In the end being retired I find to be more good than bad but everyone is different in this. I prayed for "The Leisure to Practice" which basically means you want to have time to be with God or Buddha or whatever you believe in and to pray for others. So, retirement (after about 5 years of getting used to it) was a good thing for me. However, it obviously isn't for everyone.
However, I think I can speak about it because I was forced to retire at age 50 because of a heart virus and other complications. But, I must say that the happiest I have been in my life I have been since then. But, there was another time I had this kind of happiness which was before I was 18. And the happiest as a working adult was likely between ages 32 and 37 years of age. But, of course 33 is the physically happiest a person ever tends to be as well.
Even if you are in pretty good physical shape because you have fun doing things that resemble exercise you are going to begin to experience one kind of pain or another a lot or most or all the time after about 37 or 40 years of age. So, this is a given.
But, if you learn to live with it then you can be happy the rest of your life. So, the biggest thing about being retired is your identity.
If your identity is all around your career then you are completely screwed and maybe you shouldn't ever retire especially if you own your own business or businesses like I have since about age 28. My wife and I still own a business now even though I'm 67 but that is actually very useful in all ways so we continue to own this business rather than to sell it. So, for me, doesn't mean I don't have to think about how our business functions even though my wife does most of the work and I help make the decisions because I'm good at that.
So, what do you need if you are going to retire:
1. enough money to make it work
2. hopefully someone to share your life with
3. and enough creativity to make it work for you.
There is a saying: "Wherever you go there you are"
What this means is wherever you go on earth you are still going to have to live with yourself (and anyone else you intend to live with (including pets).
So, in order to retire you have to make friends with yourself, because you are going to be spending a lot of time together.
I retired because of an illness in 1999 but my health is actually gotten better over the years because I'm pretty happy with my wife and children and friends and traveling around. And "The Leisure to Practice" (Commune with God and Nature) is really wonderful too.
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