Yes, it is now that life is put to the test, I would suppose. Did you make the right life choice or did you not? Have you lived to work or have you worked to live? Now there is time for reflection, perhaps for the first time in life? Something new always comes out of it in any case, so good luck 
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I have been both….
We retired first when we sold our business (micro biologists diagnostic veterinary lab). Decided I was too young (45) to stop working completely, so we made a pact that if someone offered us some money to do something we’d take it so we could extend the pension pot as far as possible.
Mrs VV has always enjoyed gardening so started doing a neighbours garden for 3 hours a week and finished up earlier this year having been recommended to others in the village working 25 hours a week gardening, and still works part time for our old company online.
I started dry stone walling (profile picture is one of mine) as a hobby around 2000ish so that was a natural move to part time self employment which morphed into can you build fences? Lay patios? build decks etc.
I am now on my last major project before retiring for the second time (60).
All this on top of owning, looking after competing and now judging dressage horses.
It took us about 3-6 months to realise that we didn’t have to go to work today unless we wanted to.
Would we do it again? Retire that is yes absolutely.
Did we have a plan? No not really apart from doing something non horsey 1 day a week - still to manage that 
Active or sedentary retirement? Definitely advise an active retirement if health good, know of or heard of too many people stopping work and then becoming life extinct without getting time to enjoy retirement.
Many great suggestions in the thread above, now is the time to do those things on your bucket list hopefully as you say in 12 months time you will wonder how you had time to work.
Best wishes
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Great post, ala the old Monty Python Oscar Wilde sketch - I wish I had said that!
.sjb
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I stopped work, which I loved, at the end of 2023. Great so far, feeling very relaxed and slightly surprisingly not missing work at all. I’ve got plenty of things I might well take on (and some great suggestions above) later but I’m not one to rush into things, and I’m not. Well, apart from getting much more exercise that is, really enjoying that and the resulting improvement in fitness and energy. My strategy was / is to have plenty to keep me occupied for a few months (for example sorting out things round the house that I’d been deliberately putting off, reading, watching snooker, playing table tennis, listening to more music) whilst I consider longer term projects / interests and make plans. Seems to be working so far, but it is early days of course.
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One piece of advice I had from a doctor was that with not working you will have more time to think about things outside of your control and you can end up worring about them. A solution to that could be to take on things to keep yourself busy so as to not have that time to think.
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I retired just before turning 54, from a busy, demanding and responsible job… a few months before COVID. Not ideal, but it made the transition bed in. Retiring was a positive choice though (for a number of reasons), and I finished work with pride and satisfaction.
My experience, and of people I know, makes me suggest you finish work with some plan, but not for every hour of every day. I took on a significant volunteering role that importantly is totally different to my job and is a new challenge, has responsibility and complexity and is also alongside new and interesting people. It takes up maybe 2 days a week, but it is flexible. I think it has been important that it makes me feel useful and relevant. I also became a charity trustee and various other bits and pieces as well as enjoying days of exercise, cooking and sometimes doing very little without any guilt. I spend quality time with my wife, not just when we are both knackered.
As for my old colleagues, well I do miss the feeling of being part of that team but you keep in touch with the ones that are really your friends
So value the skills you have and if you want to their are ways of giving back that can be richly rewarding, but aren’t work. Keep the brain busy as well as the body. Retirement can be the start of good things, new things, not just an end.
Bruce (retd GP)
by the way there is a vast thread on this in the Forum from '21
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I retired at 55 and have only ever been glad that Monday mornings are my own. I don’t get up till 8 or 9am because there’s no rush. The work stress is gone and I wasn’t able to choose the peope I worked with, so they weren’t friends, just acquaintanes.
You may find that it is really nice now to be able to do what you want, when you want. Preparing meals is enjoyable now instead of a quick chore. I have a few hobbies: playing/practicing guitar, some piano, audio, wine collecting, writing, and a few others, so you may find that you will fill the time easily and enjoy some great meals.
