It’s a bit scary but I am now voluntarily unemployed. That’s slang for retired.  I’m 62 years old and I retired on December 31, 2023 with my last day of work being Friday, December 29, 2023.  

It is a strange feeling.  I keep trying to check my work emails on my phone until I realize I don’t have any of the work apps on my phone anymore.  I keep worrying that this 3-day weekend (New Year’s)  is going by too fast, and then I realize I don’t have to get up and go to work the day after New Years.  I start to worry and then I realize, that problem is no longer my problem.  Someone else is having to deal with it. A great weight of anxiety has dissolved. 

My last day, Friday December 29, was surreal.  I got up, got ready, ate breakfast and drove into work.  It being a Friday before New Year’s, traffic was pretty light.  The drive was quick.  I had my morning coffee, answered a couple of emails, ate my lunch at my desk and waited for the IT manager to come by and confiscate my laptop, badge and office key.  It was strange walking out of the building at 1:15 without my badge and work laptop.  I drove home and spent the afternoon watching YouTube videos and trying to relax.

Tomorrow (day after New Year’s) will be really weird.  I don’t need to get up and get ready.  I don’t need to drive anywhere.  I can be a bum and not shower and just do nothing.  But I’ll probably figure something out.  I’ve already started a YouTube channel.  Go check it out – Retirement Ain’t Easy.  Here is my first video.

This blog will probably see a slant towards what it’s like to be retired and living on your savings, social security, annuity and a pension.  There will be lots of references to my YouTube channel.  It’s something to keep me busy along with making music and photography.  Lots of time and lots to do. 

I hope you will continue to visit here and my YouTube channel to keep track of what I am up to.  Feel free to ask questions about retirement.  I am slowly becoming an expert at buying health insurance, applying for social security, starting annuity payouts and many other tasks to get the income flowing.