# Countdown to retirement

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 25, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653 "2023-03-25T17:37:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 52

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**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1021 "2026-05-28T20:16:31Z")

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> [@Voyager](#):
>
> Just before I retired, the best thing was looking at deadlines and meeting notices and saying to myself “doesn’t apply to me…"

Yep. Similarly, “that’s the last time I have to do that”.

mmm

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1022 "2026-05-29T03:37:34Z")

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> [@enipla](#):
>
> Yeah, me too. I’m usually up at 4am. But it really doesn’t matter.

I commented on this some time ago.

> [@Countdown to retirement](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/20):
>
> Since my alarm was at 3am to get to work by 5 I needed it. However, as I’ve said before other retirement threads, I kept it on after I retired just for the sheer joy of getting awakened, thinking, “I don’t have to go to work!” \>whap\< and instantly falling asleep again. I kept it up for about two months.

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1023 "2026-05-29T03:52:16Z")

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I’m on Medicare. It covers 80% of Medicare Parts A and B. I’m on a fixed income and don’t welcome any co-pay surprises so I have a medigap plan that has a premium but covers all Medicare Parts A and B co-payments among other things. Medicare Part C (aka advantage) programs are available too. I also have a Part D insurance that this time around has no premium and takes care of prescription drug co-payments that Medicare Part D doesn’t cover.

I live in Illinois which has its Senior Health Insurance Program which provides counselors at no charge to advise you what you might prefer to sign up for.

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**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1024 "2026-05-29T12:41:21Z")

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> [@Countdown to retirement](#):
>
> Since my alarm was at 3am to get to work by 5 I needed it. However, as I’ve said before other retirement threads, I kept it on after I retired just for the sheer joy of getting awakened, thinking, “I don’t have to go to work!” \>whap\< and instantly falling asleep again.

That’s kinda fun. I used to get up at 5:15am for work at 7am. Then COVID struck and I could pretty much work whenever at home. I was supposed to be available 8-5 though.

Anyway, that’s when my time to get up started drifting earlier. Apparently 4am is it.

Did I mention this? We bought a days of the week clock for us and a couple of friends that retired. It’s analog, and very cute. And actually helps. [Sort of like this](https://shop.app/products/7278361673861?variantId=41641500377221&utm_source=google_display&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=23168951959&utm_content=&adgroup=&gclid=CjwKCAjw8uTQBhAdEiwAVvtJygcEIbGlGbuEHhzACNa10GK8UcSLD-77IJc7UZMJKQOLRQAwZvNGRBoC9MQQAvD_BwE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23159279988&gbraid=0AAAAA9hdXifC45Ob4nfPYY5ihZ5U7fjN2) But it’s a beach scene with the ocean and sea shells and stuff.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1025 "2026-05-29T12:51:33Z")

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I’d never seen one of those. It’s a great idea. Thank you.

Having spent almost all of my working life in a 24/7 role, I have always found days of the week to be a really vague and nearly useless notion. Back when I was working I used to say “If my watch (later phone) didn’t know what day it is, I sure wouldn’t.” That effect only gets stronger the longer I’ve been retired.

For sure on the “Are you senile?” test, the “Which day is it?” question is the only one I’m likely to miss.

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**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1026 "2026-05-29T13:10:52Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> For sure on the “Are you senile?” test, the “Which day is it?” question is the only one I’m likely to miss.

I agree. Doesn’t really matter. Well, I don’t want to go to Lowes or Home Depot on a Saturday.

I don’t wear a watch, I usually have my cell phone, but a quick glance at that DOTW clock and you know.

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**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1027 "2026-05-29T13:14:04Z")

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> [@enipla](#):
>
> We bought a days of the week clock…

I love that! It would come in handy for me, as I’m frequently asking myself what day it is.

I hope to never require a year-of-the-millennium clock.

mmm

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1028 "2026-05-29T13:43:53Z")

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When working I got up around 5:30 – now it is 6. But before I’d take a shower and dress a lot sooner after waking up. Now I sit around longer before showering and getting dressed.

Brian

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1029 "2026-05-29T15:09:07Z")

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> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> I hope to never require a year-of-the-millennium clock.

Piker.

