[Closed] Following on from pension/retirement threads, would you get bored?

I retired at 50. A pal asked me to help out with a website for his bike shop. I've carried on working a few days (2 or 3) a week since then. I enjoy the work I do. As long as I'm enjoying myself I'll carry on working.

Once the pressure is off, finding a job you enjoy is easier.

It’s good to get bored, means it’s time to change something. Only boring people stay bored.

No, there’s an awful lot of things to do before you die.

I sort of retired at 38 (now 41) 😳

I do bits here and there

I need to do something else now though as it’s not very fulfilling, problem is I’m sort of unemployable so have to work for myself and I’m struggling with the motivation to do another ‘big’ project.

I honestly don't think so - I've got lots of current hobbies/interests which I don't get enough time to really enjoy (cycling/cooking/woodwork/travel/scouting) and other things which I'd like to have a go at (knife making)
None of these need to be particularly expensive, so I think they could keep me busy/occupied even on a small income.

My woodwork skills are good enough to generate an income (did it for a job for 10 years) so think I could earn a small return making reclaimed timber furniture/picture frames/bird boxes/wine racks/garden benches/etc

I'd be quite happy spending my days in my shed/garage making stuff, and if it paid for itself/generated a small return then so much the better.

Three fish nails it, only boring people ‘stay’ bored.

i reckon it would be pretty easy to fill my days, walk dog, go for a swim/gym, text some pals, get out on the bike etc.

in the winter maybe swim more and ride less.

my wife otoh, would go crazy in a fortnight.

Work is the boring part of life.

Bored, not a chance.  Having to go to work for the next 4.5 years is the boring bit.  There's so much I could be doing if I wasn't at work.

I'm 51 and plan to leave my day job within 6 to 12 months (just waiting for some heart surgery). I plan to turn a hobby/sideline into a part time job I can do from home. My partner is in the same boat (apart from the surgery) but leaves her work in May to concentrate on her sideline.

Our idea is to work until mid day and then go riding/walking/hobbies and doing nice things that proper jobs get in the way of. I doubt we'll be bored.

Probably, I usually get bored on holiday and look forward to getting back.

Work is stressful a lot of the time, but I enjoy the company and my work is 90% problem solving which I like.

My sort half-plan is to adjust my work-life balance a bit, maybe try working 4 day weeks when the kids are a bit older, more time to ride etc, but the way I feel now I don't ever want to quit work, but I've got another 25 years or so to change my mind.

Nail an ounce a month?

Cycle every day. Watch all of Netflix. Take up Golf. Complete all those house jobs the wife's always on at you to do. I wouldn't be bored.

I've been retired for several years and certainly haven't found boredom a problem; I still haven't finished the list of things to do Mrs R made for me "now that I've got time", never mind my own list of things I planned to do when I retired (tour divide, learn the piano etc). Weather's nice today; think I'll go out on my bike, which beats conference calls, commuting and jetlag.

I have friends who still work not because they need the money or like the job, but because they don't know what they'll do with themselves when they stop working; I find this unimaginative and perhaps a bit sad as I suspect they'll look back when it's too late and wish they'd stopped sooner.

[i]i reckon it would be pretty easy to fill my days, walk dog, go for a swim/gym, text some pals, get out on the bike etc.

in the winter maybe swim more and ride less.

my wife otoh, would go crazy in a fortnight.[/i]

This (if you substitute swim/gym for pottering around garden/shed/garage)

We were discussing this in work yesterday.

My answer is, yes, probably. However i'd come up with some sort of a plan to stop that which would likely involve restoring motorbikes. Whether i could do that all day every day hmmmm

Retired 3 years ago and I'm a long way from being bored. I sometimes wonder how I ever found time for work.

Interesting that no one has mentioned voluntary work either. I have two things on the go - both cycling/active travel related.

I retired due to ill health at age 53. Within six months I was able to have surgery which meant I was back fighting fit, or at least fit enough not to want to hang about the house all day.

