Mark Grablin, Retired and Loving Life (2013-present)
Originally Answered: How is retirement compared to how you thought it would be?
As many of my Quora followers have already read, I watched my mother delay her retirement due to the untimely death of my father (fatal heart attack at age 63). Two years later she finally retired and loved it.
She travelled the world meeting new friends and simply enjoyed her time in her California home. Three years into her retirement she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer (an earlier smoker) and died before her 70th Birthday. While we were happy she enjoyed three good years of retirement, it could have been 5 had she retired on her original plan.
As a result of watching Mom’s retirement play out, I resolved that I would retire the month my earned retirement income matched my planned retirement expenses. The money I inherited from my mom, as well as my accumulated savings, would serve as a buffer should my expenses prove greater than my retirement income.
I retired 4 1/2 years ago and have enjoyed every day so far. I am writing this 200 yards from the Atlantic Ocean at a beach house in Ormand Beach Florida while enjoying Biketoberfest with my wife, her sister and husband. It snowed a few inches in Denver two days after we departed while we were enjoying 85-degree weather on our Harley’s. Next Monday we drop her sister and her husband off in Atlanta so they can get back to work. My wife and I will go visit our oldest son in Alabama for a week before heading back to Colorado with the bikes in our trailer.
This has been a fairly busy travel year with several trips to classic car shows with my restored 1967 GTO, a 27-day ride on the Harley from Denver to Anchorage Alaska with two Army friends, and several trips to the various towns where our sons and their families reside.
Like my mother, I too enjoy working my property, restoring a 1964 1/2 Mustang and an occasional round of golf.
For me, retirement has been and continues to be exactly as I thought it would be. A low-stress schedule free lifestyle where on most days the weather decides my activities for the day.
My favourite line when people ask me if I am free on this or that day is “Let me check my schedule...yes I am wide open.”
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