I was reading through your list of questions and thought that I could see another survey coming on. Sure enough, you thought it too. I look forward to the results of that one.

I read this post and my head is swimming.
Past 70, have built 3 homes and created beautiful gardens at each over the last 10 years.
Now almost settled in this last creation.
Spring through fall I stay busy in my garden.
I have started reading blogs and have started one.
My stack of unread books grows higher and higher.
I am up at 5:00 AM and before I know it the sun is going down.
My list of what I want to do is shorter but I do not think in this lifetime it will all be accomplished.
This almost makes me sad.
How could anyone be bored.
TV - what is that.
Retirement - what are you.
Am I retired and do not know it.

I will probably have to work till I drop, or physically can't any more. My husband left our finances in a huge mess, and it looks as if retirement is not going to be an option. To be honest, if I did not love my job, the future would be pretty bleak.

I retired from teaching high school at 61. But before leaving, I got a university position supervising student teachers. I still had a foot in education, plus, I could do all the things I did on the margins of my career.

After retiring (and I loathe that word) I cleaned and re-decorated my house, did and still do renovations, took night courses, mosaic tile course, joined a cycling group, gardened my butt off, built a sidewalk, renovated more, walked, kayaked, read a ton of books, wrote a memoir on teaching, started a journal, read motivational books. But every now and then I felt out of step watching others go to work.

We travel, we walk, we volunteer a bit. But still, there were times when I cried. I felt a bit sad, missing my colleagues? I don't know. But gardening was the only thing that took me away from worrying about my possible 30 year future.

I even applied for some minimum wage jobs, but just half-heartedly, as I didn't want to be locked into working nights or weekends. Finally on Mother's Day last May, mom suggested I garden for others.

I made a flyer, stuck it in 50 mail boxes and went home. The next day I was bombarded with calls from seniors, people who can't do physical work but want to remain in their homes, and a few celebrities! I already had the tools, LOVE gardening, so off I went on this new adventure.

I LOVED it. Now I am already getting calls for this season & will work mornings only for more $ than I would make subbing for whole days. (I will never sub!) I also sold some of my articles to magazines and newspapers. I know that I can legally go back and teach if I want to, but I keep that ace card in my back pocket "in case."

Gardening for others gives me that hero feeling I had when teaching. So when people ask me what I am doing in retirement (I hate that word) I say I exercise for money and teach student teachers.

Am I retired? No! Am I happy? Yes! I realize I can not sit on my butt. I was made to achieve, and for me there is no finish line. If my other retired friends want to sit and etc. no problem, but don't ask me to quit learning, working and making my way on this earth.

I believe there will soon be a huge demand for senior workers, and when that time comes, get ready for a large attitude adjustment from those who think anyone over 50 should slink off on an ice floe. I am here. Here to work. Here to achieve. I will not get off the dance floor of life no matter what my number says.

I never officially retired. Instead, I kind of morphed into retirement without noticing it. During the later years of my career I had my own private psychotherapy practice and I loved my work so planned never to retire. I knew for sure that I would happily 'die in harness'. Also, as part of the plan, my partner and I were building (literally, out of adobe) our own retreat centre on 30 rural acres, and as time went on I was spending fewer hours in my city practice and more hours on the land. That was also according to plan.

But gradually, round about 60, I noticed that everything inside me seemed to be getting kind of fluid. I began to discover that all the things I had thought I wanted weren't what I wanted at all. New ideas and interests were popping up. The ground seemed to be shifting under me.

At first, I tried to hold myself to the program, but that resulted in a bout of depression. So I was finally forced to let go and accept that I was changing in lots of ways, like it or not, and that the future was in fact wide open and totally unpredictable.

Through homesteading, we had learned to live so simply that we could manage on a very small income. So over the following three years, we moved countries twice, tried out several different lifestyles - including joining an intentional community for a while - and just followed our interests and inclinations.

These days, we both have so many projects on the go that we can't imagine how we ever managed to find time to work for a living. All we have is our Social Security, but it is enough for our needs and we feel very blessed. At almost 72, I dutifully write 'retired' on the forms. But for me, 'retiring' from work was kind of like 'retiring' from the dining-room into the drawing-room, like the ladies in old-fashioned novels used to do. Simply going from one room of my life into another. And I love this one. It's wonderful.

Retirement has gone well for me and I almost feel guilty till I remember the 28 years of service time I put in to earn it. I also remember times during those 28 years when I was envious of friends who weren't working and who's lives seemed like one long summer vacation. These days though, the shoe is on the other foot and thank goodness I stuck it out.

I 'retired myself' four years ago shortly before my 56th birthday. This year I will start to receive pension when I hit 60.

