What's the best thing about retirement?

For me the best thing of all is on a winter's morning when I don't have to worry about snow, ice, or fog and how they may affect my drive to work - and home again. I had many a sleepless night when we lived in the Yorkshire Pennines and snow was forecast. Many a morning digging out the car too. It was so stressful in winter and now I can just look out and be hugely relieved that I can stay at home!

Meeting friends for weekday lunches. Going to exhibitions, the theatre and cinema in the afternoon. Going on holiday in term time. Going to college one day a week to study something I love.I enjoy every minute, it really is the best time!

I was made redundant 2 years ago at 67, I found it difficult to adapt at first. I think I was difficult to live with as I had difficulty in relaxing into retirement. I have 2 grandchildren, eldest is 4 next month who I am lucky to see a lot of and who keep me involved, I know who George Ezra is! My husband works from home and is semi retired so that was an area of friction as he had his way of doing things which wasn't mine and I was there to say "why are you doing it that way". I was also concerned about the drop in income, kept turning lights off, heating down etc. I would say that now I can see what I have gained by retiring now rather than what I lost by not working. It is lovely to think that I will not have to go out in snow and ice to work again.

The first year I retired - at the end of term in July - we went on holiday in September. It was the first time I had been able to do that since I can't remember when.
The sheer joy of being abroad for nearly a month, traipsing around Europe in the car, knowing that all my still-working colleagues would be dealing with thousands of freshers and undergraduates descending on them with a myriad questions, to the backdrop of the non-stop thrum of music and smell of food and alcohol wafting through the windows.
Working in a students' union could be fun, no doubt about it, but oh my the September term [groan emoticon]. And I tell you what, retirement is so much more fun
Ariadne I'm in Plymouth

I took my watch off the day I retired 8 years ago and have never worn it since. It's blissful to not be driven by other people's expectations of what you should be doing and when you should be doing it.

I often take my watch off , just put it on to go out, but DH insists on wearing his all day long, and not only that, but likes to have his wallet and keys on him at all times.goodness knows why!

Getting up in the morning when you are good and ready, and taking ages over breakfast, what a pleasure.

A day at work:

Up at 6, get ready, out at 6.45 Grab something to take to work for breakfast. Lift into town from DH.
Walk to office, get in lift, worried and stressed about what the day might bring or that something I did yesterday wasn't up to scratch. Colleague who I work closely with is already in the office, looking like she has just stepped out of a beauty salon. Politely say good morning, ask her if she is OK. She tosses her hair and tells me about the perfect evening she had with her perfect family. Other colleagues meander in, some say good morning, some only say it to the people who they consider 'matter'.
Run around like a blue a***d fly all morning. Listen to colleagues' gossip/sniping/worries etc. Nip out at lunch time in and out of shops getting stuff for other people 'seeing as you work in town could you get me such and such' Back into the office, run around again, trying to do my best which isn't good enough for some. Off to the bus stop at 3.30 or so, crammed onto the buss with all sorts pushing and shoving. Get off the bus, 20 minute walk home, tidy up, prepare a meal, flop in the chair, go to bed, prepare to start again.

Today (retired)

Up at 8.30. Coffee, fruit juice, porridge and fruit.
Watch a squirrel cavorting in the garden.
The sun comes out eventually. DH says 'shall we pop out for lunch?'
Hop on a bus (with our free bus passes), have a nice cheap lunch, sit outside the pub in a tree lined courtyard. Get back on the bus, saunter home, have a cup of tea, put my feet up and read my book.

Now let me think - work or retirement..........

The best thing about being retired is not having to go to work every day.
. Who needs all that hassle, traffic, bosses, rushing about.
Retirement is fantastic!

It is lovely- the best time of life.
I do however wish that there was more time. The main problem is that there is so much choice and a lot of it clashes.
It is mainly freedom that appeals and the ability to be able to do things on the spur of the moment.
I do lots of volunteering but that does allow you to have time off when you want it.
Lots of new interests. U3A is good.
Lots of time to get together with friends.
Lots of walking.

One of the lovely things is in the winter hearing the neighbours scraping the ice /snow off their cars and turning over and snuggling back down under the quilt. Cruel but enjoyable

KatyK 'nuff said

I completely agree with everything everyone else has said. My advice is to get all your jobs done now because you won't have time when you are retired.

Sleeping late!

Afternoon naps when I feel tired.

Not having to cope with rush hours.

Not worrying all the time that I won't get through all the work expected of me.

Time to spend with grandchildren.

Lots more.....

I'm sooo envious got to wait till I'm 66 because of changes to retirement age but going to pass the good news to DH he retires next year. He's already like the cat got the cream

It's my last day to work on Friday, then I will join the ranks of the retired. I'm 61 so going early. It's all feeling very unreal and I'm a little low tonight, but I shan't miss the stresses and strains of work, especially as we are heading into another restructure, ie more swingeing cuts.
Will miss my colleagues though.

