Retirement Is A Tough Transition | How We Did It

Coping with your first year of retirement, how to transition to a new life as a retiree. We show you what we did with our first year of retirement to give you an idea of what's it like with real world examples.
Transition to Your First Year Of Retirement easily and find out what we went through to make the transition from workforce to life of retirement, here is our first year in retirement.
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WE ARE NOT FINANCIAL OR INSURANCE ADVISORS, WE ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE ADVICE, THIS VIDEO IS FOR INFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. PLEASE SEEK OUT PROFESSIONAL FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE ADVICE BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISIONS AND PURCHASING INSURANCE.

[@pattylyman7907]

It took me probably a full year to learn how to chill. But....now I am an expert at it.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s wonderful Patty it can be quite the adjustment Cheers 🍷🌺🙂

[@liveandretireusa]

very wonderful I also want to be like you

[@pattylyman7907]

@@liveandretireusa You can! Don't let little things get to you. Much luck to you for a GREAT retirement

[@kburkes4245]

No sense of loss here! I had planned for so long, knew what goals I needed to achieve before I could quit working. Once I hit those goals, I retired. Not rich, nothing fancy, but have enough. Loving retirement and thankful every day.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Absolutely wonderful we are so happy for you Cheers 🌺🙂

[@carolnavan4137]

The day I closed on my house, I closed the door and drove myself and my 2 large dogs 7 days away to a 100 yr old reno on the ocean I had purchased sight unseen. Retirement is very busy and fun. Still figuring it out!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Wow Carol that is incredibly brave and exciting hope you are having a great time Cheers 🍷🌺🙂

[@Jacquie_Kirk_111]

I retired 7 years ago. In preparation for the extra spare time I took up tennis. The day I retired and played tennis almost every day from them on! Met tons of people, after Covid I started hiking too! Never been happier!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s great Jacquie happy for you 🌺🙂

[@martincowie4277]

Hi everybody myself and my wife retired 54 and we spent the first three years travelling South America which was amazing. I could never get over the feeling of guilt at being retired, and all my colleagues are still working. and that stayed with me for about 18 months. We are now into a 14th year of travelling at the moment as long as health permits we will keep doing it If you’ve got the fans, just do it you’ll never regret it

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks for sharing 🌺🙂

[@ScubaSteveCanada]

Oh, I definitely felt a sense of loss ... loss of stress. 😀 I knew what my budget was a year prior to retiring and had bought a mobile home the previous Fall. Sold my house in early Spring, the following year. I live off of the investments I made after selling my house plus early CPP and a tiny work pension. I retired at 55 in 2018.

[@marcoprolo1488]

The same day my retirement started I took a plane for Europe. I slowly went from one city to another, hopping through Middle East, trekking in Nepal until I landed in Thailand where I spent the rest of the winter. I then returned to spend summer in Canada until I went to learn surfing in Mexico Pacific for a couple of months in the Fall. By the beginning of the next Winter, I was back in Thailand but with my girlfriend this time and then I bag packed solo though Cambodia, Laos and Northern Vietnam. I finished the winter in Phuket South-Thailand. I like my beach sport morning routines. I am planning to visit solo Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in the fall then we will head to South-East-Asia for Winnter with my girlfriend that is now retired as well. Honestly, life is good.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks for sharing 🍻🙂

[@janetkenny4861]

6 months retired today! My year one goals are going well, health improvement is really paying off. I’ve lost weight with better eating and walking and yoga. Had my annual doctor visit and all my markers are perfect! Going to Summer music festivals planned with a new group of friends I met through a monthly cooking club. Bought ticket and reserved condo in Maui, HI for week in December with a dear friend who lives far from me. My day to day is good, planning a yard sale end of June with several families has inspired me to pare down my stuff! I’m truly enjoying each day, thankful for all the opportunity to relax and enjoy not working!!!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Sounds great have a wonderful weekend Cheers 🌺🙂

[@rasch760]

I'm in Australia, tomorrow is my last day at work, I'm worried, the only plan I have is retiring to mexico. Officially I leave on 18 June 2024, hopefully they let me go tomorrow, 17 June 2024. I wish everyone here the best.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

We wish you a great and happy retirement!

