I met up with an old friend this week on a visit to my hometown of Racine WI. He had retired four years ago and said he “wasn’t happy without something to do” and went back to work at his old job half-time.
I wondered how common that feeling was among early retirees and found an online thread where people addressed the question, “Are you happier in retirement?” I tallied up the comments.
In short, most people are happier in retirement …
0% – “Less Happy”
18% – “Same Happiness”
55% – “More Happy”
27% – “Incredibly Happy!”
The combined 82% of people who are happier / incredibly happy explained their happiness in these terms:
- “Greater sense of freedom”
- “Higher quality of life”
- “Free time & energy are amazing”
- “More focus on health & fitness”
- “Can avoid people I don’t like” 😄
- “Travel whenever / wherever I want”
- “No stress or worries”
- “More secure, confident, and relaxed”
In general, the people who said their happiness level was about “the same” were people who either were “always happy” or had unexpected health issues arise that impacted their retirement.
Only one person said he was really bored. “Doom scrolling and video games get old after a while.” Sitting at home alone would be pretty boring for me too!
We are definitely in the “Incredibly Happy!” category. The sense of freedom & autonomy that come with early retirement are really energizing. Even after 8+ years, the honeymoon continues.
Related: Never Ending Honeymoon?
Where would you rank your happiness in retirement? Why?
Image: Pixabay
MrFireStation 
I am much happier than my last couple years of working, where I was biding my time and counting down the minutes until a Deferred Comp Plan started paying out. My last boss was Beelzebub and he changed the company I worked for into purgatory. I did get the last laugh though, because after retiring the CEO hired me back as a consultant at a very nice rate to fix stuff that Beelzebub broke and Beelzebub was contractually barred from communicating with me.
So yes, retirement is actually much better than purgatory. The key is getting to choose who you spend your time with.
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The workplace is full of those kinds of guys. It’s always astounding to me how they are able to get in the roles that they do.
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