Am I the only one to say - not a lot? I loved being at work and miss it so much - the banter, the gossip, the moans and groans, the students, the lesson prep and marking - all of it, really. You lose your identity in retirement. I reckon it took me at least five or six years to get used to not working. I have realised, though, that good health is the most important thing.

You can still get the same as being in work, if that is what you want, you just have to throw yourself into a volunteering role- there are plenty to do with education.
I agree with good health. I am busier than ever but it does rely on being fit.

This time next week Treebee! You can sit back and have another cup of coffee. Just take it easy as you relax into the next phase of your life. Don't look on it as retirement -its a mutation into a different version of you!

I will never forget the first day of my retirement, a Monday. I had, of course, had leave from work before, time when we weren't going away, just pottering about the house and going out, but it was nothing like the feeling of getting up on that Monday morning and knowing that I would never, ever be getting up for work again, that this lovely, not-having-to-rush-about feeling was forever.
I remember walking up to the shops that morning - it was a lovely sunny August day - and when I got home I realised I'd forgotten something. So I just turned around and went back to the shops - it doesn't matter, I thought, I've got all the time in the world! I think anyone walking past me must have been wondering why I was walking along with a silly grin on my face . It really isn't an exaggeration to say I was feeling absolutely euphoric.

I retired last September from my job as a Primary School Teacher. The job I loved had all but disappeared and I was being forced to teach '3 and 13 months' children in a way which I knew was not right for them. Now I can get up when I wake up, go to the loo when I need to (not at an allotted time!) eat lunch with a knife and fork - sitting down, cook from scratch on a daily basis, help friends out when they need it, put off any household jobs cos the sun is shining, enjoy GDs school concerts, and of course . . . Go on holiday out of school holidays. Not a day goes by without my husband and I looking at each other and saying "Aren't we lucky!". Never been happier.

How similar our working lives have been. It's wonderful not having to take orders from prats Petra and going to the loo when I want to Misslayed Like many of you on here, I too appreciate being able to spend time with grandchildren. I have also landed a part time freelance job where I can work from home, often in my dressing gown

I take full advantage of not having to get dressed as soon as I get up. My kindly, also retired neighbour recently spotted me in my dressing gown and dark glasses (reactolite lenses - sunny morning) and intercepted a parcel from the postman as I 'had a migraine' and she didn't want him to disturb me. She brought the parcel to our door when my OH was home later. Bless her. I was actually hanging on for a shower and getting dressed in preparation for lunch with my (also retired) friend. We are heavily involved in Neighbourhood Watch in our road and this was a prime example of it's benefits.

Equally, I love being able to get out and about before the hoards descend. I'm also quite partial to the little payments of pension dropping into my account every four weeks - that seems to come around much more quickly than my monthly salary ever did.

OH retires next year - not sure how that'll work out but weekends are good so I expect it'll be fine. He's already involved in community activities and he keeps looking at my U3A activities list so I guess he's considering something new. Happy? Very! Bored? Never! But I'm well aware that this must all depend on keeping good health, managing other people's expectations of your availability and other Gransnetter's experiences may not be as good.

LyndaW hopefully we've put your mind at rest.

Pretty well all of the above. I was told I would be bored and want to come back - not so. I was offered occasional work and decided after taking on a couple of pieces of work I didn't want to continue. I was told the honeymoom period I was enjoying would soon wear off - it hasn't, after more than five years. I thought I would need to find more hobbies and interests but as more grandchildren arrived I stopped bothering about what I ought to do and enjoy just going with the flow.

The one big thing I did as soon as I retired was to get another dog, as I'd been too busy away from home in the last few years. Now I revel in my retired lifestyle. I meet friends and family for lunch, laze around when I feel like it, am not governed by the clock and can look after myself when I feel tired or poorly, instead of dragging my bones off to work in the rush hour. I still get that happy feeling when I open the curtains in the morning and see the line of traffic in the distance, knowing I can sit down with another cup of tea and choose what I fancy doing today. I can take holidays at the drop of a hat - don't have to plan leave. I now understand why many people look younger after retirement - the reduction in stress is significant.

Time to read, sort out my house, see friends, travel and study interesting things

Unlike most of you, I was a kept woman - so it was a case of "plus ca change". I did have a little teaching job, but since i was self-employed i could stop when I wanted; in this case when I had to nurse DH through his prostatectomy and subsequent radiation therapy.

My problem was getting used to DH under my feet! He drove me mad at first, but now we potter along happily, sometimes doing things together, sometimes not.

i do enjoy my nap most afternoons as I don't sleep well, like having meals whenever we want, holidays, etc. It is a lovely period of our lives, while we are still mobile and compus mentis!