What do people do all day when they retire?

I don’t yet know but am working to find out! I still work full time and have just a little under 4 years to wait to collect my SS, 3 years to collect Medicare.

I plan to volunteer at a hospice maybe
1-2x month and relax the rest of the time.

Volunteer at a food bank, offer to teach classes on English as second language, read those books you didn’t have time to read.

I can’t wait to retire! Enjoy!

If you want to keep working, then do so. If you have to ask what you can do if you are retired and not working, then clearly, you dont have a strong drive to retire. Maybe change to working 24 hours a week instead of 45-50 and see what you might want to do with your time.

I am busy all day long; not sure how I worked. I have sewing/quilting as a hobby so I always have something to do. I am at home more because of Covid but I do most of our household shopping since my husband is still working.

I am not familiar with how your job works, but is it something you can do your job for someone who needs help half or part of the time? That may ease you into retirement and provide some funds and also a sense of purpose you must gain from your job. I was forced into early retirement and financially am fine, but miss the structure and purpose.

If you are concerned about money, have you considered part-time work or work on a temporary basis when needed ? That would allow you to build an emergency fund. I was lost when I retired after 36 years of teaching. The feeling did not last. I helped a few teachers with decorating classrooms for the first day of school, but I also enjoyed my morning cup of tea on the first day of school as the buses drove past my home. I discovered the joy of volunteering. I also became involved in activities at our local library. In addition, I made a list of all of the places I had never enjoyed in our small city, and then I had the opportunity to go someplace new without a great deal of expense. The biggest change was learning that it not wrong to rest, enjoy a book or TV, or develop a new hobby.If you enjoy a special vacation spot, you are also in a position to go there during the off season , and the prices are usually much lower. Look after yourself, and I hope you can enjoy feeling free from pressure.

Relax at the beach or pier, if near one. Take a class. Get a hobby. Have lunch with friends. Join a book club. Go minuture golfing. Walk around the mall. Take an exercise class. Tour a nearby town and so on.

Spend time with those you love if you can and when you can. Doesn't have to be an expensive outing. Just enjoy them while you can. You just never know when a visit might be the last with that person. Enjoy the grands if you have them - or nieces/neph's. An over night camp out at a state park might be something they remember a lifetime and cheap for a cabin/room - if you like that sort of thing. Go and enjoy some of the things your town or nearby towns have to offer. With covid, so many places limit visitors so it's not so crowded.

If you've been working FT all these years, there are probably tons of things to work on around the house, too. Clear out some of the stuff that others would have to do if something happened to you or you needed to scale down in order to make a move to assisted living or other elder care facility. Mark items at home that are family treasures so you ensure they go to the right people someday. Get your paperwork in order. Declutter and redo a room in your house. Paint is pretty cheap if you need to spiff up a room.

Have a do-nothing day if you so desire. Stay in the pj's and just do nothing.

I spend time with my granddaughter and try to enjoy nature more. Learn the birds in your state. Try downsizing your household. Repair things that you put off in the past. Spend more time on your hobby or find a new one. Keep your mind busy (puzzles, games, cards, crossword puzzles, etc.) to stall dementia or Alzheimer's. Some of these are dependent on COVID-19. Volunteer somewhere meaningful to you (hospitals, nursing homes, libraries, animal shelters, etc.) Contact friends or family & plan to meet for lunch. Try to reconnect with people from your school days. Tour museums that you haven't been to. Take day trips. Join a club. Keep active, walk. Make a compost pile in your backyard & use soil to plant flowers that attract pollinators. Find a senior social group to attend. Read, explore different types of books. Explore arts & crafts. Learn a musical instrument. Last of all, if you still in need of extra money, be a paid companion to someone in need.

BelindaM, that's a good question. Everyone is different. If you can, keep on working, even if it is part-time. It's good for the mind and soul.

