Retirement may be headed your way. However, maybe you’re not looking forward to it as much as you should be. If you’re a workaholic, retiring can be met with a little bit of trepidation, but you shouldn’t worry. Retiring frees you up for a whole lot of fun. So, for those of you nearing this milestone, here are some of the things you have waiting for you.
Time is your own!
Time! That’s the first thing that you’ll notice. No one will be telling you what to do; there’s no alarm to wake up to; you can do what you want! With all this time, you can enhance your social life. If you are considering assisted living programs, your social life can still be to your liking. You will have a whole lot more freedom compared to what you had when you answered to a boss.
Go traveling
With more time, you have the freedom to do what you want. This can mean finally visiting somewhere that previously you only dreamed of. At this juncture, you’re likely to have a lot of savings built up, so it’s about time you jetted off on that perfect holiday. Open up an airline website and take a look at the different destinations and buy a ticket!
Find a new passion
There’s a recurring theme here – time! With more time, you’ll be able to start a new hobby or continue on with one that maybe you dropped because you had no time. Learn how to play a musical instrument, discover a new language, or pick up that paintbrush and begin to paint again. Whatever it is, let it spark joy and passion in your life.
Get social
Being retired also means you can get more social. This can be through a myriad of different activities. Maybe you like to go down to your local and grab a pint with friends. It could be something more active like joining a hikers club or even simply going to the local bingo hall for some fun and games, and maybe a win or two.
Stay healthy
Now is also the time for you to take care of yourself. If you’ve let yourself go a bit, why not kick start some healthier habits; you’ll feel the benefits of it in the long run. For instance, you can make sure you get walking instead of bussing or driving. Maybe change up your diet, taking the time to meal prep, ensuring you get your five-a-day.
Start a small business
Many people like to use the additional time in retirement to start businesses that they never had the chance to do earlier in life. Perhaps you love art and have always wanted to start selling paintings on Etsy; now is a great time to start a small business doing something that you love, and it can be an ideal method for bringing in money during your retirement too. If you are retired and miss having something to do, there are plenty of great small business opportunities that you can run from the comfort of your own home, in your own time.
Spend more time with family
Retirement is the best time to enjoy your family more, strengthen your relationships with children, grandchildren, and other family members, and make those closest to you a priority. If you’ve struggled to find the time to see your family often so far because you’ve been working and upholding other commitments a lot, this can all change once you are retired. You can spend more time babysitting grandchildren or even book family vacations together, now that you’ve got the time.
Reinvent yourself
Retirement is your time to enjoy – and if that means reinventing yourself, there has never been a better time than the present to do anything you like. Move to a new area, get a new hairstyle and color, or buy a car that you’ve always wanted – the choice is yours, and with all this time on your hands and no work constraints to worry about, you really can let loose and live the life that you’ve always wanted, no matter what that looks like.
Learn something new
Have you always wanted to learn how to design a website? Make your own soap? Sew your own clothes? Do more DIY around the house? Whatever you want to learn, you’ve got the time to do it in retirement. And the best part is that there are tons of online courses available where you can learn a myriad of new things. Retirement in the age of information is better than ever because you’re never short of new things to learn.
Revamp your home
Have you been looking at the walls in your living room for years, wondering when you’re going to get the time to paint them? Now that you’re retired, you’re going to be spending more time at home than ever before, so it’s the perfect time to get started on all those DIY renovation jobs you’ve been struggling to find the time for so far and create the home environment that you’ve always wanted. Whether you want to change your home extensively or just do touch-ups, you don’t have to let marks on the walls or an untidy garden bother you anymore, because you’ve got plenty of time to deal with them.
Enjoy yourself
However, the real thing you can look forward to when you retire is that you’ll simply be able to enjoy yourself. You can spend more time with your partner or your extended family. Importantly, you’ll be able to choose how you spend your day and something that simple can just be amazing, especially if you’ve had to work most of your life.
Think about it! You can make plans, wake up in the morning, and if it’s raining, just say no. There’s no better feeling than that. You’ll also never have to deal with the hassle of getting to work in the mornings – traffic? No, that’s gone too. In short, all those annoyances vanish, leaving you to enjoy life to the fullest all over again.