How are you spending your retirement?

Nurses Retired

Published

I don't mean your money! :lol2:

I mean; how do you spend your time? What interests, hobbies etc are you pursuing?

And, do you enjoy being retired?

Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

Unfortunately, I am not sure that retiring is in the cards for my husband and myself. We pretty much spent most of our retirement monies a few years ago when my DH had a significant illness/surgery/hospitalization that our insurance company denied all payment for. The piddly remainder has been devastated by the stock market and doesn't qualify as "retirement". Now my husband has lost his job at the end of his career...no severance, no nothing. So, I will likely be one of those old nurses you see working in the office or some such place using old fashioned language and talkin about the "good ole days".

0 Votes
Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I'm so sorry Tewdles. This thread started a while back and I think for many of us the economy has changed the way we look at retirement. For us, my husband took a job 165 miles away until he turns 60 in order to improve our retirement income. I have gone back to school (at 51) to get a peds CNS so that my options as I age will be broader.

My parents retired in their 50's with pensions...dh and I have worked hard our entire lives and I do not think we will ever truely retire!

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.
Unfortunately, I am not sure that retiring is in the cards for my husband and myself. We pretty much spent most of our retirement monies a few years ago when my DH had a significant illness/surgery/hospitalization that our insurance company denied all payment for. The piddly remainder has been devastated by the stock market and doesn't qualify as "retirement". Now my husband has lost his job at the end of his career...no severance, no nothing. So, I will likely be one of those old nurses you see working in the office or some such place using old fashioned language and talkin about the "good ole days".

I'm sorry this has happened to you and your husband, tewdles. I hope that life takes a turn in your favour and that you wont have to work indefinitely. I sincerely wish you both all the very best.

0 Votes
Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

That is nice of you. Hey, life is about relationships...and I have some good ones. I may now face a financially humble last couple of decades, but I still count my life as successful and happy. I just wish it hadn't happened this way because of the amoral practices of for profit insurance.

0 Votes
Specializes in Med/Surg/Ortho/HH/Radiology-Now Retired.

Kudos to you for your postive attitude!

That as much as anything else makes you a winner!

For profit organisations leave me cold.

I guess that must make me a socialist???!!! :rolleyes::p:confused::eek::D

But when I see what has happended to folks because of the greed of others ... it leaves me cold.

Wishing you all the very best.

0 Votes
Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

10 YEARS NOW AS OF LAST NOV. 1. CANE ON GOOD DAYS CRUTCHES ON LESS GOOD DAYS, ROLLING WALKER IS NEXT. MONEY RUNS OUT ABOUT THE THIRD WEEK OF THE MONTH. PRETTY SAD WHEN YOU CONSIDER I WAS MAKING GOOD MONEY, REALLY GOOD. WENT TO EUROPE TWICE FOR MONTHS ON PIN MONEY.

AT LEAST THE BON ALLOWS ME TO BE AN RN i. THE SMALL i MUST BE THERE OR I AM AN IMPOSTER. HAVEN'T SET FOOT IN THAT FACILITY SINCE I HAD TOSUE THEM JUST TO GET MY RETIREMENT. SS GAVE ME NO PROBLEM.

THAT LAWSUIT COST BETWEEN 1/4 AND 1/3 MILLION TO THEM. AND ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS AGREE THAT I WAS UNEMPLOYABLE AND DISABLED.

IT WAS LIKE A PING PONG MATCH. MY GUY WON.

0 Votes

Hi Everyone: I retired at age 60 with a fairly decent pension. I then signed on to work Per Diem in the same unit I retired from.

I spent over two years working when I wanted to and then fully retired at age 62 and began collecting SS. I have now been

fully retired for a year. It has been good and bad. I miss a lot about nursing, but am happy to be away from all the political

craziness and demanding workloads. It has taken me a lot of time to adjust to not working. I had worked since I was 15 years

old and while I DO NOT want to work anymore - it has been hard to adjust to the fact that I no longer work. I have been slowly

figuring out how to spend my time. I am reading a lot and travelling whenever possible. I do love not having to work weekends

or holidays and no longer miss out on family parties and occasions. I had done a lot of financial planning before I retired, but

did not spend much time trying to figure out how I would spend the rest of my life. That has been a mistake and I am now learning how

to spend my days in a way that makes me feel useful. Good luck to all of you out there who are retired or still working.

0 Votes
Specializes in ICU, Trauma, ER, Peds, Family Practice.

All I can say you must have have some passion in you life other than nursing.

I practised nursing for 42 years and just had to retire. I am so busy. I work out at least 4 to 5 days a week for 2 hrs, walk my dog, play my guitar, see my grandkids, ride my motorcycle , and in the process of remolding my home. I also love to read, and travel, bicycle and kayak. My home has a garden and that takes my time also. You are now in the adjustment phase and most likely feel like you are not needed. The working world is very demanding and you body is also adjusting. Please give yourself time to adjust. Find some passions in your life and you will wonder where the time is gone.

Best of luck

Paddlelady

0 Votes
Specializes in ER, Urgent care, industrial, phone triag.

Do nurses ever really retire? Once a nurse, always a nurse!! I'm not talking about money either. I am talking about how we all end up being resources of info for our families and neighbors. I am talking about how we stop at accidents on highways and help out if we can. Volunteering in any number of capacities seems to be a big passtime for nurses who have "finished" their careers.

Personally, I have started becoming more politically active and I work on MRSA prevention legislation, and healthcare reform. It is an exciting time for healthcare and rather than whine about the results of our new laws, I figured I ought to pitch in.

The options for "retired" nurses are limitless. We may not have specified hours or the big paychecks, but we can still contribute a great deal to healthcare consumers and to our own families, communities and States.

0 Votes
Specializes in ICU, Trauma, ER, Peds, Family Practice.

Never did get those big pay checks!

Enjoy your retirement and the volunteer you do.

Paddlelady

0 Votes
Specializes in Neonatal,pedicatric icu, hospice.

I am using my knowledge to run my home business educating people on the harmful environmental toxins they have in their homes and the effects it has on their health. Even though I am not actively "nursing" I am still helping people.

0 Votes
Specializes in ER, Urgent care, industrial, phone triag.

I am using my knowledge to run my home business educating people on the harmful environmental toxins they have in their homes and the effects it has on their health. Even though I am not actively "nursing" I am still helping people.

There is more than one way to be a nurse and the way you have chosen is very honorable.

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment