Book - Be Happy in Retirement

Happy in Retirement book

Coming Soon to Amazon

Whilst you wait on the edge of your seat, here are a few quotes from the book. You may see yourself in some of these.

There are exactly the same number of years between 25 to 55, and 55 to 85. Your earliest years of retirement will be your best years of retirement, what are you going to do with them?

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

People confuse old with decrepide, they’re different. And you’re old for a long time.

20-30 years retired is a long time. You can’t holiday the whole time. Find your purpose, find your meaning, find your happy.

There’s ways to make more money, but no way to make more time, even if you’re not retired start doing what you want to, it’ll make the transition to retirement easier.

Think about your retirement. Prepare to retire. Plan your retirement.

You can always make more money… but you can’t make more time

I retired at 70 and felt guilty for not continuing to work. I am starting to appreciate it, Time is valuable.

It’s important to have interests and hobbies outside of work, a lot of people don’t, they end up feeling lost and directionless.

Quotes from early retirees

Everyone says my pension will be worth less because I retired earlier. Who cares? My one life is worth living now.

My real life started after retiremement. I wish I’d done it even earlier.

I joined the FIRE movement years ago (Financially Independent, Retiring Early) and have never been happier. Life is short.

It has been almost 2 years since my retirement. I have less stress, sleep better, lost over 2 stones in weight, made new friends, spend much more time in nature, and have become a hiker, I learned a new language, travel a few months each winter (on a budget), read a ton of books and I keep challenging myself to try new things.

To retire at 65, if I live to 85 means I have 20 years, whilst that’s only 240 months it’s almost 88,000 days! I dont know how long it would take me to count to 88,000 but if that’s what I’ve got left I’m going for it!

In the last year, I’ve seen 5 people I know pass…all in their 50’s. It’s not fair.

Started working at 16, retired at 55 because I could be dead tomorrow. Life is short, live it. Trim expenses and luxury items if necessary and get to laughing every day when you wake up.

I pull a private pension 62. My friends say I must be bored. Doing what you want when you want is NOT boring. I told them if I ever did get bored I would return working part time only. I didn’t want to get to 67 and financially realise I could have finished earlier, as it’s too late. You don’t get those 5 years back! As I’ve heard from my elders down the years;

You’re here for a good time, not a long time!

No point of saving every penny while you are young then dying with all the money you worked so hard for, and on the flip side no point of spending more than you make in your 20s and 30s then have to work until you are 85.

I’m retiring in 2 months at age 55. I’ve seen too many of my friends go at 54, 58, 60, 63, Life is way too short. Life is for living.

Imagine the best 5 years if your life so far, what did you achive. Imagine what you can achieve in the next 5 years

If you do things that keep yourself fit and healthy you can live well into old age, I’m doing things now that will keep me going! You can see the people who keep fit and healthy, they’re the ones doing everything we all want to do. Keep fit, keep well, keep life.

I retired at 60. Fortunatly I could afford to. I am now 75 and the past 15 years have possibly been the best years of my life. I ty to keep fit and for my age I look and preform pretty well. I recommend planning to retire early to anyone in a position to do it. HOWEVER you also need to develop interests and plans for things to do when you retired. Sitting in front of the Tv is a really bad idea, you will find travel gets a bit old in this day and age, The grand children grow up. Pets come and go. The garden is always there if that’s your thing. A hobby that is long term sustainable is a very good asset. as are learning new things, improving skills you already have. learn a new language, learn to play an instrument, learn some new skill and your mind will stay fresh.

I know no one can bring back the years gone and youth etc how can I convince my mind? I have money it not the problem. I don’t know what to do?

I’m financially fortunate that I could have retired 10 years early. With hind sight, I should have at least done it 5 years earlier.

I know no one can bring back the years gone and youth etc how can I convince my mind? I have money it not the problem. I don’t know what to do?

