I’m 71 and hang out at the Dope for the wide ranging discussions of the events and issues of our time. My family doesn’t really share those interests, being more what one friend calls “people who live only in the here and now.”
But I’m fortunate to have two (Gen X) friends who share my interests and we get together every month or two to happily discuss the cultural, political and sports changes we see around us and I feel that my observations are very valued. And for that I feel fortunate.
IOW, I love my rut and I’m stickin’ to it! 
One of the things I found freeing in recent years is throwing away a long list of things I wanted to want. But evidently didn’t want enough to actually do. That list had become a guilt swamp. First recognizing the concept of “want to want” as distinct from “want”, then draining that swamp by casting aside each of those guilt morsels was a real act of growth.
So in that I support you; figure out if the itch you’re wanting to scratch is real, or a youthful leftover.
Valued? At work they fear that I’m gonna leave. So I guess I’m valued. And I am. I’m getting things as ready as I can. But there comes a time when you just want to relax at home. I’M REALLY looking forward to not have to rush everything. Mow the grass? Fine. I’ll take a break or two but it’ll get done.
Call some teens and give 'em $40 or whatever. You have better things to do. You worked for 50 years to accumulate your assets. Make them work for you now. Drudgery is for other young people.
As a fairly recent retiree (four years now), I just want to report that it is every bit as magnificent as you’re anticipating. For a while I was a bit concerned that I would become accustomed to total freedom, but it still thrills me every day.
I can approach every task in the way that I enjoy, explicitly abandoning any sense of efficiency.
I’m coming up on 2 years, but yeah, you nailed it.
I approach every task as something to have someone else do, so I can concentrate on having fun, and only fun. Works great. And truth be told, it’s not a luxury limited to fatcats. Ordinary middle class folks can have that same life of zero-effort zero-obligation ease.
Good luck finding a teenager that will do it. My wife says she likes to mow grass, though… she has not yet convinced me of that. In any case, it will be good for me. Crank the tunes and go for it.
Somebody sells grass cutting in your neighborhood.
We have a 1/3 of an acre with some open space and a dog park behind the house. Two two car garages now (never had a garage before). This area is full of antique cars. I’ve got my eye on a totally restored ‘57 Belaire, but it’s a bit out of reach I think.
We have a good plan I think. Two dogs will keep us active, lots of new restaurants to visit, and we are big chess and cribbage players. We usually play 3 games of chess a night, so our brains shouldn’t turn to total mush. Shoot, including our travel chess board, we have 4 chess boards.
The new house will have a dedicated game room to play. It will also hold a Yamaha electric piano. Neither of us play, yet. The piano is my cousins (best friend really), and is in storage. My cousin has been playing since she was 6 years old. So she can come play till her hearts content. It’s dumb to have a nice piano in storage, and we have room for it.
It’s scary to not be working soon, but I think we will keep plenty busy.
We pay a lawn service $100 a month to do it, usually twice a month. They trim the bushes also. Well worth it especially when we go away for a spell. Before we did it we went away and came back to dandelions taller than I am. And it gives more time for stuff I like, such as the garden.
This week one young person I am mentoring got a big promotion. Eight weeks ago she was not convinced she was capable of getting and doing this job, so wasn’t going to apply. I coached her in confidence and told her that there is almost never a perfect “complete” candidate for any job opening. She’s over the moon and very appreciative. The position she’s vacating is going to be a great opportunity for another early career professional I am mentoring.
We are also in the middle of annual strategic planning and budgeting cycle. We have several mid level managers in new roles and I’ve been working overtime (figuratively) providing support on multiple technical areas where I have expertise from spending 20+ years in the industry and 30+ years in finance and analytics. From pensions to leases to insurance to healthcare to labor standards (industrial engineering) to god knows what else.
Not everyone appreciates being told to bring Uncle Mouse in to look over your work, but most do. But most are.
Witheringly busy couple of weeks, but very rewarding.
I’m only 52 so not quite “senior” yet, but still on the back nine. I’m going to go with “something else”.
I got a text from a colleague at my old consulting firm the other day. He’s on an old account of mine dealing with a difficult client I had to deal with and was looking for some advice on what I did to manage it.
Unfortunately, my advice was “What I did was I got fired”.
But generally, yes, I did feel like people tended to come to me as a “wise advisor”. Which is kind of something you want when you are a “consultant”.
Older people though, I often don’t find their advice helpful. I
l’ll talk to my 82 year old dad or my 70/80 something neighbors, I tend to not find their opinions helpful. My dad retired from a lifelong career at GE like 15 years ago. His understanding of the modern work world is a bit outdated.
Yeah, both my wife and I are on the edge of retirement. Before 2026 anyway. And we are moving from one house of 33 years to a new place 130 miles away. It’s a bit hectic. I’ll be ok with mowing the grass for a while. We got all new ‘yard’ equipment. Battery. They are great.
My wife walks one dog in the morning, I the other. We switch dogs every day. My wife goes further, I go to our mail box (it’s a gang box) and bring the dog back to a dog park that’s behind our house. There are often other people there with dogs, so they all have fun chasing each other around in a big circle. Ummm. Who’s chasing who? There are about 4 dogs that I’ve met, from a Burmese Mountain Dog to my mid-sized guy, to a cute little guy that will dust it up with the others. It’s all very cute.
Valued? Well the other people and I just stand around and talk while our dogs wear themselves out. I think they are all retired, or like me, close to it.