[@lindadorman2869]

Looking back now, I wish I'd set a specific date I could call my retirement. But the truth is I've been easing into it since I left my corporate job in 2012 at age 51. Since then, I graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, traveled to 20 countries and launched my own business. Even though I started taking Social Security and my pension in 2023 at age 62, I only recently considered myself "retired". Now I'm finally starting to make plans for how I want the next 20 years to be.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s great Linda we are very happy for you Cheers 🇺🇸🌺🇨🇦

[@garcia4062]

Que buena forma de retiro

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Estamos totalmente de acuerdo 🌺

[@LK-hy5jz]

I am yet to retire, I am 53. Your videos are super helpful and I enjoy watching you two. I love your chemistry and the way you are making jokes and laugh. I agree that creating a plan is essential. I am a project manager and managing a team as well. I always plan everything so that won’t be hard. Sometimes I am actually looking forward to unplanned things :) You also mentioned your social life and I believe it is important. I am an introvert but I will have to find a group of people who I can relate to so we can maybe even travel together. It is just me and my two grown kids. (My husband passed away 11 years ago). Cheers happy birds and thank you again for sharing your stories!! Sincerely, Lena. ❤

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Hi Lena, we are pleased you enjoy our videos, friends can come from the most unexpected areas. We do wish you well with your retirement planning.

[@LK-hy5jz]

@@ThisIsOurRetirement with your stories and experience, I will be in a much better shape once the time will arrive. Keep up a great journey on sharing what you went and going through! It is invaluable!! Thank you again! 🙏🏻☀️

[@Savannah-ed4rv]

I think renting like you're doing sets the stage for having a more fun and less stressful retirement. I'm still in my home and there are daily chores, and of course larger chores that need to be done and it certainly eats into my time.

[@brendalabranche365]

Agree, I love my home.. But the work! my Fitbit shows I did well over 8 miles of yard work, vacuuming, etc JUST on Saturday. I’m 58 so can do it, but that type of activity level is definitely not possible for many of our friends..

[@Gurkha9]

Many don't chose their retirement date and are sometimes laid off or whatever the case. This happened to me back in 2019 a few months before the pandemic, I was still in my mid 50's. It's been quite the transition since with a lot of challenges but I have made it through all of them.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s great we are happy for you 🍻🙂

[@nexuzinnovation-com]

This is very true, normally the nature decides for you, is always good to have a rough plan on when to retire, this incident happened to me and my two bosses, after two years of my retirement, two of my bosses resigned due to internal company management conflict, they are 1-2 years older than me about 56-58 years old.

[@patsycathcart1]

I love you two, Tina and Norm! Your enthusiasm is contagious. I look forward to your videos.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thank you so much!

[@ceparksromanceharps]

I retire in 2 weeks from yesterday. This past Thursday, my coworkers treated me to a retirement luncheon at a local restaurant. That afternoon, I had mixed feelings about leaving my job; felt a little sad. Keep in mind, I haven't been very happy with the work I was assigned to do. So I was a bit surprised to be feeling sad. I have a rough plan outlined; not sure where I will move to. Will take a trip this Fall to explore possible locations. Always look for the silver lining! Carry on!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Congratulations 🥳 on your nearly there retirement you are just moving to a new chapter in your life Good luck 🍻🌺🙂

[@carolineg3079]

Retired 7 months- felt a little sad when I met up with an old colleague but it was a passing feeling.

[@BoninBrighton]

Our first year of retirement was very different to how we live now. Hubby seemed to sleep for the 1st 3 mths- catching up on lost sleep from 40 years of commuting! He slowly woke up and then felt very lost I think as he had to learn how to structure his life… without a PA 🤣 anyway he gradually organised himself and is now a busy happy guy loving retirement.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That is awesome! thanks for Sharing Bonnie Cheers 🇬🇧🍷🇨🇦

[@anthonybutler3157]

Love the emphasis on the excitement of retirement. I understand your sense of excitement of learning new things. We retired to portugal 6 years ago and haven't looked back. Keep telling your story

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thank you 🇵🇹❤️🇨🇦

[@danhoward1416]

I did the same thing - I closed the front door and drove off - three days later I realized I forgot my wife …. Now we are enjoying retirement

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s too Funny 😂😂Dan have a great weekend Cheers 🌺🙂

[@Savannah-ed4rv]

Haha 😅😅

[@faygallagher61]

Too funny 😂

[@lmr691]

I love hearing your journey in retirement!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thank you

[@teritran_theTurtleTraveler]

Hi Tina and Norm, thank you for sharing your first year journey. It got me excited to realize that this month marks my first year anniversary of retirement as well. For me, staying curious is KEY to a fulfilled retirement. I have been traveling (slow travel) every 3 months or so...to a new destination from Asia to Europe and north America. Thanks again for you fun stories.

