Community Chat

[mdgrammy]

I've been retired for 10 yrs. I'm 62 now and babysit my youngest grandson and take care of my live in 80 yr old mother.  My husband runs his own business and I do all the 

banking, paperwork, taxes....

I keep very busy..

I've been called the sandwich generation taking care of the youngest and the oldest. 
I'm thankful I can!

[RoughDraft]

My husband and I both retired early because we could.  After being posed that question for about the tenth time, I simply told them we really weren't retired in the true sense.  We had taken on new careers.  When they asked what those careers might be, we responded with, "If we told you, we might have to kill you."

[fairydogmother]

Just wanted to add that as seventy yr old retirees, we have plenty of medical and dental appts to fill a lot of calendar spaces. That's the downside. I often have plan my fun activities around those. I guarandamtee you that when ppl ask what you do all day, an "organ recital" and a detailed account of all your medical appointments will have them backing away. Permanently 🤣😂😆

[LuvSoCal]

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@PickyPicky3 wrote:

About five years before I retired, one of my oldest friends told me she found retirees so boring she couldn't stand being around them. And sure enough, when I retired she cut me off.

@PickyPicky3  Are you and this ex-friend about the same age? I'm thinking she might be jealous of those who retire because she can't afford to.

I cannot imagine ending a long standing friendship just because your work status changed.

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[LuvSoCal]

Within the last few months I have run in to ex-employees and other acquaintances who I haven't seen for awhile, and it kind of surprises me when they ask what I've been doing.  I, usually say, "Well, the last couple of years, not much.  Before that, I was going to Pilates classes, going to various types of live performances, going to lunch/dinner with friends, reading, reading reading, shopping, shopping, shopping and whatever else I want to do.  Except for reading and shopping (on-line) the pandemic pretty much put an end to those activities, but I'm starting to make up for lost time"!

[eadu4]

     Let me preface this by apologizing to EVERY retired person I was "RUDE" to by asking what do you do all day after they retired.  My retired friends have asked me repeatedly "How's the job going?" "What's going on at work?"  still asking for office gossip.  Let me explain,  I am sitting here in tears because I'll never be able to retire unless I win the lottery.  I personally envy every last one of you whether you're taking care of someone, traveling, sitting reading, or just being able to do what you enjoy.  I"m not ashamed to admit it but I am appalled that every last one of you was insulted because you were asked that question.  If I ask "How's it going?"  That question implies I'm asking what you are up to lately, so I guess I'm still asking what you are doing all day.  I would be flattered and feel wonderful that someone could ask me that.   I will have to work until I die and no that is not a happy prospect.  Some of us out there will never know what it's like and truly just want to know what that "freedom" from a grueling job feels like.  Not all of us are trying to be "nosey", we want you to  spare some of your "I do whatever I want" time and let us just live vicariously through you for 5 minutes.  I'll remember the next time I talk to anybody who is retired not to ask them anything since apparently you get "offended" or it's considered "rude".   Maybe next time stop and really think if that person just wants to know what it feels like to be "untethered" to a job since we can't even stop to consider it a possiblity.  Please don't assume someone was trying to be rude.    

[AngelPuppy1]

Mostly, it was comments from people who were still working and they were probably envious that they were not the ones retiring!  It was comments like, I guess you have plenty of money since you just quit your job!  Or --- now you can just lay around and eat bon-bons all day while the rest of us are doing productive things!  

[Lucky Dog]

Oh @eadu4 , you said it perfectly.  I was going to say something along the lines that you did.  I see some conceited responses here regarding retirement;some posters replying multiple times in not so nice ways.  

While it may be true, the "I do what I want,when I want" response gets stale(not just in this thread,but other times).

[Group 5 minus 1]

@Lucky Dog : Talk about conceited response! And "conceited " is a word I haven't heard or used since high school. 

[CalminHeart]

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@KKJ wrote:

Am recently retired and find one of the most annoying things people ask me is  "so what do you do all day?"  Ugh!

And then when I mention a certain project/activity I'm involved in, they will respond with  "well good, that will give you something to do."   SMH

Anyone else find comments like these kind of insulting?

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My response is that I'm busier now than I was when working 60 or more hours a week.