What to do During Your Retirement

Retirement is an exciting time. You’re finally done with your career, and now you get to enjoy the time off that you’ve earned. But what should you do with all this free time? If you don’t make some plans, you may find yourself sitting around the home bored all day. To help you out, here are a few of the most common things people do once they retire and how you can get started with them.

Travel More

For starters, many people who enter retirement use this time to start traveling. When you’re focusing on your career, or raising a family, you don’t typically have the money or the time to do a lot of traveling. In retirement, this is no longer the case.

Take some time to think about all the places you want to go. Do you want to do a road trip across the country? See Europe? Check out the Northern Lights in Iceland? Go on a safari? There are a lot of options out there and you’re only limited by your funds and your taste for adventure. Here are some great places to travel to in retirement if you need suggestions.

Take Up a Hobby

Another thing you can do is take up a hobby. Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do, but didn’t have the time? Maybe you wanted to learn how to play an instrument or how to paint. Or maybe you want to learn about photography or how to make things out of wood. You have a lot of free time on your hands now, so you might as well spend it doing something you’ve always wanted to try.

The great thing about hobbies is that they don’t have to be too expensive. You can usually start small, see if you like something, and then spend more money if it’s something you enjoy. For example, if you want to try photography, you don’t have to go out an get the best camera possible. Start with a beginner camera, figure out the basics, and then upgrade to something better down the line.

Start a Business

Maybe you become so good at your hobby that you want to start making some money from it. Or maybe there’s something you’ve always been good at that you can market as a skill. If so consider starting a small business in your retirement.

For some people, the thought of sitting around idle for all of retirement is not appealing. They want to keep working, even if its not at their past career. Starting a business can be a great option for these people.

Keep in mind, starting a business isn’t easy. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, so think about if this is something you want to do in retirement. However, businesses also require funds and time, something you likely have more of now that you’re retired and collecting Social Security/pensions.

Help Out Your Family

Finally, you may have some family members that could use your help. For instance, maybe you have some grandkids who need watching during the day while their parents work. Or maybe you have a kid that wants to go to college, and you can use your extra funds to help pay for it. Helping other people feels great, especially when its your own family.

How to Bring in More Funds

To do a lot of the above, you might need some more funds. Many people are able to live comfortably in retirement based on their savings but would still like some extra cash so they can do even more. If this is you, you have a few options.

First, you could find yourself a part-time job. There are many places willing to hire retirees and you wouldn’t have to work as many hours. Another option is scale back on your expenses. For instance, you and your spouse may only need one car now instead of two, allowing you to save thousands of dollars each year.

Or you could take out a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is available to retirees and allows them to use the equity of their home to receive cash payments. You’ll want to look into this option thoroughly before you decide anything, so don’t rush into your decision. To learn more, you can look up reverse mortgage lenders by state and find one near you.

Enjoying Your Retirement

When it comes down to it, your goal should be to do whatever it is you want. What would make your retirement a happy one? You’ve worked hard your whole life to earn this moment, so make it about you. Whether it’s traveling the world or getting another job, if it makes you happy, you should go for it.

Image: Pexels

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