# Countdown to retirement **URL:** \ **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:** 53
**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 31, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1041 "2026-05-31T12:59:01Z")
Interesting question. I had the fairly immediate task of jettisoning my work-related stuff I’d never again need, and packing up the smidgen of that which amounted to memorabilia. Which now 2-1/2 years later I’m about to throw away as useless clutter. Other than that, I can’t really think of myself at the point of retirement as having some backlog of projects. Maybe other than commencing all the long-delayed travel and recreation I’d wanted for the last 40 years, but been unable to do. Which pretty quickly led to the sub-project of leaving my mistake of a 2nd wife. But as noted upthread, I’m a) terminally lazy, and b) having downsized, and rearranged, and lightened my life hugely compared to most retirees, there’s not much that needed or still needs doin’. I guess maybe “downsized, and rearranged, and lightened my life” _was_ my post-retirement project. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1042 "2026-05-31T13:34:17Z")
I started a thread for the other side. > [@The Unretirement thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unretirement-thread/1030509): > > Inspired by the [Countdown to Retirement](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653) thread, this thread is for people who retired and went back to work, or retired and picked up a volunteer “job” that consumes… Oh, maybe 15+ hours a week, or who could retire but decided not to, at least for now. I retired, and i volunteered for all sorts of stuff i thought I’d like to do. And i did like doing it. But it was lots of unrelated stuff and sometimes I’d have a bunch of deadlines/busy periods all at once, and i was kinda running ragged. My hus… You might want to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1043 "2026-05-31T21:08:36Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > What was everyone’s first post-retirement project, big or small? I retired at the end of January 2020. My mother died a few weeks later. I then spent several months clearing out her house and handling her affairs in the midst of Covid raging. Not the start of retirement I had envisioned. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1044 "2026-06-28T11:25:59Z")
I retired in Dec. My wife Oct. My Wife bought a day of the week clock (analog). It’s cute, and attractive. And since we are retired kind of useful to just be able to glance up and say “Oh yeah, it’s Sunday”. Like it so much that we bought 4 more for friends. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1045 "2026-06-29T00:20:27Z")
I have to confess I’ve sometimes had to stop and think about what day of the week it is and, more bothersome, gotten it wrong more often than I’d like. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1046 "2026-06-29T01:27:02Z")
We’re about to get new flooring in our kitchen, foyer and laundry room, and I plan on using that as an opportunity to take a good hard look at everything I’ve got in those areas and donating/throwing away anything that isn’t essential to the functioning of this household. That’s been an ongoing project from the beginning of my retirement, along with digitizing old photos and memorabilia in order to reduce paper clutter. A whole bunch of old paper records went into the shredder as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1047 "2026-06-29T13:06:39Z")
God, I still have over 31 months until my 30-year anniversary. But on the bright side, my boss doesn’t seem to mind if I schedule a three-day vacation every month, in the form of a 5-day weekend. Gotta use up that vacay time. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1048 "2026-06-30T04:23:16Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > But on the bright side, my boss doesn’t seem to mind if I schedule a three-day vacation every month, in the form of a 5-day weekend. I was working a compressed 9/80 work schedule with Sun/Mon off. Nine hour days most of time, off every other Tuesday, worked 8 hours the alternate Tuesday. I had a ton of saved OT and accumulated almost 7 hours vacation/pay period (five weeks vacation/yr earned after decades with the same employer). The last several months I worked I adopted a ‘no more Tuesdays’ policy and took a three-day weekend every single week. Barring emergency shortages of course - I had the full permission of my boss and we had a good relationship, so we cooperated with each other as much as was feasible. Because I also had to work an hour of forced OT every Saturday because reasons, I converted that into 1.5 hours of vacation and actually accumulated vacation time every pay period while doing all of this. I ended up fully vacationing out for about my last six weeks on the books. It was a genuinely great gig, but I never wanted to be paid out for a cent of that OT. Getting out of Dodge as much and as early as possible while still getting paid and accumulating more retirement credit was far more satisfying than getting paid out some heavily-taxed extra dollars at the end of my tenure. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1049 "2026-07-01T21:20:48Z")
I suppose I should post here - I’m scheduled to retire on August 14th. Not quite 30 years, but the Canadian government has a new retirement initiative that lets you go early. I downsized to a condo in March, and after looking at my finances, I can live on what I’ll get from my pension now. 6 more weeks and I’m done! ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1050 "2026-07-01T21:58:07Z")
I’m not a very prolific poster but I came in here to say that as of an hour ago I am officially retired! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1051 "2026-07-01T22:14:47Z")
> [@Lurking\_Quahog](#): > > as of an hour ago I am officially retired! Congratulations! You will love it! Now that you’re retired, perhaps you can become a prolific poster. ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1052 "2026-07-01T22:33:21Z")
Thanks! If it makes any difference, I _am_ a prolific reader. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1053 "2026-07-01T22:38:11Z")
> [@Lurking\_Quahog](#): > > I’m not a very prolific poster but I came in here to say that as of an hour ago I am officially retired! Excellent! Remember, unless you are one of those restless souls that for some reason can’t tolerate relaxing, rule #1 of retirement is to do less than when you worked 🙂. You don’t have to do a lot less if you don’t want to, but even a tiny bit less is a blessing. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2026, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1054 "2026-07-01T22:49:39Z")
Congratulations!! ---
**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:** [July 2, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1055 "2026-07-02T00:18:04Z")
Yaay! **Quahog** ’s in the club!!1! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1056 "2026-07-02T16:29:03Z")
Congratulations @Lurking_Quahog and @Horatius! ---
**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:** [July 2, 2026, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1057 "2026-07-02T17:55:55Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Excellent! Remember, unless you are one of those restless souls that for some reason can’t tolerate relaxing, rule #1 of retirement is to do less than when you worked 🙂. You don’t have to do a lot less if you don’t want to, but even a tiny bit less is a blessing. You may do less, or you may do more, but it is what you want to do which makes it seem like less. ---
**Author:** ![Allecher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1058 "2026-07-02T19:14:30Z")
I, too, an a member of the July 1 cohort. And I agree that more participation here in the boards will be a likely outcome. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1059 "2026-07-02T21:03:26Z")
Congratulations to all the new members of the club. It’s been three years for me, and I still get an inner feeling of gratefulness when I am driving somewhere in the morning and I see, in traffic, loads of folks presumably heading into work. mmm ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2026, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653/1060 "2026-07-02T21:15:19Z")
It has been a bit more than three years for me, and it seems like no time at all. I also chortle when I see the morning and afternoon traffic, but I resent it when I have an errand in the morning and all the working stiffs get in my way. I try to plan my day so that most of my time outside the house takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/countdown-to-retirement/981653.md?page=54)