If you ask many retired people what their life is like, they will probably tell you that they are as busy as ever. Every day is full of errands, shopping, household chores, yard work, TV and movies, club meetings, and all sorts of other things. Their calendars are filled with events, appointments, and get-togethers. After…
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While you have some control over the physical aging process with a healthy diet and moderate exercise, the fact that your body ages as you get older is inevitable. However, you have much greater control over your attitude towards aging. Here are ten steps you can take to cultivate a positive, youthful attitude at any…
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I’ve been retired for over seven years now. The newness and shininess of retirement has worn off, and I’m now well-settled into this chapter of my life. Work has receded into a distant memory. Has retirement turned out the way I thought it would? No. Has retirement turned out well anyway? Yes! Over the past…
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The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 has changed most aspects of our lives, in both subtle and dramatic ways. How we will celebrate the end-of-year holidays is no exception. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with other government and public health authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere, have emphatically requested that people stay…
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I like the word “retirement.” I always have. During my working years, the more I planned for and anticipated my retirement, the more I became optimistic about it. Don’t get me wrong. Retirement isn’t a panacea any more than everyday life during your working years is. There will be good days, bad days, and average…
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It’s July 21, 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic has been raging for at least four months now. I hope you are doing well and staying safe and sane, to the greatest extent possible. Aside from the immediate impacts of the pandemic, many other aspects of your life have been upended and changed in one way…
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The most popular article on RetireFabulously.com has been the mega-list of 100 Things You Can Do After You Retire. After all, there’s no reason to be bored after you retire. Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those activities aren’t feasible because they involve interacting with groups of people in potentially unsafe situations. But don’t…
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A couple weeks ago (mid-May, 2020), I was contacted by a writer for MarketWatch who was working on an article about “retiree resentment.” He was seeking input from experts on how retirees can reframe their resentment in a positive, proactive way. In order to give him the best information I could, I asked Retire Fabulously!…
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If you are like most of us, you probably don’t think much about how you will be remembered by your loved ones after you’re gone. But trust me – you will be missed and remembered more than you will ever know. Think about your loved ones who have already passed. Don’t you miss them? And…
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In the years that I have been writing and speaking about retirement lifestyles, I’ve had the opportunity to chat with and exchange emails with many people about their hopes and concerns as they anticipate their retirement. During one such exchange a few months ago, a reader told me, “I’m afraid to retire.” I suspect this…
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Regardless of whether or not you embrace the practice of making new year’s resolutions, the start of each new year presents an opportunity to reflect upon what went well and not so well during the past year. Of course, any time is a good time to assess your life in its current state and make…
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What is your definition of a successful retirement? Obviously, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Nor is there a right or wrong answer, although you could say that the best answer is a thought-out, well-defined answer that’s right for you, and the worst answer is no answer at all. Trying to define a successful retirement is…
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There’s a buffet restaurant a few miles from our home called Pacific Seafood Buffet. Most of the food is Asian, and the primary draw for us is the opportunity to eat all the sushi we care to eat for one price. Of course, there are a lot of other good dishes there too: tempura vegetables,…
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By now, you have almost certainly heard of the Bucket List. That’s a list of things you hope to experience before you pass away or “kick the bucket.” Perhaps you even have one. I do. I think they are a good idea. But while the concept of the Bucket List is good, it has its…
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Your retirement should be a time of fun, relaxation, and fulfillment. It is best enjoyed by living in the present. Still, there will be times when you will find yourself recalling memories from throughout your life and reflecting upon the life you have lived. During these times of recollection and reflection, why not take some…
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When you retire, a wide array of new possibilities becomes available to you. You have the opportunity to create a life that’s determined by your interests, desires and priorities, unencumbered by the constraint of having to earn a living. Yet many people don’t take advantage of the possibilities that retirement offers. They just continue with…
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When you retire from work, you retire from pressure, stress, deadlines, performance reviews, boring meetings, and that annoying guy down the aisle who spends all day making personal phone calls that everyone can hear. But you will also leave behind something that is more important than you may realize: human contact. While most of your colleagues probably aren’t…
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Hopefully, you are looking forward to retirement with eagerness and anticipation. You envision retirement as a well-deserved reward that you have earned with years of hard work. You are imagining all sorts of ways to fill your days once you are free from the constraints of work and your life is truly your own. But…
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As you get older, doesn’t it seem as though time passes faster and faster? That’s the perception most of us have, although intellectually we know that time passes at exactly the same speed. But perception counts for a lot. And based on that perception, twenty years of retirement will seem to pass much more quickly…
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Hopefully, by the time you retire you will have saved a sufficient amount of money to be able to live comfortably and do the things you want to do. But if you are facing retirement with less money than you would prefer, don’t despair. It’s important to remember that there’s a lot more to enjoying…
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We all know that we should exercise regularly and eat responsibly in order to stay healthy. The benefits are clear: you will live longer, you will have fewer doctor visits and lower medical bills, and you will be better able to travel and go about your daily routine. But sadly, according to the President’s Council…
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Do you have a bucket list? Hopefully, you have envisioned your retirement as a time to try new things, travel to places you have always wanted to go, and do the things you didn’t have time for during your working years. But will you actually get around to doing any of those things on your…
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At first, this may seem like a rhetorical question. After all, you won’t have to work anymore! You will no longer have to deal with pressure, deadlines, performance reviews, demanding customers, or annoying co-workers. You can shut off the alarm clock and get up when you want. And best of all, no more boss! (Well,…
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Do you have a bucket list? Is your bucket list just a vague, ever-changing set of ideas in your head, or do you actually have yours written down? As you look forward to all the things you might do to make your retirement fun and memorable, actually writing a list of things you want to…
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Do you ever wonder how you’ll be remembered after you die? At your memorial service and for years to come, what will others remember most about your life? What do you want people to remember about you and your life? Of course, you’ll be gone, so it may not matter that much to you. But…
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Your Retirement is a Journey, Not a Destination
Throughout your working years, you have probably viewed your retirement as a destination. It is a goal you are saving for and will hopefully reach one day. But once you reach this destination, then what? The perception of retirement as a destination may be why some people approach retirement with dread rather than anticipation. They…
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