> **[Clock of the Long Now](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now)**
>
> .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}31°26′54″N 104°54′14″W / 31.44841°N 104.90384°W / 31.44841; -104.90384
>  
> The Clock of the Long Now, also called the 10,000-year clock, is a mechanical clock under construction that is designed to keep t...

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**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1030 "2026-05-29T15:14:39Z")

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I’ve only just touched my 50s but, from a _financial_ perspective, I think I am ok to retire. But of course, that is only one aspect of the retirement decision. What else should I be considering? We still have children in grade school, so of course no jetting off to exotic vacations on a whim even if we wanted to.

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1031 "2026-05-29T15:31:10Z")

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Loads of free time. Extra time to pursue hobbies and projects and exercise. How much do you like your job?

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1032 "2026-05-29T16:17:01Z")

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I got up at 4:38AM every workday; once I retired, it moved quickly to the 6-6:30 range. Any later than that means I was out late or I’m ill.

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**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1033 "2026-05-29T18:05:05Z")

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I’d love to get a day of the week clock, but googling all I’ve been able to find were wall clocks or digital made in China crap (going by reviews). Does anyone know of a day of the week clock that’s relatively small or a desk size??? TIA.

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**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1034 "2026-05-29T18:21:21Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> How much do you like your job?

I don’t hate it. It’s work from home, low stress, and well paying. That being said, it’s certainly not something I would do for fun. I feel I could find other things to fill my time, but giving up a good paycheck permanently for what (hopefully) is a long retirement feels scary.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1035 "2026-05-29T18:25:05Z")

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> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#):
>
> What else should I be considering?

Do you enjoy working? Do you have a need to keep busy? If so, will losing the routine of work bother you even if you don’t love it per se? If your kids are still school age will early retirement have a potential impact on your future financial plans for them, if any? Do you have hobbies you wish had more time to pursue? If not, have you always wanted to potentially pursue hobbies you currently can’t? If not, how are you thinking you’ll spend your days? Do you even care how you will fill your days?

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**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2026, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1036 "2026-05-29T19:42:15Z")

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all good questions. As noted, the financial aspects are taken care of. The other considerations are more difficult to assess. In some instances, I may just not know the answers until I try it.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1037 "2026-05-31T06:08:06Z")

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What I did was walk around the house before I retired and jotted down all the many things I hadn’t had time to get to because of work. They ranged from trivial things like cleaning out closets to multi-year things like catching up on my unread books (in the hundreds if not thousands.)  
The other advantage of doing this is when people ask you how you were going to fill the days, you can tell them you have a spreadsheet with 45 items. That shuts them up real good.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1038 "2026-05-31T11:33:30Z")

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What was everyone’s first post-retirement project, big or small?

Mine was cleaning out a file cabinet of decades of old, unneeded documents; tax forms, receipts, owner’s manuals to long gone items, bank statements, etc.

Who would have thought that hours feeding paper into a shredder could feel so satisfying?

mmm

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1039 "2026-05-31T11:34:54Z")

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We have a 1700’s-era house and some of the interior doors needed repainting and rehanging, so I did that. Then I did a bunch of things more like that.

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1040 "2026-05-31T12:54:51Z")

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> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#):
>
> What was everyone’s first post-retirement project, big or small?

Just had my HOA-mandated wall-to-wall carpeting replaced. I don’t really love carpet, but I’m in an upper-floor condo and it makes sense it is required (outside of entrance/kitchen/bathrooms/sun room/around the fireplace) to minimize sound pollution. It really needed to be done, because it was pretty cheap from the previous owner who used the unit as a rental and was ratty as hell. Not to mention my slowly-declining cat with bladder cancer had not been kind to a little of it in his final days.

But what a gigantic pain in the ass. I mean I paid installers to rip the old stuff out, put the new stuff in and even move all of my heavy-ass furniture, so it’s not like I did the hard stuff. But I was responsible for all of the “little stuff” and have several large bookcases full of heavy academic books, not to mention the rest of my voluminous crap. Shifting all of that out of the way into various uncarpeted nooks and crannies was not fun and I’m still being very, very slow about putting everything back. I mean all of the scrambled history books have to be slowly re-ordered by subject and chronology 🙂.

Unfortunately I’m one of those poor souls who gets zero sense of satisfaction from completing unpleasant but necessary tasks, so I tend to procrastinate heavily. Sigh - I really should work on that some more today.

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