Finally Retired ... Now What?

[356]

Well, last week I finally sold the business to my partner and now I have officially retired. Bit of a strange feeling as the business for 20 years consumed every aspect of my life and took priority over everything else. The business served a global customer base so it was never a 9-5 job, and required planning, organizing, conference calls, virtual meetings & presentations 24-7. I have given sales presentations and conducted customer training & equipment trouble at all hours night & day. Making payroll, cash flow, hitting sales #'s, pacifying unreasonable customers, product development & launch, finding & developing markets, managing sales channels, profitability, negotiating contracts, & employee issues had been the constant fire drill & grind.

It has been a good ride and most days I enjoyed it, some I questioned my sanity. While I have always been an organizer and goal driven, I am now looking at having to recreate a new life post work. I tend to like structure and projects, but also now want the flexibility and time to make things fun. Trust me, the wife already has started a honey do list for me

Have a bunch of projects and home items that need work, then there is the habitat stuff. Will be nice to go to the farm and have a whole week to do a project, plant trees, etc. rather than just a day and a half. Looking forward to the ability to hunt when the conditions are right, not just on the weekend.

So I am looking for some ideas on what some of you have done that have been interesting and added to your experience. I know the conventional like golfing, fishing, travel, etc. Just looking for some interesting perspectives.

So let's hear your thoughts?

Give back during retirement. Volunteer for churches or organizations that you believe in. Mentor at least one person per year who is new to hunting, fishing and conservation.

 

[Tree Spud]

I have found things take me longer to do. Not because I'm old, because I'm not, but now I have the time to be a perfectionist, and I was pretty uptight about stuff before.

Anyway, Enjoy it!

That is one thing I am looking to change is rather than rushing through projects on a Saturday, take the time to learn about what i want to do and do it well, buy the right tools, etc. Keep the mind active by learning.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

That is one thing I am looking to change is rather than rushing through projects on a Saturday, take the time to learn about what i want to do and do it well, buy the right tools, etc. Keep the mind active by learning.

Do you have sugar maples on your property? Take up sugaring in the spring? Great thing to do with friends and family in late Feb. and March when things can be dreary. You might recall that I teach a timber frame class at my local high school....maybe read a few books and watch a few Youtube vids and build yourself a beautiful timber frame sugar house, shed, barn? Great skills to learn. You'll have fun buying some new specialized tools. Could even use timber off your farm...that would make it realy special.

 

[gwm]

Congrats on the retirement!

 

[Tree Spud]

Do you have sugar maples on your property? Take up sugaring in the spring? Great thing to do with friends and family in late Feb. and March when things can be dreary. You might recall that I teach a timber frame class at my local high school....maybe read a few books and watch a few Youtube vids and build yourself a beautiful timber frame sugar house, shed, barn? Great skills to learn. You'll have fun buying some new specialized tools. Could even use timber off your farm...that would make it realy special.

No sugar maples, but growing apples to make sauce & cider eventually some day. I have seen your timber frame work, very impressive!

 

[tooln]

First of all Congratulations.
Second get the wife's honey do list DONE.
Then find something you like doing. Sometimes it will just fall into place. That's what happened to me. I wanted to make myself a knife, just 1, just for myself. It turned into what it has now. I have made over 125 in the past 2.5 years. Have have then in several states from coast to coast. It keeps me busy and it's something I really enjoy. I'm sure you find something to keep you busy. Most of all enjoy retirement.

 

[g squared 23]

In my clinical experience, the elderly people that don’t exercise are the ones that get old fast. Diet helps too, but is less critical if you workout. The best looking 80 year I ever saw (that looked 60) exercised one hour per day, 7 days a week.

I’d recommend alternating barbell training (3 days a week) and cardio. If you can squat your body weight, you can do about anything physically. We tend to atrophy as we age, but you can fight that effectively if you train.

If I retired tomorrow, I’d set a few written goals for the next year, something achievable but meaningful. Some personal, interpersonal, spiritual and physical to show myself that I’ve grown and made progress.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rocksnstumps]

No sugar maples, but growing apples to make sauce & cider eventually some day. I have seen your timber frame work, very impressive!

Hope to do a bit of cider making with my apples at some point myself.

Maybe go to some orchards/cider place as you travel to some region of the country and try to meet the actual growers. Had a fantastic visit with one of the owners of Albemarle Cider Works in VA this last yr. Just stopped cause not too far out of the way when going out to visit brother and do a bit of tuna fishing. Started talking with a young fella one of the assistant cider makers and the owner shows up. Instead of tearing his assistant away he sits down for 1-1/2 hrs and talked all sorts about apples. You get these guys going about apples they don't wanna stop either.

 

[SwampCat]

Dont try to do everything you have been wanting to do in the first couple of months. I hurt my back two months into retirement. I went crazy the first few months “getting things done” I had put off. You are retired - do a little bit of “taking it easy”

 

[Catscratch]

Congrats and well done!

Fitness. It fills several of your requirements for structure, routine, discipline, goal orientated, etc. For example; find a marathon you want to complete (maybe 8 months away), register for it, get a training plan, dedicate an hour or two a day to training, develop a goal time, adjust your diet, weigh yourself often, and compete it. Of course running might not be your thing but there's a lot of fitness type things that would fill your needs.

 

[Tree Spud]

You sound like a do’er, and in short order you will be tempted to get involved in another smaller business - so you don‘t get bored. Take my wife’s advice and wait until you get bored to take such a step. Otherwise you might lose this great opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor. After an early retirement we traveled extensively, and I took flying lessons, etc. 16 years later and still not bored.

