The Retirement Newsletter: My first month of retirement

Issue Number: 5 — that can’t be right

Nick

Apr 28, 2024

Photo by Author — onboard a narrowboat on a lock on the Oxford Canal

Welcome

Welcome to issue 5 — my first month of retirement.

That can’t be right. Can it?

I have checked the calendar, and it is one month. It doesn’t seem possible.

So how is it going? But before that, this week’s photo.

This week’s photo

Back in issue -25 — Awareness and Boats: Am I becoming more aware?— I wrote about a boating course I took. Last week, I put my training into practice. I hired a narrowboat for a long weekend on the Oxford Canal.

Long story short, I loved every minute of it, and I can’t wait to go again.

The retirement honeymoon period

Honeymoon is a word I have not considered much. I know the word and its meaning, but what is its derivation?

According to chatGPT:

“The term "honeymoon" originates from an Old English tradition where newlyweds drank mead, a honey-based alcoholic drink believed to promote fertility, for the first month of marriage. The word combines "hony" for honey and "moone" for lunar month, originally denoting this one-month period. Today, it refers to the post-wedding vacation.”

I didn’t know that.

Anyway, I accept that I am still in the honeymoon phase of my retirement. Everything is new and shiny, and the reality of retirement has not yet sunk in. No doubt this will soon change.

My days

When I told colleagues and friends I would retire, they said I would find retirement boring. If the first month of retirement is anything to go by, that won’t be the case. I can't believe how busy I've been.

As I said in Issue 3 — Now what? I have been thinking and planning how to spend my retirement, and I admit that I am struggling. How should I spend my days?

One issue is my calendar.

I am used to opening my calendar app and seeing it full for the week. Full of meetings, teaching, and appointments. My calendar is now empty, and I find it a bit scary. All I have in it now are doctor and dentist appointments, birthdays, and reminders of the occasional night out. It feels extraordinary not to have my days filled. I am in control of my time, which is something I wanted from retirement.

My days are not merging into one another, but I am struggling to define a pattern. This need for a pattern is a hangover from my working days when weeks had a well-defined structure of things to do. I am now in charge of the structure.

The days are flitting by.

I'm very busy.

I'm getting the things I had planned to do done.

I’m decluttering the house and busy setting up my side hustles.

I can already relate to the standard retiree’s comment:

“I’m so busy I don’t know how I managed to hold down a full-time job”

My busyness is because I am doing things that I want to do and doing them to the level I would like. I'm getting much more satisfaction from completing tasks as I can do them at my own pace and not in a rush.

I can account for how I'm spending my time. I’m decluttering the house (more on that in a laser issue) and working on my side hustle — more on that in the new paid newsletter, The Retirement Hustle, when it launches in a few weeks.

I am busy.

My pension

This is the worrying bit.

If you read Issue -0.5, Have I lost 12% of my pension?, you will know that I almost lost 12% of my pension due to a change in the penalties for taking an early retirement. This change was very well hidden on the pension company’s website. I only discovered it because a new quote I received for my pension differed significantly from the one for a February retirement (my original retirement date). I was lucky to catch this change, and the HR department where I worked was fantastic and managed to reset my retirement date. I retired later than I planned but earlier than I had been asked.

So, four weeks after I retired, I still haven’t received confirmation of my pension. This is a bit worrying. I would like confirmation that I haven’t lost 12%. If I have, I will have to find a job and that is not in my retirement plans.

I read somewhere in my pension material that it takes them eight weeks to sort things out, so I will give it another four weeks. Luckily, I have an emergency three-month fund, which I am currently use for living expenses.

Reflections

Overall, my first month of retirement has gone pretty well.

I have accepted that I am still in the honeymoon phase and I am still view my retirement as a holiday. It is not a holiday, and this view will change over time.

Travel — Nostalgia Corner

More stories from my first visit to Hong Kong:

Hong Kong — Chinese Banyan of Nathan Road at night, Hong Kong — The stunning trees on Nathan Road, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong — Hong Kong Harbour — day and night — if you are in Hong Kong, you must make time to visit the harbour as it is impressive, and at night, it is incredible.
Hong Kong — Street photos of Hong Kong — Some day and night photos from around Hong Kong.
Hong Kong — Café de Coral 大家樂, Hong Kong — not the best breakfast.
Hong Kong — The Big Bus Tour, Hong Kong — a great way to explore Hong Kong.

Next week, more stories from Hong Kong.

Next week

Next week, in issue number 6, I make a small confession about my retirement. Things are not as they seem.

Thanks

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Until next time,