My company was sold (sort of against my will, by the majority partners), and now I’ve got money to retire and live well the rest of my life. I’ve lost all interest in working at my old company – which is what I’m obligated to do by contract in 2024. I’m also not excited at all to work on another company or even start another one. But I feel like a bum thinking like this. I’m not sure what to do yet. My current plan is to get a sabbatical year in 2025 to think about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll retire for good. Maybe I’ll starting making woodwork tables for selling. I don’t really know. It’s not that easy to decide to retire young. You do feel that you’re leaving a lot of things on the table, and your family and friends are not always supportive of such a decision.

I’m still working, but an old school friend of mine made a lot of money and retired in his mid thirties. He was unhappy at work and had a drinking problem. But now he is retired, is still the same and still has a drinking problem but now also has limited social interaction since he left his workplace. Retirement hasn’t solved any issues for him, he needs purpose or a mission.

I know a few people who retired and ended going back to work because they were bored.

Think of Greg Anderson’s Formula: V + S X P = M. A vision, plus a service in something you’re passionate about and that is your mission.

Quotes from retirees who continue to work

Where is the best place to retire. Who knows…. a friend of mine lives in the United States, a great place to retire but he worries about health insurance. I have a friend retired in Spain, he loves the lifestyle but misses the friends and relationships back home. I live in the UK free healthcare and access to care, you have to wait but it’s there when you need it, I work so I can get things quicker if I need to as well as giving me a better retired lifestyle.

I now have great work autonomy and work fulfillment… this is the main key to post retirement work happiness. I can work when I want for as much as I want without the worries.

I will be 70 in 2024. I have no plans on retiring at all. Doing my stress free job. Get 6+ weeks vacation, 11 holidays, yearly bonus and a yearly raise and love what I do for work ( Autocad mechanical designer ). I even was diagnosed with Stage 3b cancer at 59 and spent just shy of a year recovering so I know the meaning of life. People say to retire to do the think you enjoy.

I retired and I’ve gone back to work. It’s about doing what you love. If it happens to pay, so be it.

I’d to it for free, just don’t tell them I said that!

I actually enjoy working, so I can’t agree with any of this retire early nonsense.

I’m a 63 year old house painter. It’s my own business. I do all the work myself and occasionally hire a helper. I love what I do. I have my own home. I feel my work makes me feel fit climbing ladders etc. I walk an average of 5 kilometres a day in my job plus rolling ceilings and bending and stretching. I’ve been doing it for 44 years and I feel great after a day of work and I’m only 10 lbs heavier than I was at 18. My parents lived until their mid 90s and I see no reason to quit my job.

I don’t necessarily agree that early retirement is for everyone. If you have a career where you feel you are doing a service for others and it is fulfilling for you, then why not continue doing it , especially if it’s not particularly stressful and you can balance it with other interests.

I semi retired when I turned 53 and now 58. I do some part time gig work while waiting for my full pension to kick in. Traveling and living my best life.

How much time do we all have? You don’t know. Make the most of it whilst you can.

hopefully I plan to retire soon…. at least from my current job…. I will retire from a JOB, but always work.

Are you ‘retiring from work’ or ‘retiring from life. Retirement should mean retirement from work. It doesn’t mean retirement from life!

I don’t think it practical for most under say 55 to think of full retirement, instead I think of it as semi-retired. I became, and hope to remain semi-retired. Meaning, at 45 I work 10-25 hrs a week and and hope to keep it up until I no longer cant/old age.

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Quotes from those who retired later than normal

Retired at 71 in order to overcome a devastating layoff and poor financial decisions and outcomes including losing 40% value on my house some years ago. Fortunately I was able to overcome these downturns by continuing to work and am now totally enjoying retirement. I salute anyone who can retire early, it is not for everyone.

It’s such a weird concept this “retirement” thing, work your whole life 65/67 you allow yourself to enjoy life. NO, don’t wait to enjoy life, enjoy it Now because Now is all there is 🙏

Retire as soon as you can, even if that’s at the earliest you can draw a pension. No one knows how long they have. Enjoy kids, grandkids, travel, hobbies.

