tarwheel 

I retired at the end of January, just after my 63rd birthday. My wife retired 2-1/2 years ago.

I haven't missed work for a minute. So far I've just been enjoying sleeping late, piddling around the yard, and riding my bikes a lot. We have taken several short trips this spring and have 3-4 longer trips planned for later this year. I'm starting some art classes next week and plan to do that a lot in my spare time. Also plan to do some volunteer work, as soon as I figure out where to devote my energies. My wife has become a bit over-committed in that regard, and I don't want to do that.

Financially, we both are drawing pensions that meet all of our living expenses for the time being. If we need extra money for trips or other expenses, we can draw from our retirement accounts, but so far we haven't withdrawn a dime. We both plan to start taking Social Security at full retirement age (66), but could delay to 70 if that looks beneficial at the time. According to various financial calculators, we could draw 4% a year from our retirement savings until we are 100 years old without running out, so there probably isn't any point in delaying SS past 66. We both have low-cost health care coverage from our previous jobs and we paid off our mortgage and car loans several years ago, so our expenses are relatively low.

My advice to younger folks is to contribute as much as possible to your retirement savings while you are working. We always saved diligently, and it has paid off for us in being able to retire sooner than we had planned. We have never owned fancy cars, second homes and other expensive luxuries, and that makes it easier to live on a fixed income.