You retired with a pat on your back from your ex-boss and maybe you received a parting gift, like a gold watch. Now you have all of the time in the World to do what you want to do. Then again, that paycheck that you got for your hard work has come to an end. You now have to make your way in life with the money that you saved for your retirement, plus a pension that you earned from your former employer. You are now finally getting back some of the money that you and your employer paid to the Government of the United States of America in the form of a monthly Social Security check.
Are you earning more money now than you were making for working for an employer? On the other hand, you do not have to spend money to travel to and from the job that you had. Like it or not, you decide to total your monthly expenses and then subtract that amount from your monthly income from all sources. Can you now pay all of your current expenses in a timely manner? If not, you will have to make some changes in your life and how you really want to live for the rest of your life.
Consider carefully what you want to do and then make those positive changes for living the rest of your life. A whole lot of retired people sell their home and move to Florida. Doing so you can sell the home that might now be too big for you because your children grew up and moved out years ago. Yup! No more ice and snow and freezing cold weather for you. You certainly have had more than enough of that.
It is true enough that smaller home costs less money and here is an opportunity to use that extra money from the sale of that large home for earning interest or you might want to purchase an annuity policy that will provide additional money for you each month. Maybe you would like to purchase a mobile home and tour the entire country? You are like a kid in a candy store, in regard to all of those things that you can do with your time these days. After paying all of your current expenses how much more money is available to you for just having fun?
Can you afford to play golf and/or join a golf club? Hobbies are a whole lot of fun. That’s an idea for the use of all or some of your free time. Arts and crafts, writing, antique collecting, computer networking, trips for shopping in flea markets and other places that you could not see or do because you had to work each week day.
How about going on a vacation of a lifetime, so it has been called? Where would you like to go on this huge Earth? Are you an adventurer? Treasure hunting is a whole lot of fun. You might get really lucky and strike it rich. Above all else you want to remain healthy and as alive and active as you can be.
The real point here is that you are starting a new life for yourself that can hopefully make you as happy as you can be until the day that you die. Careful planning and the desire to be more than you are can surely make that new life possible for you. Enjoy!