I'm 66 and retired a bit over 3 years ago. I think that your enjoyment of retirement depends on how invested your identity is in your work and how many outside interests you have. Although I thoroughly enjoyed what I did for a living and had a high-paying technical job, I never really enjoyed working for other people, so the decision was a no-brainer for me and I never looked back for an instant. Here are some of the things that I've been doing:
- I'm an avid runner as well as a cyclist and thoroughly enjoy being able to go out any time, any day of the week when the weather suits me. I was already in good shape, but lost almost 10 lbs. and now weigh about what I did in college (at least pre-beer!).
- I never had that many friends outside of work, but now have a wide circle of other retiree runners and cyclists with whom I have much in common. There's always someone to run or ride with, or I can just go out alone if I feel like it.
- I deliver Meals on Wheels once a week.
- We have a great local "senior center" with workout facilities in addition to other programs for a variety of age groups. I've been taking a class to increase my Italian language fluency.
- My list of books to read was always growing faster than my time to read them. Now I'm staying more caught up, but barely.
- My wife and I can travel any time we like for any length of time. Right now we've got reservations for a trip to Arizona in March, and I'm signed up for a week-long bike trip across Missouri on the Katy Trail in May. Last year I did the Allegheny Passage-C&O Canal Towpath trip and the Michigan Shoreline West road tour.
- Household and yard maintenance is no longer as much of a "chore" since I don't have to squeeze it in on weekends or evenings or in bad weather.
- To keep my mind sharp and my knowledge up to date, I started a little software "business" with a couple of Android smartphone apps. Then I use the income as a personal spending account. Hey, it just bought me the new bike that I recently posted pics of here!
I could go on, but you get the idea. With the right circumstances and especially frame of mind, you will enjoy it immensely!