[@helenhall3705]

Hi TnN. You’re so right. Planning ahead is the key. I started going to a ladies lunch group about a year before I retired because I knew I’d need a larger social group. From that I have about 6 new confirmed friends. Also I had quite a bit of accrued leave that I was able to take a a half-time rate I.e. 9 weeks became 18 weeks. Like you, I immediately took a trip with my husband to Chile. It was a great distraction. I think it took me about 6 months to find my new normal. I’ve been retired since August 2015 and loving it. Currently cruising Bergen to NYC before we head home to Australia. What I don’t forget is that I feel blessed everyday that I’m able to choose what I want to do, but that took years of planning ahead to be financially secure.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

It is wonderful to each day think what shall we do today 😂😂

[@mcoknits856]

Thank you for sharing your time and information for us through this KZbin channel. Although my retirement choices will be will be different than yours, this channel is still helpful to me as it has helped me realize what I want my retirement to look like. I particularly enjoy most of your episodes about your travels. Before I watched this channel, my husband and I had been considering moving out of our central Toronto neighbourhood to a smaller place for retirement. However, watching your channel has made me realize what day-to-day life would be like in doing that, It has convinced me that I want the amenities of the big city, preferably within easy walking distance, as my retirement lifestyle. I also will be retiring later than you and Tina, partly because we will need more money to fund that lifestyle but also because as a professional with many years of formal training and an established professional practice, I really enjoy my work. I get the impression that you and Tina probably worked very hard to save for your retirement, but ween’t necessarily passionate about your careers.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

We did enjoy our careers but they started changing for the worse

[@vickimunro4599]

Your first year sounds wonderful. Thank you for sharing your uplifting videos.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

You are so welcome!🌺🙂

[@pattyk8594]

Another great video thank you!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Our pleasure!🌺🙂

[@kathysarmiento4652]

Thank you for sharing this - great video!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks Kathy 🌺🙂

[@nicobass1966]

Love it and many thanks as 1 more yea and I'm there , I hope !

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s great we wish you well 🍻🌺🙂

[@kristinpayne1825]

Love your channel!! You have wonderful tips. I really appreciate that you take the time to respond to my and all comments. ❤

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

You are so welcome! have a great weekend Kristin 🌺🙂☕️

[@NorthernLibrarian]

I retired at 57 ten years before my husband retired. I eased into it by continuing to work on call for my employer to cover the shifts of employees who had called in sick. It was fun at first but after awhile I noticed that the offered shifts where usually the unpopular ones like Friday nights and weekends or during snow storms. So I packed it in and concentrated on my volunteer work. One adjustment many aren't prepared for is the retirement of a spouse or partner. This was a real challenge, much more so than my own retirement. Mom warned me that I would gain a shadow and she was right! This is likely the most time you have ever spent together and it is important to maintain some separate interests and have your own space. Expect an adjustment phase. We are both enjoying our retirement these days!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Great story 🙂👍

[@paulhunter6652]

Hi Norm and Tina: You have great concepts and ideas and live great adventures. Have a great weekend. Heat wave on the way. Cheers!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thank you! Will do! keep cool Paul 🍻🥶🙂🌺

[@faygallagher61]

Good evening (Mon night). I am listening to your video, and that 'excitement' you refer to brought back the same sense of adventure from moving to a city/town for the first time. New places/new friends. I find being curious leads to new learning. Hot 🔥 day today. Lots of water. Enjoy the rest of your week xx

[@barbiec4312]

We love you both. Greetings from Northern California.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks so much Barbie! 💕

Always awesome following you... I wonder how my retirement will be.... your journey is surely an inspiration dear ones 🙏🌹

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thank you 🌺🙂

[@lw1405]

I think that is a very good point Norm, these are your concepts and ideas. And not exclusive to your channel. Its important for people to realize that these are not FACTS, but opinions and the onus is on everyone to fact check and do their own research for their own circumstances.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Glad you enjoyed it yes we are just sharing what has happened to us so it might help others Cheers 🍻🍷🙂

[@garcia4062]

Buenas volviendo al canal aunque siempre dejando el like.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Muchas gracias apreciamos su apoyo 🌺🙂

[@deborahanthony3401]

I worked for the federal government for 32 years. I retired end of August 2013 and started at University in September 2013. So I still had a schedule and a whole lot of work with my studies to keep me busy. That made the transition much easier. I studied part time and after 8 years got a Philosophy Degree which was a subject I knew nothing about but grew to love. Always keep learning and you will never be bored.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Congratulations Deborah on your degree, we agree learning is a vital part of retirement.

[@arlenedowdall2011]

Just love your enthusiasm! We went part time around 10 years ago and now work 3 or 4 days a month each, very flexible schedules. Life is good. We're at a Music Festival in Iroquois and enjoying the music and visiting with everyone. Thank you for the videos.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Norm used to have a customer in Iroquois and we used to watch ships transit the locks. Have fun and thanks for watching.

