Retirement, a New Beginning

skeeze / Pixabay

Standing in front of the Military Induction Center in Chicago, Illinois at 6:30 am, I had no thought I would retire on 26 January 2018 after 51 years, one month and 28 days. The years either in the US Navy or contracting to Navy affiliated organizations. So ends a phase of my life and the start to another.

I retired all of two days ago, yet I received questions for a week about my plans and feelings about retiring. “Will I miss working?” “How will you keep busy?” “What are your plans for retirement?” “What does your wife think of you retiring?”

Will I miss working? No, I will miss the people but not the stress of the office. The task I was fulfilling has moved from the design, through the development, and into final implementation. I am happy to leave the fine-tuning and adding new capabilities to the incoming staff.

Retirement Rving
MemoryCatcher / Pixabay

My plans center on family and enjoying life. My two children and seven grandchildren live next door or within a short distance. Other family, my wife’s, and mine are within a few days RV travel. Funds permitting, we will see them. Besides travel, there is a myriad of honey-dos to keep me busy for some time. Oh, almost forgot my woodworking tools are feeling lonely and would appreciate the attention. There is plenty to keep me busy.

Two days into retirement and I haven’t tired of it yet. I suspect I never will. Are you retired? Are you glad? If not retired, are you looking forward to it or dreading the day when you do? Tell me in comments.

6 Comments

  1. Congratulations!! Hopefully, I’ll see you more on Wana 🙂

    I’m not sure I’ll ever get to retire. Time will tell, but we had a decision to make many years ago. Be able to retire or choose to have a family. Couldn’t really afford both. Two kids later…

    • Dwane

      When I had two kids growing up, I feared I would never retire. Then they hit college age and I knew I wouldn’t. But they graduated and I was able to start saving a bit here and there. Over time, it added up and here I am in retirement. There is hope you will be there one day.

  2. Maureen LeBeau

    Our day of retirement is quickly approaching. Bruce turns 65 on 16 February 2018 and I will join him on 7 July 2018. Our decisions are not finalized yet as to when the retirement date will be but we definitely have plans for when it comes.
    RV’ing is a positive and some travel throughout the USA.
    Hopefully we will see you on the road soon.

    • Dwane

      Wonderful to hear others considering the big jump into retirement. I had the option at 66 (full social security) but my job was very interesting and challenging. I finally accepted there were other things to do than work when I neared 70. My father worked until he was too ill to work. I always said I refused to do the same. So, I am retired and still able to enjoy it.
      This week has been interesting. Getting up and not going to the office was not a big change since it felt like a vacation. I am sure as the weeks pass, I will begin to fill more like retired.
      We are planning a trip to Virginia Beach, VA in March. My granddaughter has a soccer tournament there, and it seemed a good reason to fire up the RV. The only other trip firmed is in July to Corpus Christi, Tx. We go down to visit her parents and brother’s gravesite the last week of July.
      My Uncle Don Harris lives in Alba, Texas so we visit him on the same trip. My Aunt Helen, most called her Jeanette, passed just before Christmas.
      We talk of other trips but still getting a feel on how retirement affects money flow. Confident there will be more trips but haven’t put them on the calendar.
      I am sure we can arrange to meet on the road when we are all free-wheeling!

  3. Pingback: Retirement Party |

  4. Pingback: StoryWorth—How has Your Life Plan Been Different than Expected | Musings of Dwane Knott

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