I’m generally quite content, but as you’ve read, some people just aren’t. Some of that is just knowing that you really like yourself and feel good about just being. There was a quote in Cod Philosophy a while back that basically said that, people spend so much effort running around trying to be amazing and its just not necessary. You aren’t defined by what you do, or did, for a living to pay the bills. Now is your time for you finally, and hopefully you’ll come to relax into it.
Just some thoughts, hope this helps.
Dave
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I took early retirement at 58 and it was one of the best things that I’ve done.
Work was a an Assessor for an UKAS Accredited Certification Body, travelling around the UK and the world undertaking management system audits.
I certainly do not miss driving 45k miles per year, flying, working 60 hours plus every week.
Now I enjoy doing the things I want to, but more importantly, when I want to; listening to Jazz, shopping when I want to go, meeting friends for lunch or coffee, partaking in other personal hobbies, e-Biking, (doing about 400 miles per month), Freemasonry, holidays, bit of DIY, going to concerts, changing the Hi-Fi, etc.
Although we have TVs, I never watch daytime TV, in fact stopped watching live TV many years ago. Only things we watch now are either films or series on ITV X or Amazon Prime, when we want to.
One of the things I did do was to set up a small management system consultancy. Mainly to keep up to date with management system standards, H&S and Environmental law. Working about two days a month, it is enough to keep me buttoned to the real world. With this, it is my choice when I work, where I work and with whom I work, so it never feels like a chore. It’s more like visiting working friends, chatting with them, drinking their coffee and charging them money for the privilege of doing so.
I must admit, that I’ve never thought what am I going to do with all this free time. More the case of, how did I find time to work.
Mrs DG is a number of years younger than me and is still working full time, so I have a bit of me time when she does so. Also, because she works shift work, when she has her days off, we treat these as “Date Days”and always try and do something special.
One of the main things that I enjoy is the freedom to choose to do what I want, when I want, with whom I want.
I am pleased to state that my Work - Life balance has never been better and am certainly enjoying life to the full.
I know that the change of taking retirement can be a big and daunting step, but approach it with an open mind and as a new chapter in your life, not as an end to something.
Embrace it and enjoy it, after all, you’ve now got more time to enjoy our hobbies of Hi-Fi and listening to music.
DG…
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In about 1980/81 a headmaster I knew reached his 50th birthday and even though he loved his job he took early retirement at that point, based on statistics that indicated from that age every year a head teacher worked reduced life expectancy by 2 years.
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Adding to my first post here, although I loved my work I was envious of some of my peers who variously retired from ages 50 to 60. (I couldn’t afford to retire early due to inadequate pension provision.) I targeted my state pension age (just under 66) to retire, but that coincided with COVID, both nullifying some retirement intentions and making it doubly difficult to recruit my successor. I was just over 68 by the time everything was on place. My work was both hugely satisfying and mentally challenging, and I thought it would be hard to let go, so I contemplated doing some part time freelancing, and also had a longstanding project I had planned to undertake to contribute to my profession, but when the time came all I did was provide some training for my successor over the first six months or so, since when I haven’t missed it for one second. There is so much else to do in life!
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Continuing the discussion from Early Retirement - how is it for you?:
I’m enjoying this thread, and the earlier one, as I’m in the same boat now working part time as a transition to retirement. I found the above post that I made a few years ago and are reasonably on track I think, it was a nice reminder. Well, approaching 58 now, part time is now several days a week and most of the school holidays off, so some nice family time. The last upgrade became two 
, but pretty much done now. Finished the on suite and painted the outside of the house, installed solar and 2 more heat pumps, so our home is well set up now.
There is a 7 year gap though to access the state pension at 65 for me, and 10 years for my wife and we’ve enough invested to cover ourselves from then, or possibly earlier if the investments start making better returns. On balance, I’m happy to tick over enough part time to cover our living costs until I can hang up my boots - hopefully well before 65.
Anyway, to the OP’s question, I think it’s a matter of keeping, or finding new purpose, and being physically and mentally active. My mum is 87 and is so sociallly active I need to book her in for a catch up some times.
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Ordered thanks HH
I am really taken aback! Thanks to you all for taking the time to offer words of advice and for sharing your experiences.
