RETIREMENT PRIMER (?) When Hubster and i were thinking about retiring to Costa Rica (or elsewhere), we went on a "retirement tour" with Christopher Howard. It was interesting and informative but didn't address all that you might want to know about retirement. In the four years that we've lived here, and the five years since the tour, we have learned more about retirement and how to "do it right". While this is individual to an extent, there are some guidelines that help (or at least helped us!)to have the best retirement experience.>>>>>>>Retirement is more than just not going to work one day and doing so the next day and those thereafter. Yes, there may be a retirement party for you at the end of your employment but retirement really should start before this. Planning is importants, as is flexibility when that initial plan need to be tweaked.>>>>>>>Work/career gives us each identity. A purpose. A role. A focus to our lives. When you no longer have that, it's an adjustment. No longer are you "Lisa, the recovery room nurse"...you're now just "lisa...the ???". It's important that one thinks about this ahead of time. What other things do i have in life other than my job/career identity? What other "labels" do i apply to myself? What is important to me?>>>>> Another consideration is that of time. What the devil are you going to do all the live-long day when you don't have the structure of work? Even working part-time, work gave me some structure to my life. I worked some days at the hospital and other days did the support activities of my life. Sewing, reading, yoga/hiking, church and social activities...i was fairly busy. When there was no work anymore, every day was a weekend. This is something to think about. Part of what makes a weekend so _sweet_ is the break from obligation and routine. When every day is a weekend, the push to be productive is not there. It's harder to get motivated to do the five loads of laundry that you would do on your day "off" when there isn't that pressure to get it done before you have to go back to the work grind. Weekend cleaning sprees? The house never gets completely cleaned, top-to-bottom, because it never gets so messy. Working, it was easy to overlook the crumbs on the floor, the smear of toothpaste on the vanity, the grease on the stove exhaust fan.>>>>> And, balancing a budget when there is _no money coming in_ every week or two is also a challenge. Yes, there is a fine line to walk between "i don't want to have more life than money" and "i have to have a life". Do you take the social security at 62-1/2 or hold out for the bigget payment by waiting until you're 70? Do you stop traveliing and stay home (save money!) or take the opportunity to do all those trips that you would have done earlier but had to get the time off work? Do you remodel the house? Do you move?>>>>> And then, there is the consideration of how you're going to fill your days. I found that my life is _more_ structured now than before i retired. I have a routine and heaven-forbid that anything throws it off too much. With age, comes a degreee of inflexibility. It is easier to stay up until 1:00 doing whatever and sleep in the next day here and there as a 26yo than as a 56 year old. Starting the day a hour late throws off the whole day, actually. Yes, i have all day to do what i do in the morning but i find that if i don't do things in the order that i usually do, it is more difficult to get to them. I can be flexible to point. As long as i can fit things into my general framework.>>>>>>> There is also the question of friends and family. In the four years that Joe and i have lived in Costa Rica, we have met a number of people. And, as i was counting this morning, had more nearly ten of them die. Yes, we did retire younger than many so our friends are a bit older than we are but still. We continue to make new friends (and some younger ones, just in case!) but recognize that this is the evolution of a social life. First the weddings...the the baby showers...then the birthday parties...then the funerals. I haven't been to a wedding in years.....or baby shower or child's birthday party. But, i have been to funerals (and expect that this will be the next time that i see many in our friend/family network). People get together for life events and, at 56 and into the 70's and 80's (our friends and family), it's just expected that this will be the outcome. So...eat the cake! drink the mimosa now! (gotta die of something, said Grandpa Larry many times). >>>>>>>We also on the tour explored areas of Costa Rica to see where/if we wanted to relocate. We came back twice to be sure of the location then rented to be extra-super sure. And still, bought a house earlier than we had intended and have had to do a lot to make it "perfect" (with contractors coming again over the next two days...four years into owning this "dream house"). Even my mother and Jim, after living in the same "dream house" in Crawfordsville chose to relocate in their _real_ retirement (Mom went back and forth to work for years). Moving ia always a challenge but all the more so when you're not 26yo and living out of a one-bedroom apartment.>>>>>>>This brings us to the final (i hope...this has been a long posting!! good on your for still reading!) consideration. The amount of "stuff" you have acquired in your life on this planet is overwhelming when you move into retirement, even if you don't move house but all the more so if you do. So much that you "needed" before, you find that you don't now. A lot of what you wanted/surrounded yourself with is just extra. You find that you have so much stuff that you own that the stuff now owns you. The upkeep is bothersome. An example? We got rid of our "everyday dishes" and use the "fancy china" all the time. Have a couple pieces gotten chipped or broken? Yes. But why use it only twice a year? We still have champagne glasses/goblets from our wedding in 1991 that are still in the boxes!!! What a waste!! And all those "fancy clothes"? I haven't worn heels in the time we've been here. I'm doing good if i wear shoes at all. Yoga pants, capris and tee-shirts or smocks are the usual daily "uniform". Pura Vida. >>>>So, your retirement will look different than mine, different than that of your friends and different that you expect. It gets better (first it gets crazy and hard).... live a life! Have some fun! And eat the cake at your retirement party...and every other day that you wish. You're retired...no sense in depriving yourself of any joy!