I had worked very hard for many years at various levels in education and was ready to stop. By selling everything we owned in UK my partner and I were able to buy a piece of land in Turkey in 2003 and in 2004 we moved out here and built our house.

I had calculated that we had enough funds to survive the four years till my pension would be paid - but I got it wrong. However, we have managed with loans from friends and judicious use of credit.

As for what we do with our time: we are creating a garden; I translate written Turkish to English; we read obsessively; I am a member of a Turkish Folk Dance group comprised of retired British residents; in summer I organise weddings for foreigners who want to be married in the romantic beauty that is so easy to find here.

By the way, the translation and weddings are paid work, the rest voluntary. In winter, we give free English lessons for people in our village. I spend a fair amount of each day on-line as I also help run a community information website for foreign residents.

We are never bored and don't have TV. From May to October we are rarely without friends visiting from UK and other countries. When I am asked if I am retired, I honestly don't know what to answer. Sure I have retired from full-time paid employment, but that to me doesn't seem to be the meaning of 'retired', and I do still work albeit on a part-time freelance basis.

My usual answer is 'I am a retired teacher' which is true but if 'retired' does imply a kind of netherworld existence of filling time with gentle pursuits whilst waiting for life to draw to a close - I am definitely not retired. Maybe Ronni you could put your mind to coming up with an alternative word to describe us eclectic, active elders - just as you have popularised the use of 'elder'. I get the feeling I am not alone in disliking the word 'retired'.

An early retirement was forced on me due to a worsening hearing loss. At first I was devastated, but it was mainly because of the loss of income. When I became eligible for S.S. it got easier and I gradually adjusted to a new life style. I volunteered playing the piano for a nursing home, made small home improvements (I proudly changed all the door knobs and locks on every door in the house) and felt a sense of pride in accomplishing things I never thought I could do. I traveled and achieved a life time ambition of seeing 'strange looking places with strange sounding names.'

As time went by I reveled in the freedom that comes from not having to punch a clock and of being master of my own fate. Did I miss working? Never. Possibly because I really didn't like my job to begin with.

I am not especially fond of the word retirement, but it does denote a change in lifestyle and I can't think of a replacement that says it any better. I don't believe anyone associates the word with a granny sitting in her rocking chair knitting anymore. We are not defined by a word and the ones who matter know how busy we still are.

For years, I've described myself as feeling "retirement lust." Heck, that started in my early 50s.

I figured out that the feeling meant that I had a lot of things I wanted to do that didn't fit into life as defined by my employment. So I just started doing some of them even though I still had jobs (I'm a consultant) -- at 55 I climbed Kilimanjaro, because I still could.

As I move into my 60s, still a pretty active consultant, I run into another aspect of this "retirement" thing. Being a consultant means repeatedly starting new projects. Every time I do this I find myself saying -- "never again -- I've got to retire." I understand that this just means that finding the energy to make a new start, even doing work that I know well and am good at, is simply getting harder.

I discussed this recently with a friend who also works as a consultant -- and is 78. She has all the same feelings -- puts in bids on jobs, hopes she won't get them, gets them and feels overwhelmed by the need for energy to start up, and feels gratified once doing them because she is using accumulated skills well.

So that's where I stand on this at the moment -- barring future physical disability.

I may get involuntarily retired if groups stop hiring me. And you know, that wouldn't be so bad. The money wouldn't be so easy, but I think we can get by (my partner is five years younger, so we are out of phase on this.)

I retired two years ago at 69. The violence against women organization where I had worked for nine years was forced to close because of mismanagement by the director and the board. I had been a fabulous job within a very stressful environment. I had assumed I would work until my mind or body gave out because I was honored to do the work and because we never made a lot of money and have modest savings.

Now my husband and I live very simply on social security plus his work at a store where he gets health insurance for both of us, and money I bring in from independently facilitating workshops and from fabric art. We do not have children. Someday we will not have private insurance and will have to depend on public help when our health and little money run out. But that is not now.

Although the past few years have really been recovery years - grieving for the loss of the work, part of my identity and my colleagues - they have led to the happiest time of my life.

I love being in charge of my own time and my own direction. I focus on being a good and peaceful person in the present. Sometimes that means sitting in the sun, reading, walking, nurturing and being nurtured by family and friends, being politically or socially active, teaching or creating art, but even then it means doing so with as little schedule and as few “shoulds” as possible. I find that the health and rhythms of my mind and body signal what the time will be like, and I delight in the freedom to do what is creative, loving, and contributing in that space. I try to be easy on myself and on others. I am not guilty when I do nothing or when I say “no.”