Mad, I hear what you are saying. I was worried about the same thing. I have no interest in getting involved in another business venture. Sort of like an aging pro athlete not knowing when it is time to walk away and letting their ego get the best of them.

 

[Telemark]

Mad, I hear what you are saying. I was worried about the same thing. I have no interest in getting involved in another business venture. Sort of like an aging pro athlete not knowing when it is time to walk away and letting their ego get the best of them.

Pro athletes lost athletic ability due to aging. For you, your cumulative life skills and experience are likely to give you an edge and give you a better chance of succeeding. I wouldn't sell yourself short. If you want to do it, you probably can do it. But if you're just not interested in the hassle, then that's a good reason to not bother with it. In any case, consider mentoring a young person looking to get into something similar to what you did. That kind of help would probably make a huge difference and mean the world to them.

 

[Mortenson]

Congrats Spud! Do some consulting! Haha, jk, sorta. Seems you're already the type guy who has a fair amount of interests and things to keep you busy. I'd just wing it for a while and see what comes up. Maybe go out for a few more meals with your wife than you used to. If there's a trip or two that you guys always wanted to take, I'd consider doing them sooner than later. Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us. Health issues are more frequent in the majority of people with each passing year. Echoing others, maybe consider light exercise and learning new, low carb recipes. I know you're a mountain climbing, moose slaying beast, so you're probably already on top of all that stuff. Personally I won't be pounding pavement in marathons when I'm a senior, nor will I be doing barbell deadlifts and squats, but I agree with the point of staying fit and doing the right moves. I remember when the doctor told my grandpa, "use it or lose it Louie."

Hobbies, hmm. I usually like to stay inside my comfort zones. Do you shoot a lot? Reloading? Make a better gun range? Do you process all your own meats? Professionally score deer racks for all the monsters in your part of the world. That's a nice, easy hobby which allows you to see some big deer. Build a few more box blinds. I see the honey bee thread stays pretty active here. Nothing better than fresh honey. My folks are upper 70s. My mom wants to take that Great Lakes cruise this summer. Not sure if that's your type thing. If my dad won't go with her, maybe I will, lol. Make a bigger garden, if you're wanting more work.

 

[Foggy47]

Congrats on your retirement!

Been mostly retired for 20 years now. I say mostly.....because after selling my business......I sorta did a "phase out" by starting a home biz and designing some new products on a part-time basis as a consultant.....before the '08 economy tanked my home based biz interests. Blessing in disguise for us? I didn't really want to work anymore I suppose.

At first I'd spend hours each day managing investments and figuring out our financial future. I did OK with it....but was glad to get rid of that "job" and get on board with a decent financial planner to free up my time.

I'd say that if you cultivate a good hobby that you can spend some time with ......you will be a happy camper. At one point shooting and reloading was my hobby.....at another point retriever training was my hobby. I thought I would fish....but dont enjoy that "idle time" like I once did. Now it's managing my deer land and golf that I spend time with. Golf is a great social game.....and you can meet lots of good people everywhere with golf. So can you with other hobbies I suppose. My wife was never the athletic type....but even she learned to like golf allot. (Takes some work and perserverance for some of us.)

We struggled a bit at first at retirement, but did some bike trails, and lots of travel for a few years. Also, had lots to do at my land with logging projects and food plot improvements. I usually spend two days at my deer property each week in the summer. I like mechanical stuff and putzing with that. That provides pretty good physical exertion and some planning time, etc. We are at the lake in summers so have access to the water and family comes for visits and "lake time."

We have somewhat of a home gym and get some cardio on most days.....and in the winter we are in AZ where they have a fitness center and golf courses which both get used extensively. Much to do here. We have some social groups at both places so we get out to dinner and house parties on occasion. Fun. The earlier advice on physical condition is spot-on. We slowly lose our ability to do things that we seldom gave a thought about in the past.

We're getting up in years now and both of us have now accumulated some health issues that take some time at doctors and rehab, etc. We don't feel like travel is important to us as it once was. Too much risk of a bad condition spoiling the trip.....and travel is not what it used to be for us....and has gotten more dangerous with time. Still.....we are planning some USA travel.

 

[SwampCat]

First of all Congratulations.
Second get the wife's honey do list DONE.
Then find something you like doing. Sometimes it will just fall into place. That's what happened to me. I wanted to make myself a knife, just 1, just for myself. It turned into what it has now. I have made over 125 in the past 2.5 years. Have have then in several states from coast to coast. It keeps me busy and it's something I really enjoy. I'm sure you find something to keep you busy. Most of all enjoy retirement.

I have been retired 12 years - and in my experience, the wife's honey do list is not a static thing. The more you work it, the faster it grows!

 

[Foggy47]

 

[Brian662]

17 years left for me so I don't have anything to add other than -CONGRATS!!

 

[Bill]

I have been retired 12 years - and in my experience, the wife's honey do list is not a static thing. The more you work it, the faster it grows!

 

[cavey]

congrats ! its a good problem ...

 

[NT179]

Congrats on your retirement. I worked in a paper mill for 31 years til they shut down 5 years before my retirement. Had a few guys tell me they weren't going to do anything when they retired and went to their funeral a short time later. We have to keep moving,have a purpose in life but now it's our purpose,not someone's else's. That's the great thing having land,there's no end to having a reason to get out of bed. Habitat work ,cutting trees and replanting them. Berry picking, campfires,no end to it. I feel sorry for those that are bored .