Anonymous wrote:I would volunteer for two organizations I support. I would also play a lot of pickleball and travel once a vaccine is available.

Travel sounds wonderful. Right now I have to be satisfied with watching 4k videos on YouTube of beautiful places I want to visit.

I would volunteer for two organizations I support. I would also play a lot of pickleball and travel once a vaccine is available.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We volunteer in visitor services two national parks. 600 hours/year. We have made great friends with the rangers and employees, the same ones coming back year after year.

Ahhh that sounds so appealing

That, reading more, gardening, walking and biking, volunteering at my local animal shelter. I write fiction and would probably torture myself more with that as well.

I think I could keep myself well entertained. And if not, you can always go back to work.

Parks is totally my plan. Gonna get me a Cougar RV.

Anonymous wrote:We volunteer in visitor services two national parks. 600 hours/year. We have made great friends with the rangers and employees, the same ones coming back year after year.

Ahhh that sounds so appealing

That, reading more, gardening, walking and biking, volunteering at my local animal shelter. I write fiction and would probably torture myself more with that as well.

I think I could keep myself well entertained. And if not, you can always go back to work.

DH retired at 49 and I was already mostly a stay at home parent. DH spends about half his time investing and dealing with the related paperwork, which saves us a ton in management fees, and he serves on some boards. I work a few hours a week for a previous employer and take classes with the aim of earning a specific certification. We also take care of our elderly parents which greatly eases the burden on our siblings who are all still working. And, we have kids at home as well. It all kind of adds up so we actually have to carve out time to travel and do fun things.

Volunteer. Be politically active in fighting against climate change and for solutions to poverty. Write more songs. Work out even more.

I could retire now (almost 50), but I still have kids in elementary school. Were I to do so, I'd have plenty to do, between home renovation, catching up on my reading, exercising more, writing my book, etc... I'd never be bored.

However, I haven't accomplished everything I want in my career, so I've continued plugging away. I did, however, just accept a new job with a title that recognizes my career achievements and a paycheck to match. After a few years at my new job, my attitude may change. Until then, wish me luck.

I'm hoping to retire at 56. Kids will be out of the house. I think we will travel a bit; see friends across the globe we haven't seen in a while. Garden; putter around the house; read; volunteer. Then I might get bored and get a PT job.

Pp. sorry about the typo. My sentence was “we volunteer in visitor services in two national parks.”

We volunteer in visitor services two national parks. 600 hours/year. We have made great friends with the rangers and employees, the same ones coming back year after year.

Retired in my 50s and kids almost out of the house...and I'm going back to school for a master's in something I've always wanted to study. Might lead to part-time work or consulting afterward, but doesn't have to. I'm loving being a student again, with some perspective on life this time.

I could have retired at 52 but I still had kids in HS so it wasn’t like I could head south for the winter and enjoy outdoor sports. I did sit on the sidelines for a year but all of the other retirees were 10+ years older than me and they made me feel old. So I went back to work and retired again at 61 but even then I worked part time for five years to avoid going cold turkey. Now I’m almost fully retired and I’m really enjoying life though COVID has slowed things down. Retirement needs to be well planned and far more than just financial planning. Being active and busy are critical. I live near some of my little grandchildren and I often just call my daughter to see if I can play with them or just take them with me on errands. They keep me young!

Anonymous wrote:Read, house, garden, art projects, cook, meetups, friends, committes for politic things. I write, have a blog, read other's blogs and articles. I always have a project.

Oh, and laundry. Yeah.

I forgot to say, I was 55, but then taught literacy classes for about 5 years...about 2 a week. I was paid, but not really.

Read, house, garden, art projects, cook, meetups, friends, committes for politic things. I write, have a blog, read other's blogs and articles. I always have a project.

Oh, and laundry. Yeah.

Even more interesting, if you DID retire in your early 50's - or thereabouts - what did you do with your free time? So many of us have plans but don't follow through.