4 Reasons To Love Being Retired

1. The End of the Alarm Clock

Many of us are looking forward to the day that we can throw our alarm clocks away. Being retired gives you the flexibility of waking up on your terms and on your timeline. Get up at 5 am or 8:30 in the morning or stay in bed. It’s totally up to you. No guilt attached. No rushing. Just bliss. Naturally you do need to wake up sometime. But it’s no longer to join the daily grind. You no longer have to wake up to that same nagging sound anymore.

2. Fight the Morning Commute? Nah!

Furthermore, you don’t have to get up for the morning commute, and while you may already be awake anyway, you can plan your use of the car to avoid peak traffic times. You can stay out of the rat race. You can do your grocery shopping after 9:00am when most people are already at the office. You can catch the first showing of a movie for the early bird price at the local theater and not get caught in evening traffic.

Occasionally, you may forget about the hour and find yourself mired in the 5:00pm traffic. Instead of fussing and fuming, you can spend your time in gridlock feeling sorry for the poor saps who have to do this every day. Boy, aren’t you fortunate!

3. Discounts!

Being over the hill is great because lots of places give senior discounts. You can ride the subway, bus or trolley for a lower price by flashing your senior ID. If you miss that early bird showing at the movie theater, there is still the senior discount which is almost as good a price. You can order off the 55+ menu in many restaurants and get a good meal cheaper. Ross gives a discount on Tuesdays and most thrift stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, Amvets, etc.) give seniors ten percent off every day. When you stay at a hotel, you can always ask if there is a senior discount. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. In fact, make it your mission to demand that senior and retired discount! You’ve earned it!

4. Self-Confidence

You no longer care about what people think or what they think of you. You have courage that you never had as a young person. You don’t have to put up with anyone’s nonsense. If you think someone is cheating you, you can speak up – your younger self probably wouldn’t have done that. You can let people know your thoughts on issues without being afraid of how they will take you.

You can now go after the things that you wanted to go after. You don’t have to give any one a reason for why you picked up that art class or why you spent $2,000 on outdoor gardening equipment. You’re retired. You’re supposed to do awesome things with your time. And, then again, you can also do absolutely nothing with your time and still be completely respected for it. After all, you’re retired!

SeniorAdvisor.com Staff

Senior Advisor's knowledgeable writers blog about senior care services, trends and more.