After retiring at the normal time. I spend my time working out, fishing, golf, and taking a Writer’s Certification which takes about 18 months to achieve, and more. I still believe that my best years are ahead of me. I’ve visited about 100 places and more in retirement.

Inspirational Quotes

Sometimes a person has no choice in the matter. He or she is ‘put out to pasture.’ Whether that pasture is a rich field of green or a bleak desert, it is often determined by our thoughts which it is.

You can’t buy time.

The graveyards are full of people who worked all the hours. This is the beginning of an adventure!

You need to have a hobby which inspires , i have photography, I even make money from it, its like a new career ! its not like working. I was redundant at 58 now reaching pension age and 67.

The older you get the faster time passes, true, fitness is very important, but so is keeping busy. “Better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do” My advice is don’t retire if you enjoy your job, or be like me at 72 and semi-retire, earn a bit of extra money and keep an active mind too..

No one on their deathbed says, “I wish I would’ve worked longer.”

Retirement is not the finish line, it’s the starting line.

Retirement Sucks! The word I mean, it has so many negatives connotations. It’s time for RetireMeaning! If you retire, you expire. Find a new joyeous path!

It all depends if you enjoy the work you do or not, once you retire its so much easier to withdraw socially and lose routine. Reducing your hours to suit your lifestyle seems more practical for most. Obviously we all have to retire at some point but work offers structure, social interaction, physical activity and mental stimulation. I’ve seen plenty of people retire only to start fading away within a few years.

There is no ‘Rewind, Pause, or Fast-forward’ buttons in this life, it’s just on ‘Play’…Live life, it’s too short not to!

life is like a roll of toilet paper, the smaller it gets the faster it goes.”

Even if you retire and you only live another 3 years after you retire. Wouldn’t you want those years to be your best ever. Time to plan.

Rule for Retirement

Be sure to read towards the end, it’ll surprise you!

1) Try before you buy

– Practice living on your retirement budget before you retire (save the rest)

– Rent a smaller home / (or a different area if you plan living elsewhere) for a while to see what it’s like to live in a smaller place before you retire

2) Make sure the words “just one more year” doesn’t lead into 2, 3 or 5.

– this is the youth of your senior years, you’re never going to be younger or healhtier than now

3) Agree with your partner or spouse

– You have an idea of what it’s like, make sure your significant other is on the same page as you, you might want to spend all your time with them, they may not!

4) Stay fit and healthy

– Retirement is a lot less fun if your health is gone. As a previous Health Coach for the NHS I can help you to cook healthy, stay active and be well. Make health a priority.

5) Comparison is the thief of joy

– Don’t compare yourself to other retirees.

– They are comparing themselves to other retirees who have more than them too.

6) Stay Connected

– One of the key aspects of wellbeing, relationships and relatedness (see our blog post of self-determination theory!).

– Invest in your relationships and make new ones.

7) Keep Saving

– Look at your time horizon, save more, and seek financially support to invest if that’s right for you.

8) Make it happen

– Don’t wait, the best time to plant an oak tree was 10 years ago, the next best time is now! Autopilot is a dangerous thing.

– Whether it’s going back to work, travelling, hobbies, volunteering, grandkids, learning, starting something new. Go for it. Start Something.

9) Know what makes you happy

– Discover and do more of what fits your personal values, what is important to you.

10) Ask people what they think you should do

– YES! People know you better than you think, be open to feedback.

– Pick 5 friends and ask them, why are you friends with me. And when they give you their first answers “you’re kind”, “you’re funny”, say “that’s great, that’s most friendships, “what is it about me specifically over others that make you my friend” find things that utlise what they say.

– Use us to find your ‘Genius’ – we’ll find out what you find doing.

11) It’s normal, you’re normal!

– It’s normal to be anxious, apprensive, scared, fearful, have trepedation about retiring.

– 20% of people say don’t know what they are going to do with their time during retirement and thinking about retirement makes 20% percent of workers surveyed feel anxious.

– The other 80% just aren’t saying it yet.

What does retire look like? What are you hoping to do?

Get excited! Let us help you to know how to spend your days in freedom.