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Posted on 08/21/2025 8:36:31 PM PDT by Cronos
The fifties are when retirement gets determined. Not financially—most boomers figured that out—but existentially. It's when patterns solidify, relationships either deepen or atrophy, identity either expands or calcifies around a job title.
1. They let their entire identity collapse into their job title
2. They believed retirement was a reward rather than a transition. You can't flip a switch from workaholic to fulfilled retiree.
3. They stopped making new friends Somewhere in their fifties, they closed the friend roster. The social circle became fixed—college buddies, work colleagues, couple friends from the kids' childhood. No new applications accepted.
4. They ignored their health until it was crisis management The fifties send bodily invoices for decades of neglect. But instead of paying attention, many worked harder, ignoring the check engine light. The cruel irony: the fifties are the last decade when you can build reserves rather than just slow depletion.
5. They avoided difficult conversations with their spouse Parallel lives seemed sustainable in their fifties. She had book club; he had golf. They'd "reconnect in retirement."The gray divorce rate has doubled since 1990, largely driven by couples discovering their marriage was held together by busy schedules, not connection.
6. They dismissed therapy as weakness
7. They abandoned learning "I'm too old for new things," became their fifties refrain, usually about technology but eventually everything. They stopped reading challenging books. They stopped being curious.
8. They never developed interests that weren't productive Every hobby had purpose. Golf for networking. Reading for professional development. Nothing for joy.
9. They ignored their changing relationship with their children
10. They thought money would solve everything
(Excerpt) Read more at vegoutmag.com ...
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Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
I retired in 1986 at the age of 53...
Best move ever...
Spent most of those years bass fishing, bodybuilding, ferrying grandchildren, and taking my wife to casinos...
Last 6-7 years, mostly just casinos...
At 92, I’ve slowed down, about to have cataract surgery, and my wife, at 86, has one fake knee and arthritis in the other one...
“I had to be at a certain place at a certain time every day for 25 years. Why would I want to freaking continue to do that after I retired?”
Amen to that! For me, it was 50 years of structure, meetings, etc. Now I resent having to put even a doctor’s appointment on my calendar. I’m into freedom.
There are different groups that might be interesting to join, but I don’t want to expected to be some place regularly.
“Wife quits going because the therapist challenges her, and thats not the therapists affirmation she wanted.”
Gee, that never happens when Husband is challenged. /s
“A Whipple procedure ‘fixed’ that, but my digestive processes no occupy too much of my time daily.”
Oh... I’m so sorry. My friend had that about five years ago. Her life was miserable for so long. And her lifestyle was turned upside down which will be forever.
Unclear: As you saying that you did undergo psychotherapy? Why? For how long? Did it help?
Regards,
Impressive!
How about taking up skydiving? /humor
Regards,
I know that feeling. I worked the 3-11 p.m. shift for the majority of my career. I worked that shift by choice, because the administrators weren't around during those hours. Because I worked those hours, I couldn't just go home and go to bed. I stayed up for 2-3 hours later. Once I retired, I kept that same sleep schedule. In fact, I go to bed around 4 a.m., read until I start getting sleepy, then hit the sack. Any doctor appointment I need to make, I always ask them for an afternoon appointment. The only time I'd get up early in the morning, would be to have surgery or go on a trip.
” I tell youngsters now to remember, that the older you get, the faster time flies.”
Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.
That’s a load of...
It’s tossing life down the drain
92!! Wow!
I salute you sir for a life well lived! And still living well!
A list of everything I’ve done wrong.
It’s Boomers and their selfishness that ruined life on the USA.
Author can’t wait for them to die!
Author is likely a millennial.
Bravo, I retired in January and did a 23-state 8K trip in May/June with my wife. Saw some new places and reconnected with friends that I hadn't seen in 45 years.
We don't see the point of going to some tourist trap to just hang out for a couple of weeks. I want to see different things, enjoy new experiences, and meet new people. It was encouraging to meet so many patriots in all parts of our country. Retirement is awesome.
Same here. I’ll turn 72 in October. I started shooting competitive short range benchrest in my late 40s. We travel all over the Eastern half of the country going to matches.
I’ve been getting ready for the NBRSA Group Nationals next month in Wright City MO. For 12 days (since I got back from the IBS Group Nationals in Camillus NY) I’ve been working a schedule that would make a Gen Zer cry for his mama. Chambered a barrel, made and tested 2000 bullets, made sure my guns are dialed in and practiced with two of my buddies.
Got another week of that, then I’ll spend a week back at the house attending to all the stuff I’ve been ignoring, then pack the RV and head to Missouri.
Benchrest competition is a constant source of new friends. We have friends from all over the country, Canada, and as far away as New Zealand.
I think time seems to fly because we used to do a certain amount of work in one day. Now it takes a week, and we wonder where the time went.
I’m loving retirement and none of things listed has ever affected me or the wife.
I’m guessing this is about the author of the article.
My feelings exactly.
When we retired our financial advisor made it quite clear that many new retirees blow through their retirement funds very quick because they think they deserve all the things they bought after working all those years.
Once the IRA is gone they have to go back to work. This is where the misery sets in.
And I do know one such person. He told me he planned on spending his IRA and zeroing it out in 10 years. I told him he was a fool. He was, he blew through it in a year.
I see many people in their 70’s and some in their 80’s still working.
I retired at 46, did a 3yr “apprenticeship” as an audio engineer, and worked with many well-known music artists. Played in a Boston tribute band (as Scholz) and realized my dream to live around palm trees and away from liberal morons. Got divorced and made a handsome profit from the sale of my home. Currently restoring my beloved Toyota MR2 (1989). I get on my knees everyday to thank the Lord for the many blessings only possible by his grace.
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