Welcome to Fluther!

What have you always envisioned doing when you retire? I am a long way off but I have a vision of my life and the small studio flat I will live in. I will attend more art fairs and travel.

Do you have a business in mind? What are your interests?

If retirement isn’t mandatory, you might just stay on the job as long as you want to, that’s what most people I know do.

You could try to learn all you can about the business you are in and start up one of your own when the time comes. That way you could be your own boss.

go sky diving ;)

we did that for my mom’s 50th, she loved it.

You can start playing PC games online. There’s some 50+ guys that don’t do much but play bf2, etc.

lol My buddies dad is insanely into WoW still. when I played we were in the same guild lol

Yeah I think gaming is definitely popular among people who have a good chuck of free time, whether they are kids skipping homework, college students skipping studying, or retired people.
I don’t really play video games anymore :/ not enough time.

Wait, hang on: I read a lot of direct comparisons between “50 years old” and “retirement”. I’ll be 52 in a couple of months and I’m a hell of a long way from retirement. I’m going just as strong as I ever did, maybe stronger considering how I’ve built on my knowledge and experience. I’m not even thinking of retirement until I’m in my 70s.

Come ask me this question again in another 20 years.

Heck, 50 isn’t that old!!! I’m nearly 50 and only ½ way through my life. I am on;y maybe ⅓ through my adult life!!

@Judi !! High five!!

I am fifty-five, and I don’t regard myself as old at all. My father – just turned ninety – still sails a ketch single handed around the Pacific. He rides a Harley and still does all his own yacht and electronics maintenance. He is online nearly as much as I am, uses Skype and Facebook.

This is a man who was shot down by the Japanese during the Second World War and subsequently escaped from a POW camp. He is married to a woman far younger than I am. I am fit, healthy (after a slight Melanoma problem) and enjoying life. As he has never really looked after himself and I have, I expect to at least match him. He figures that he has another twenty plus years. (No male in our family fails to pass one hundred.)

- share experience and wisdom
– keep learning

I love teaching but I am not necessarily interested in teaching 175 kids/day along with the hours of grading and meetings. I expect to retire in June. I have some experience in AP and online education so I might take a consultancy in one of those or volunteer in an extracurricular history or speech program.

What ever you do after the age of 50. Makes sure you have plenty of sex. It truly is the fountain of youth.
Don’t need to get the freak on but an an hour or two every day is a enjoyable way of exercising, besides other good things will come from it.

@papaleo you specifically said retired in your question.

I am well over fifty and have a rich and fulfilling life. I do a lot of one-on-one volunteering as well as groups I enjoy.

For example, I sold tickets at the gate last week-end for the local Blueberry Festival. Thousands of people came, many of whom I knew

I agreed to adopt my daughter’s cat; I do not have sex for one to two hours every day and manage to be happy; I tend to a 3000 sq.foot house and 20 acres of land; I assist in my 94 yr.old mother’s care; I read, bird, write, exercise, eat well, see friends and family, I garden, I go to theater, movies, music, dance programs, I enjoy some peace and quiet. I am content.

@gailcalled This is a very reassuring answer. But . . . what is “birding”? Do you fly?

@styfle This is aaronan2006 question, not PapaLeo. He’s just referring to other answers.

@PapaLeo: It is short-hand for bird-watching. (You knew that.) I probably can fly but won’t test it out for now.