[@kp8740]

I spent my first years of retirement living through Covid and its lock downs, wondering if life would ever return to “normal” which would allow me to live my retirement dreams. I wasn’t always happy. As we all know, life has pretty well returned to normal albeit more cautiously, and I travelled a lot in the last year and a half after lockdowns, have chilled the last few months and look forward to starting up again. Thanks for your videos!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Your welcome 🙂

[@brianday1667]

You guys sound like you really got it together and have figured it out. I am still going to work another three years but we are doing two big trips every year and then we plan on traveling probably four months every winter as we live in Minnesota it’s pretty chilly here in the winter time, I can’t wait to start. I would like to rent our house and just go around but my lovely bride is not sure if she’s up for that maybe after our first three or four months of solid travel.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That’s a hard one Brian we understand how your wife feels , this last winter we did 76 days in Portugal 🇵🇹 and for us it was too long ( missed family , cooking very limited, it’s not like home ) so our trips now will be no longer than 31 days . A big plus for this is our travel insurance covers us for 31 days per trip without having to get top up insurance and yes it’s cold 🥶 over Winter in Ontario too Cheers 🇺🇸🍻🍷🇨🇦

[@marilynrybak9154]

Good morning. You both are so nice. I enjoy listening to you. You remind me of two of my closest friends who live in England. They are retired. My husband and I still work. We get to see and travel with them about every other year. (We live on the Chesapeake Bay region of the US). Our goal is to retire in two years. Wish we could retire right now. But, I do like my work- and, we have a mortgage to pay off (very close!) and I want to bank a year’s income as a saving/emergency/extra fun fund before we retire. The point about the go go years is something I have not heard any one talk about. And, it’s extremely important. I’m 60 now. My husband is a bit younger than me. I’d like to hear more details about how one naturally slows down-even if we don’t want to- and what to do or how to handle it with grace.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks for your nice words you have more energy in your early to late 60s for travel 🧳 than when you move into 70 Cheers 🇺🇸🍻🇨🇦

[@patsycathcart1]

We never felt any sense of loss after retirement. We just felt free!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Us too Patsy!

[@general_interest]

I would love to hear more about how you started your photography business, and the financial implications of your side hustles in retirement! You hinted at the benefits of having a business in relocating - are there other benefits to having a business in retirement?

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Yes there are benefits to having a business in retirement, it reduces your income for allowable expenses. We are thinking of making a video about our photography business, stay tuned!

[@adaashton]

We took a three month trip around Europe when my husband retired. It was my dream and it was awesome. We keep ourselves busy and travel yearly now. I would love to hear about how you started a stock photo business.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

That is awesome! 🌺🙂

[@edwinsvoboda8067]

It's recommended to save at least 15% of your income in a 401k. You can use online calculators to estimate how much you should save based on your age and income. Saving at least 15% of your income in a 401k can help ensure that you have enough money to retire comfortably. By saving this much, you can take advantage of compound interest and potentially grow your retirement savings over time.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Very true but half of Americans aren’t unfortunately.

[@Impostertot]

2:39 Interested in your stock photography and video site. Can you provide a link please?

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

We will be doing a video soon on this 🌺

[@marthonic1]

How’d you make out finding a family Doctor? That’s one of our concerns when we consider moving either within Ontario or to a new province.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

We are very fortunate we found a wonderful new doctor she is wonderful Cheers 🌺🙂

[@lauraborgmann8285]

Could you list things you found you should have done when in Europe like using card, how to get cash, phone, internet, ect. Luv you two!

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

We used Saily for data for our cellphone here is a link saily.com/ourretirement we used our cash cards in grocery stores and atms for cash.

[@bobbierthornton4498]

Hi Norm and Tina, how would things be different had you rented out your house instead of selling your house? Was the house in an area that would have brought a good monthly salary?

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

No it was in a rural area, plus being landlords would bring a level of responsibility and stress. Getting the capital from our home, investing it pays our rent plus money left over.

[@RetiredLovingIt]

We were ready & excited for retirement but we retired in April of 2020 & we’re in lockdown because of the pandemic

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Oh yikes 😱 a difficult time to retire and for us all , glad we all got through that hard time Cheers 🌺☕️🙂

[@rustydog1236]

I wasnt scared. I'm lucky to live in USA . If you've planned well, it's actually much the cheapest place to retire in. California has low property taxes that don't go up, reasonble income tax, pick the right area and very low utilities and food costs. Own my home for years, don't have debts, etc. Its all in a plan.

[@dqretirement]

The first year of retirement I spent a lot of time traveling

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Great

[@hogtownbiker3560]

Can you provide a financial story? How did you feel so secure to retire and travel the world? You said you moved to Canada with minimum funds. How did you do it? How much money did you retire with.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2bNinyYjJiff9k this is our story hope you enjoy it 🍻🙂

[@davidroberts7996]

Well Good Morning

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Good afternoon David it’s now Happy Hour Cheers 🍻🍷

[@andylowell7405]

I just know at first ai will have a hard time spending my savings.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Thanks for watching Andy 🍻🙂

[@murraytown4]

Mine wasn’t scary. I’ve a DB pension so was set. And I’d planned up my ying yang. Plus I was sick of work.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Sounds the perfect time to retire Murray Cheers 🍻🙂