I have no money worries at all, as my pension and my wife's income cover all the bills, but I realised I missed being in a working environment. I now do some web-based promotional stuff and eSales for a country sports supplier/retailer a few days a week. Triple whammy as I am back in a "team" environment with like-minded people I have known for years, the bit of cash I earn pays for my hobbies and interests, and as most of it is spent on exactly what we sell, it's worth getting on for double .....

The most important bit though is the mental stimulation and companionship.

Not a chance of being bored

If I could retire tomorrow I would:

Learn a language

Start ticking off Munros

Do gardening as a hobby rather than a chore

Ride my bike a lot

Take on a small renovation project

Go to the pub

Walk the dog in daylight rather than at 6.30am and 9.00pm

Buy a canadian canoe

Volunteer with local charities (voluntary outdoor ranger type stuff)

The list goes on and on

"jekkyl
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<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">Nail an ounce a month?</p>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">Cycle every day.</p>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">Watch all of Netflix.</p>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">Take up Golf.</p>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">Complete all those house jobs the wife’s always on at you to do.</p>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 1.2em;">I wouldn't be bored."</p>

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It's a Nope to Dope from me.

Cycle every day, I would like this, but I've plans to start doing just that come Sept, if only commuting at this stage.

Netflix is something I do when I'm bored and can't go out.

House chores, erm maybe - but honestly I believe in doing what you're good at, I'd rather stay in work doing what I'm good at and pay someone else to do the stuff they're good at.

Mrs Jay is hell bent on gardening, but I'd rather sand my balls and dip them in salt than piss about with plants and stuff - I guess I could tinker in the garage all day and go slowly mad talking to the radio.

Cycle every day, I would like this, but I’ve plans to start doing just that come Sept, if only commuting at this stage.

this is something I would stop doing 🙂 I commute by bike most days and I'd love the freedom to get out and do longer rides maybe three times a week.

Riding. Walking. Weeding. Building. Sunshine. Partially-resurrecting an old career. Nice drinks. Good food. Plunge pool. Hifi. Friends. Beautiful countryside.  Stunning views. Free films.

Not bored.

Nope. Plan to be semi-retired by 50. Work UK or maybe Alps over Spring Summer Autumn then mooch on down to Southern Spain for winter. Lots to do work really gets in the way.

Would not get bored, no chance.

In addition to all the cool outdoor stuff I'd still mess around with research, making music, coding (I have umpteen half baked hobby projects from games to scientific experiments to social/civil society stuff), learning more physics, writing, etc

Also traveling (most of) the world doesn't have to be expensive at all if done sensibly

When I retire I'm gonna make a concerted effort to finish pornhub

Was lucky enough to stop 'proper' work at 31 and became a stay at home dad. Now the kids are older I've filled my time with bikes, dogs and some fairly substantial building projects which have stopped any chance of boredom. Luckily my wife is well enough paid and supportive enough of me to allow for my natural laziness. Which really means I should stop reading this, drinking coffee and get my lazy ass onto a scaffold to lift 55 square metres of rubber roof to where it needs to go!

I'm being put out to pasture in March (redundancy number 4.5).

My dad worked (through choice) till he couldn't (alzheimers won at 81) I sort of get that as I have been lucky enough to enjoy most of my jobs so have mixed feelings about being 'free' but I think the harsh reality is that I would never pass another HR interview as I reached bu*ls*it fatigue quite a while ago and have always adopted a more straightforward approach - which doesn't always seem welcome in a lot of 'modern' companies.

For the last 3 years have had an annual 3 month summer sabbatical (motorhome + Scotland/Wales), this year went part time (5 days to 3 so get a 4 day weekend).

So far I've increased the amount of sports I do, 1 day with good lady on an 'adventure', bit more biking (or better use of dry days)  plans for April are

- volunteering (barge maintenance lot contacted going to meet up), will try to find something like path clearing etc

- will have a look for a 0 hours contract job that I like the sound of

- house work (well maintenance etc as some jobs to be done and garden)

- use motorhome more regularly

Hopefully will manage to keep myself occupied and happy.

