one day I would be free to pursue them without any hindrance whatsoever.
> 
> It has been wonderful so far...and I'm really just getting started.


Thank you all for your thoughful replies and input.

Jon, in reading some of your other posts, I realize that you have been really disiplined about directing the most that you can towards your retirement nesteggs. I've recently come to the realization that my ideal approach would be to create a lifestlye today from the employment income we have, and maintain that throughout retirement. My needs are pretty simple, although we are increasing our debt level currently to fund some long needed home renovations and decor/furniture.


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