Tomorrow I will be at a conference with many of my former colleagues. We will sit in a circle and identify ourselves. I am visioning saying the words “old” and “retired.” It will be somewhat humiliating not to identify myself by a work I do. And I will try to be proud of just being, and being me.

Great topic. Will give some thought to all your questions and write a bit at my place later. "Retired" is an interesting word which seems to carry emotionally-loaded feelings for a number of readers, some positive, some not-so. Wonder why that is?

Basically, at 73 yrs, guess I could say I'm semi-retired, but I really have never given much thought to that once it became apparent the life style with domestic travel anticipated for these years would not be possible due to my now-deceased husband's poor health.

BTW your blog doesn't remember me either any more, so have to put in my name etc. every comment.

I'm glad to see what Judith wrote about hanging out with animals. This is what I plan to do when I retire (become involved in caring for animals at a shelter). Happy to see this doesn't grow stale (like pushing paper).

Mage and Joared--I don't think it is just Ronni's blog that has the issue. I think that TypePad is having a problem. At least, none of the TypePad-served blogs that I visit seems to have remembered me for the last two or three days.

I saw my Great Uncle retire and live well into his 80's. What I saw was he was always busy. They moved out to the country and he started a big garden. I thought then that the key to retirement was to stay busy. Later I saw Aunts and Uncles sell their homes, buy RVs, and travel full time. At a family reunion my Aunt told me what fun they were having together moving around and seeing the nation.
Most of the people that I saw transition into retirement led active involved lives.
When we started planning our retirement my husband and I agreed we wanted to travel full time. We also decided to retire as early as possible because we saw his father die of a heart attack less than a year after his retirement.

It has been 12 years now and we had 10 1/2 wonderful years on the road. Then my husbands health made it necessary to settle down near good medical care. Now I am a full time caregiver for my spouse which was not part of my planning for retirement. Somehow I had overlooked that aspect of growing older.
I loved waking up each day and saying "What do I want to do today?" Now it is planning the week around how many medical appointments are there this week?
My other plan for retirement was to read all the unread books I bought.

I much prefer the word retirement to the word unemployed.

I'm 65 and have been "retired" (I guess) for about 3 years. I never had a career to retire from and was THRILLED the day I decided to stop working.

I now work part time writing for the local newspaper, raise puppies for the SPCA, design web pages, and spend too much time on the Internet, but I love that.

I figure I paid my dues and if I want to end my days as a sloth, I've earned the right.

Ronni, apparently I latched onto your blog at an old page and thought you might have died! Happily, I find you still blogging in 2008 (I must stop leaping to conclusions!) As a new blogger at the age of 85 may I introduce myself: I am Dorothy Vining at www.musingsat85.com

You have a very cool blog and I'm happy to meet you.

I have been continually losing jobs, being unemployed and underemployed for the past 4 years. I will be 60 next month. I am very worried about how to earn a living until I can afford to retire -- certainly not when I become eligible for partial Soc. Security in 2 years. I am never bored, so occupying myself in "retirement" will not be an issue.

P.S. - Yo, gardening lady! You're not in Western New York by any chance?!

I love the idea of the freedom; love to read, write, do consulting (I'll probably never stop that if the work keeps coming...) travel, see my kids, help my synagogue etc. BUT we are in terror re health insurance. Any thoughts on that would be greatly appreciated...

I sometimes wonder if I am retired or "retarded" for not continuing to work full time (if I even had the energy) after age 62. I teach Hebrew School 3 1/2 hours per week and that is enough. My energy level (maybe its the depression) is not that great so I have discovered that by doing my own daily things on a revolving schedule helps me "go on." There is piano to play, papers and books to read, Judge Judy - Dr. Phil - Net Flix and such. Plus with computer, shopping and cooking for hubby of 45 years - it seems that each day goes by rather quickly. So long as we can live on SS and Thank God for Medicare etc. we can make it. Very interesting reading what your people are says, Ronni. You are wonderful for having this site "chock a block" full of interesting info and folks.

It appears that some people have a very clear vision about what they want to do in their God given retirement life. I just hope that more people will think about becoming more productive and contribute creatively to make this a better society for everyone. My persoanl mission at age 62 is to empower seniors to become entrepreneurs.

Sixty-six and still working…
I have no solid plan for retirement, but do have some concerns—
• Will I feel isolated?
• Will I be called upon to care for grandchildren more than I’d want to?
• Is my daughter correct in thinking that I might kill my husband (retired) should I retire?
• Will I have more time to sit and worry about my mentally ill son’s life?
However, when the time comes in a few years, I suspect I will—
• Read more
• Take classes (always something new to learn)
• Return to being a certified advocate for the institutionalized elderly (their term; not mine)
• Continue to connect with elder bloggers