So, after about two months off the job, here is what I’ve found out about being retired.
I had a plan. The money was ready, the daily schedule was written, and the fun was ready to be had.
But, as someone once noted, “Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.”
The money: I had a 401k with enough in it (I thought) to last me a good while. What I found out was that it would last about twelve years at the amount that would let me live a bit extravagantly. So I toned that down, as I don’t know how long I’m going to last, but hopefully more than twelve years. Also, the way that the Dell 401k is set up, you cannot touch it for 30 days after you quit. I had to wait for that, roll it into an IRA, then go through Fidelity’s website to set up the automatic payments. Be aware of these limitations; they might apply to you.
However, Social Security was a breeze to set up; they handled most of it. And it should last until I die or the Republicans finally get their wish and kill it.
The schedule: Excel has a lot of forms and some of them are very useful and easy to set up. I have Office 2016 and when I open it there is an option to “Search online templates”. I searched for “schedule”, and found several templates. If you do this, just choose one that suits you.
So I got one and set it up and it looks really nice and after a month or so I was not really following it any more. What I found was that anything that didn’t fit in the schedule was a good excuse to abandon it for the day. Dentist appointments, people dropping by, a movie I wanted to see, anything could disrupt it. And who wants to live by a schedule when they don’t have to? Apparently, not me and I’ll bet, not you.
It’s not like I don’t have anything to do. Plenty of projects around the house and yard to keep me busy, plenty of TV to watch and DVDs to spin (I’m re-watching Heroes right now!); work on this website; binge the next Netflix series; go visit friends.
The fun: See above. I am not really into travelling that much. My idea of fun is building or upgrading computers, playing games (mostly RPGs; I don’t have the reflexes for most FPS’s, but I really do enjoy a good MMORPG) working in my greenhouse or just generally geeking out on stuff. You won’t find me on a golf course, unless it’s a virtual tee-off.
So, that’s where I am for now. I’ll followup from time to time. Let me know of you adventures in Disqus below.