Trouble is.... by the time you retire your body is half **** ed so you wouldn't have the energy or ability to do all the cycling and mountain walking that you'd consider reasonable in your 40s.

When does the body start to seriously decline?  late 50s?

Never bored, i get up when i want to and its earlier than when i had to go to work. I remember all too well dreading getting out of bed to get to work, now i wake up naturally earlier and have things to get on with.

"<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 0.8rem;">Trouble is…. by the time you retire your body is half **** ed so you wouldn’t have the energy or ability to do all the cycling and mountain walking that you’d consider reasonable in your 40s.</span>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.2em; color: #444444;">When does the body start to seriously decline?  late 50s?"</p>

Partly yes, but it's mostly 'when you let it'. A lot of people retire fairly fit and able, but get home from their last day with their gold clock and card, plonk their arse on the sofa and don't move for 15 years and everyone wonders way at 80 they can't move under their own steam any more.

You can sit on your arse 24/7 until you're a wreck at 30 and a couple of months of 'doing stuff' again get it back, less so at 60, but that's the only real difference unless you're ill or injured.

You need to get the groundwork in decades before really, staying supple is the key I'm told.

I'd never get bored but I would still like to work part time I reckon. I do actually like my job, good laugh, good bit of variety to it, still feel I'm actually doing something. It's a long way away but job sharing would mean working 70 odd days a year for a nice return. I've met loads of folks who have came back after retirement, once you don't need to be there to make ends meet it changes quite significantly, every payday is a bonus.

Similar sort of question - before you retire maybe you think of yourself as "an engineer", "an IT maanger" or whatever. How do you transition to thinking of yourself as "a person without a profession"?

Certainly wouldn't get bored. I don't know how I currently find time to go out to work.

Trouble is…. by the time you retire your body is half **** ed so you wouldn’t have the energy or ability to do all the cycling and mountain walking that you’d consider reasonable in your 40s.

Certainly not the case for me, I'm 50, ride most days, can't see a rapid decline over the next 4 years. I guess most people struggle because they're overweight, I'm not lugging around an extra few stone.

Speaking from experience, no, but I am sort of part-time so not completely free to twiddle my thumbs. But there are plenty of excuses for procrastination and going out for a run/bike ride when the weather is good...there's still much more to do than time to do it! Echoing the above, I don't know how I ever had time for a full-time job.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">T</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 0.8rem;">rouble is…. by the time you retire your body is half **** ed so you wouldn’t have the energy or ability to do all the cycling and mountain walking that you’d consider reasonable in your 40s.</span>
<p style="margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.2em; color: #444444;">When does the body start to seriously decline?  late 50s?</p>

Very variable between people I'd say - genetics, illnesses and injuries, diet, alcohol and smoking use, exercise (at least) all contribute to the variance. So far I'm lucky - retired last year at 60, doing some consultancy and house tasks, plus lots of cycling and walking. At the moment i can easily do as much as 15 years ago. I know plenty of people in the same sort of position, but also others who seem near dead by 60.

[i]When does the body start to seriously decline?  late 50s?[/i]

I think you'll find this is different for everyone. Definitely a slooow decline after 45 for me!

I wouldn't get bored, that's for certain. I had practice when I was redundant a little while ago. The normal day-to-day work routine is 1,000,000 times more boring than not working!!

There's about a gazillion things on my ever increasing to-do list. The chances of me running out of them by the time I'm burnt to a crisp or rotting in a box are about zero.

Or, no, in a word.

I currently work shifts on a 25week rotating pattern. I dont hate work, but i always feel there is something else i would rather be doing.

I find myself quite insular as the shift pattern means that you cant do the regular things that people take for granted, like social activites that are based on certain days of the week. Im looking forwards to finding some regular people to socialise with.

I also have so many activities that im interested in, yet the division of time means im mostly mediocre at them. I still love to read and learn, so my mind would hopefully stay as active as my body.

.