I think I can boil the advice down to keeping mentally active, physically fit and looking forward rather than backwards. I do have some immediate plans. A quick short holiday, there are gigs in the diary and walking the south downs way with some retired mates in May. My wife and I are thinking of exploring Liverpool for a few days, and we are also renovating a house on the Isle of Wight, so lots of work with architects and builders is anticipated for 2024.
Thanks again for all the advice, it really is appreciated.
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I’m not going to write a long description of what I did because it won’t add much to what others have said.
But two things I would add:
Firstly it really is worthwhile looking at volunteering. That can take all sorts of different forms, whatever you like, but the voluntary sector really needs all and every help it can get and it is very interesting if you pick the right thing, as well as rewarding.
Secondly, if you like dogs but don’t have one that needs reasonably long walks, take a look at the Borrow my Doggy scheme. It’s a national scheme to put dog owners needing help with people who would like the company of a dog from time to time, or regularly. My wife and I borrow a black Labrador every weekday morning and take her for a two hour walk. We have walked about 1400 km with her in the last 11 months. This has been very good for my own physical health and it’s great fun. We now know many people and their dogs, which makes it all rather special.
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It’s largely going to depend on your personal interests, whether you actually have them, and whether they are sustaining time-wise. I’ve witnessed two sets of parents, (mine and Mrs. FZ’s) go through retirement with drastically different results and in both cases the causes were equally clear.
My mother and stepfather had, if anything, too many hobbies but never enough time in the day to do even one. I guess work and kids just got in the way. But those interests were “in the bank” so to speak and second retirement came along, they let rip. They are extremely active with multiple hobbies at home and social ones out of the house too. In fact I can never catch them. Always, “sorry. Busy. Gotta run.”
Well into their advanced years now and mentally sharp and still constantly having a laugh together or with friends.
Mrs. FZ’s parents, in contrast, had no hobbies, and no friends - merely acquaintances from work. Worked and worked and worked. Kids left home, and her mother, who was a full time housewife, suddenly had no idea what to do with herself having never had a hobby in life. Dementia set in right away. A couple years ago, her father retired. Also, never having had a hobby or interest, dementia set in almost overnight.
These are people who never read books, listened to any music and the number of times they’d watched a film in all their decades can be counted on one hand. From the moment they left school it was just decades of work work work and when that ended they were just lost.
I look at these two examples before me and the lesson I pick up is, to enjoy retirement; to be healthy in retirement; have interests and be interesting. Because it looks as though it is possible to bore yourself to death.
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I became self employed in my early 50’s and when I turned 60 I gradually reduced the number of days I worked. Working from home really suits me. I’m now busier than ever - parish councillor, footpath warden and balancing time with hobbies.
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We are all different. I once worked with a guy who retired at 65, sat at home for 6 months getting bored out of his mind, and asked if he could have his job back. It was quite a hard physical job, and he was good at it, and happily returned.
That triggered a ‘what would your preferred retirement age be’ conversation. People thought I was joking when I said 18, but I meant it, and there will never be a day when I run out of things to do with my time.
I actually managed to keep working until I was 62, but with quite a lot of extended gaps when I had more important things to do than work.
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I retired 6 months ago after 50 years continuous work in 2 very different careers (14 years in the Merchant Navy and 36 years in the “Big Tech” sector).
I’m still adjusting to life without work but here are my 3 key learnings so far:
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Family is everything. Prioritising work stuff over family stuff (admit it….we’ve all done it) is no longer a reality. Nobody at work in any company is irreplaceable. Family is irreplaceable.
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Life moves at a slower pace. This isn’t something to feel guilty about.
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Material possessions are not the nirvana you thought they were. Enjoy what you have rather than continually wanting more.
My final bit of advice is ……beware, there is only 1 problem with retirement: you never get a day off 
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Lots of great advice here and would really endorse that about volunteering - at whatever level you feel comfortable. If you are careful, you can pick and choose when, maintaining the flexibility of time that retirement brings.
Don’t forget the option of a ‘lay person’ for regulatory bodies. I help with a teaching body and as most of the work is via Teams it is both fulfilling and convenient.
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Re volunteering here are some links that may be helpful about volunteering.
Bruce
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