What Will I Do If I Retire Early?

I’m surprised how often, when I mention I plan to retire early, that I’m met with long pauses and perplexed looks. Eventually, they’ll ask, “But what will you do?” I bite my tongue, since my initial reaction is to say “What won’t I do!”

Can I be honest? I’ve never felt there were enough hours in any day. No matter how long I’ve gone without working (for money), I’ve still never been able to put a dent in my bucket list. Given this, it’s been difficult to relate to these types of responses at all.

Let me add that I do understand the rationale for wanting to continue working. Our professions (hopefully) give us a sense of purpose. They become part of our identity. We (ideally) befriend a few coworkers. And, although many of us would hate to admit it, we find the structure of a work week comforting.

41% of Empower survey respondents cited personal fulfillment as the main reason they didn’t want to retire from their full time careers.
10 Reasons Americans Don’t Want To Retire Full Time
Yahoo Finance

At this point in my life (I’m 52), the concern is that I won’t have spent as much time as I wanted with my loved ones, or that I may not get to all the wondrous places I’d like to visit. I doubt I’ll proclaim, with my final breath, that I regret leaving work so soon…

[There are] only two things we’ll regret on [our] deathbed –
that we are a little loved and little traveled.
Mark Twain

After spending many years immersed, personally and professionally, in wealth building, I’m thoroughly convinced that time is (by far) our most precious resource, and health our most lucrative investment.

So, for those who fear post-work boredom, I’ve compiled a list of 100 (or so) things you can do once you’ve retired:

Aruba, Jamaica (ooh, I wanna take ya), Bermuda, Bahama…
Attend a game night
Attend a major sporting event
Attend a workshop
Backpack through Europe
Become a minimalist
Bike the 18 best trails in the US or the Rails to Trail Hall of Fame
Build a birdhouse, home gym, model airplane, sandcastle…
Build a capsule wardrobe
Camp in the desert
Check in with Santa (365 days a year) in Lapland, Finland (while you’re there, feed the Reindeer)
Climb a mountain (or volcano)
Collect stamps (or something else)
Compose music
Crochet
Declutter, organize, downsize
Do crossword puzzles (or the NYT Wordle)
Do tai chi
Drive on the autobahn
Draw, or Paint
Eat Foodie’s 24 Iconic Foods to Try Before You Die or the most iconic food from each US state
Experience VR
Explore astronomy, or oceanography
Float in the Dead Sea
Fly a kite, or a drone
Go bowling, bungee jumping, hang gliding or paragliding
Go ice skating, kayaking, or on safari in Serengeti National Park
Go rock climbing, skydiving, or kiteboarding/kitesurfing
Go to a concert, wine tasting, or yoga retreat
Go to an escape room, or Cirque du Soleil
Go to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, or Rio de Janeiro during Carnival
Go to Niagara Falls, Banff, Jasper, Prince Edward Island, the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, CN Tower, Quebec, or Montreal in Canada
Go white water rafting, windsurfing, or zip line
Help solve cold cases
Hike the Appalachian Trail, Angel’s Landing in Zion, the Arctic Circle in Greenland, Half Dome in Yosemite, Inca Trail in Peru, or Grand Canyon – Rim to Rim
Host a dinner, murder mystery, karaoke, or tea party
Hunt down old friends
Join a book club
Kiss under a waterfall (or two, or three)
Learn a (new) language
Learn magic tricks, speed reading, or archery
Learn Argentine Tango (or another social dance)
Learn calligraphy
Learn to surf, play violin (insert favorite instrument), or juggle
Learn origami, or how to make candles, wire weave jewelry…
Listen to some of the NYT’s 100 best podcasts
Meditate
Mentor young professionals, or troubled teens
Overcome a fear, stretch your comfort zone
Plant a garden
Play chess, golf, tennis, table tennis, or pickleball
Put a jigsaw puzzle together, or see how fast you can solve the Rubik’s Cube
Read 100 classic books, or Goodreads’s 100 books to read before you die.
Redesign or remodel your home
Research your family tree
Review your estate plan
Ride on a high-speed train, or in a hot-air balloon
Ride one of the world’s fastest roller coasters
Roast your own coffee
Run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain
Learn to sail, then sail around the world (or part of it)
Sandboard the dunes in Colorado
Scrapbook old photos and memorabilia
Scuba dive, snorkel, or go bodyboarding
See the Seven Wonders of the World, or the Northern Lights
Serve on a community board
Ski Aspen, Jackson Hole, Snowbird, or St. Anton
Sleep in an ice hotel in Sweden, or a luxury cave
Soak in a hot spring
Solve Sudokus, or the NYT Connections puzzle
Spend a few months living overseas
Spend the summer in Paris (Tuscany…)
Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP)
Stargaze (with or without a telescope)
Stay in a camper van or RV, or an overwater bungalow
Study art, history, or philosophy
Swim with dolphins, sea turtles, or sharks
Take a global cuisine cooking class
Take a river, ocean, expedition, themed, or all-inclusive cruise
Take a food or ghost tour
Take a photography class, or a road trip
Take an online course, or an air taxi
Take a gondola ride in Venice, or boat the blue caves in Croatia
Tour a castle, or an archeological site
Train for a 5k, 10k, or marathon
Try a new recipe, or beekeeping
Visit loved ones – for as long as you want (…if they’ll have you)
Visit the Louvre or British Museum
Visit the Anne Frank House in the Netherlands, or Germany during Oktoberfest
Visit National Parks, National Forests, and State Parks
Visit the Vatican (Sistine Chapel, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal…)
Volunteer
Walk along the Great Wall of China
Walk through the Smithsonian Museums in DC (while your there – see the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and/or Washington Monument)
Watch birds, whales, or Shakespeare in the Park
Waterski, jet ski
Weave a basket
Whittle wood
Work out at the Jungle Gym in Tulum
Write a novel, poems, blog, or journal

This isn’t an exhaustive list. It’s meant to spark ideas. Having a vision of life in retirement, that you’re eagerly anticipating, is vital. Our post-work years are a time to pick up new skills (or reclaim those we’ve lost), travel, learn, and volunteer.

Try things you’ve never done for continued growth and excitement.
Discover new ways to feel fulfilled.

Financial freedom is meant to be freeing, to open doors, not close them.

Don’t plan to slow down into retirement, graduate into the next phase of life! Continue to thrive, redefine yourself, do more of what fuels you and provides a sense of purpose.

You could always go back to “working”. But only in ways of your choosing…

The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is priceless. It is the highest dividend money pays.
The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel

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