How many of you are retired?

Plenty of pressure since we retired due to trying to get all the jobs done. But next to no stress because if we don't get it done it doesn't matter much and there is no one but us to set targets to achieve.

Stress is a result of lack of personal control of pressure. The more you take control of your own life's pressures, the less stress you feel. Pressure isn't in itself harmful.

When I was "working" I went on a stress reduction course, the problem with that was I was under so much external pressure I couldn't make the time to carry out the suggestions. I then did a time management course but couldn't find the time to implement the theory. :D

TAT = Tiny Achievable Targets = No stress .

 

:D :D :D

 

We retired in 1993..... we had already bought our home in France in 1989 as a 'maison secondaire'....hubby was 47 and the offer of 'early release' was announced ....I was 45 at the time ..... we thought it too good an opportunity to miss; we sold up in the UK and as far as I was concerned 'came home' .....we had three years to wait for hubby's pension ...but we "struggled through" :D It took me 10 minutes to settle into our new life !! hubby took quite a while longer as he had come from an extremely busy and responsible post to do nothing....thank goodness he was a fit and regular cyclist .....he cycled the equivalent of 10,000 miles per year for those first three years :eek: We have less actual income than we had in the UK, but we have MORE disposable income than ever before .....we haven't got the huge heating bills, the excessive rates, the mortgage payments, no more excessive water and electricity bills !!! we know NOW where the money went :rolleyes: Our quality of life and standard of living are excellent...we are extremely happy and the one thing we have had, that money cannot buy, is TIME to enjoy the lovely part of the world we now live in ...

Not everyone can do this I know, we have no children, our family commitments now are zero; whilst we are fortunate, part of that is due to working hard, planning ahead and taking a risk.......... I had very bad problem with asthma in the UK for 10 years following chickenpox in my early thirties ......I took cortisone treatments and heart tablets as things had really deteriorated .....moving here gave me a new life, I do not take ANY medication at all and haven't done for thirteen years .....early retirement certainly did the trick for us ....hubby is just 60 and I have another 2 years to wait.....when he's 65 we'll retire all over again :D but we shan't be movong ! M-L

 

Do you speak French at all?

 

miraflores ... yes I speak French fluently..it's necessary and I think as the 'interlopers' we should ...... I think people get a lot more out of a 'foreign' country if they can integrate fully with the locals ...

Bonne nuit ! M-L

 

That's right. I also speak French (ok, more like... I used to speak French) as the part of Italy where I come from is not far from France, therefore is quite usual to be taught French at school.
Besides, cause of my "R" I have often been mistaken for french in Italy anyway!
I am not terribly keen on the language itself but I love the accent of a French speaking English.

 

Way to go Mona Lisa would love to do that myself but my other half is reluctant to move like your hubby I did 10,000 miles a year for 42yrs before retiring early only do 5,000 a year now until I do another big ride and need to do extra training so i'm glad I retired early I now can please myself what I do (when she lets me)

 

My t'other half was reluctant to be here full time, but here we are ...

I am not fluent in Portuguese by I can get by and have to as our neighbours don't speak English! :D It's more awkward on the telephone, I think, which I have to do later to order our firewood! :eek:

 

I am semi-retired, because of ill-health; I still do the odd bit of translating, but of course a lot of my time is devoted to my new garden!

 

I would advise everyone who is even slightly interested in horticulture to retire as soon as the opportunity presents itself

 

Well said good digger...

 

I am passed retirement age now but still work in the mornings 4 days a week then distribute and collect catalogues,then my husband delivers the orders, when he comes home in the evenings,this keeps us both fit.

If i had been working full time all my life then i would have retired, but i spent my years at home looking after our 3 children, then off and on through the years i had part time jobs. Now i hate being home too long.

I find i need the routine of work to get me motivated, and also i like to chat to my work friends,and when I'm not working i can easily become lazy.

My husband should retire in jan but he doesn't want to either. If he was cooped up in a factory it would be different but he is on the road all day delivering motor parts which he loves, so he will probably work just mornings.

I wouldn't like us to be together all the time as we both like our space.
Again like others have said, it's just a matter of choice.

 

For Stingo ...

"What Do Retired People Do All Day?

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.

Well, for example, the other day Marilyn and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, "Come on, how about giving a senior citizen a break?" He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him an old f*rt. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

So Marilyn called him a sh*thead. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus. We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age."

 

I'm just bringing this forward for Stingo if she comes on line ... I think it's funny ... but then I have a weird sense of humour ....

Off in a mo to watch the news ...