RETIREMENT IS WONDERFUL!

Before retiring, I initially focused my research mainly on the non-financial aspects of retirement and found plenty of reading material online. There are many websites and blogs on the topic, as well as a number of books. I even bought a few Kindle books on Amazon, and that’s how my exciting journey toward early retirement began.

True to my nature, I processed all this overwhelming information in my mind and filtered it down to practical, useful insights. Before long, I learned three big truths about retirement, especially early retirement:

• The biggest promoters of early retirement often downplay the financial aspect in favor of the joys of retired life. Much of what they say may be true, but you still need enough money to live on after retirement. (See my posts on much is needed to retire, and how to get there.)

• A professional financial advisor certainly has a role to play in your retirement planning, but beware: According to their calculations, chances are you’ll never have enough to retire, especially not early! Also remember that financial advisors work on a fee basis, often as a percentage of your investments, regardless of how well those investments perform. The more you understand the financial side of retirement yourself, the better equipped you’ll be to negotiate fee structures.

• Talk to people who have already retired. Ask about both their post-retirement lifestyle and their finances. With all due respect, people in their 30s or even 40s know too little about retirement to offer meaningful insight.

What I’ve now learned from my own experience is this: Being retired is much more enjoyable than working!

Retirement gave me the opportunity to enjoy life far more than I ever expected. Suddenly, physical and mental health, as well as a strong support system of a spouse, children, family, and friends, started to matter more than the job status and income that once seemed so important. Retirement is a perfect opportunity to become the person you always wanted to be, and to finally do the things you always wanted to do.

Without full-time work, there’s simply more time for personal, marital, social, family, and creative activities. It’s up to you to shape a lifestyle that’s as relaxed, active, or creative as you want it to be. After three to four decades of working full-time, there are so many exciting opportunities to discover and develop in retirement. You get to decide what to do and when to do it, avoiding what you dislike, and doing more of what brings you joy.

Retirement literally gives you the freedom to get up when you want, go to bed when you want, and in between, work or play at your own pace. Pure bliss! Retirement should leave you smiling permanently.

That said, you won’t find true satisfaction or fulfillment by lying around doing nothing all day. If you don’t plan for the next 20–30 years (or more), you’re setting yourself up for a rough time. To be truly happy in retirement, you need to find yourself and stay active and creative.

If you haven’t planned your finances well before retirement (more on that in other posts), you may find yourself constantly stressed about all the enriching activities you can’t do due to financial limits. If you haven’t planned your lifestyle properly, you might end up having worked your whole life to build a sizable nest egg, only to waste your golden years on dull and meaningless inactivity.

Set up a retirement plan early, one that includes not just your finances, but also your interests, dreams, skills, health, relationships, and marital status. Then, after retirement, actively work on living out and improving that plan.

A few more perks of retirement include:

• You can get up or nap whenever you want.

• You can learn new skills or try new hobbies.

• You no longer have to face traffic every day.

• You can go on vacation whenever it suits you, especially off-season, when it's cheaper.

• You can also spend much more time with family and friends.

• And an underrated bonus: pensioner discounts everywhere!

For me, the best part of retirement is that there are far fewer obligations and far more voluntary activities. You no longer have to keep a boss or manager happy, and you no longer need to constantly supervise subordinates. You’re free from deadlines, corporate performance reviews, and best of all, no one expects you to keep “proving” yourself anymore. Once again: retirement should make you smile… every single day.

And if travel is part of your retirement plan (which I highly recommend!), remember to prioritize it earlier in retirement, while you still have the energy and good health for it. Overseas trips especially require a good dose of both physical and mental stamina, so it makes sense to pack in as many as possible while you’re still relatively young and strong.