I was recently forced into retirement at 74 when my boss [85] had passed this Spring and the business closed up. Oh how I loved unlocking the office door each morning. Every day was different, and I was the boss's right arm. My work was part-time and I did that for ten years. Well rewarding.

I hate being home now. I am no Martha Stewart. For over 20 years I did one morning a week doing volunteer work at the local regional hospital. Love that job, too. With the covid, the volunteer work has been suspended, and probably won't restart until the middle of next year :(

Yikes, my mind is going to mush. My brain isn't being challenged unless Sig-other and I watch game shows that ask questions such as Cash Cab, Common Knowledge, etc. Oh, sig-other is on his third career. If he didn't work, he would become interwoven into the sofa, brain dead from sports :P

I have been shaking the family tree over the years, found over 4,000 people on my Dad's side of the family. I better buy more boxes of Christmas cards :P

IMO, the most important thing to do is stay engaged with other people. Volunteer somewhere -- even at two or three places -- so you get a variety of people and ages to interact with. Join a club like Rotary International or the Lions Club and make friends while also working on projects.

Check to see if a local college or university nearby has classes you might be interested in. Our local university allows seniors to pay an annual fee and sit in on dozens of different classes.

Allow yourself down time, too. If you don't want to get up and go somewhere you planned to go, don't. If you want a lazy day with nothing to do, go for it.

My husband retired on July 1, and every day is Saturday, he says. No stress, no traffic, and no business clothes -- he's positively giddy! However, he's been extremely busy every day since he retired, and he watches a webinar on real estate investing (his hobby), messes with the cars (his other hobby) and messes up my grocery shopping. (We both bought 18 eggs today because he didn't tell me he was going to stop at the grocery store after I clearly told him I was going.)

The most important thing to do is to have something to look forward to.

My husband retired last year at age 70. He loves it. Busy doing things he wanted to do that he never had time for and for chores he never had time for while working. I can retire early at 55 in two years. I figure I will work part time then. Hope to travel a bit and help with eventual grandchildren.

Turn your budget into a project, and ask yourself how you can save money with fill-in activities:

Start gardening and grow your own produce; you'll have fresher and more healthier produce than sprayed store produce.

Read up on food storage, root cellars, and cold frames, and if you're handy creating things, consider building a cold frame to extend the growing season.

If you sew, make more of your own clothes.  You can probably make them cheaper than buying them, and they'll fit better.

Walk.   It's relaxing and healthful.   If you backpack or camp, it'll cost to supply yourself, but other than good shoes, walking is free.  

Ask yourself what you would have liked to do but couldn't b/c you didn't have the time.  Then do it.  

Do you do a lot of cooking?   Baking?   If you don't bake bread, try it; there's nothing like the smell of bread baking and making the whole house fragrant.

My husband retired December 1st 2019. He has been on cloud nine since. We have had a hot summer so he did a lot of things around the house. Fixing things, painting, etc. My youngest son has high functioning autism and lives with us. He is 28 and my husband took him fishing and swimming since he couldn’t when he was working. My husband worked the overnight shift.

I still have 3 years, 4 months left at the post office. My oldest son doesn’t want kids so we will probably NOT be grandparents. I plan on being a volunteer baby cuddler at the hospital. I know I can’t do it now with Covid but hopefully I can when I retire.

My husband and I both retired a few months ago. Covid and my mother’s declining health have caused some of our travel plans to be set aside. However we have done many day trips and a few weekends away. My husband plays golf with our sons and friends. I play bridge two afternoons a week. I belong to two book clubs that meet monthly. My husband and I walk every evening by the Ohio River for couple of miles. I read, sew, knit and crochet. I love to cook and bake. I volunteer at the local library one morning a week. I still do a little work in the office at the nursing home/assisted living we own. So far we haven’t been bored. We’re both 65 and in good health.

My grandchildren and daughter are staying with me. I have been trying to help with the online homework and classes while she works but the computer classes especially math has me confused. I clean, go to online service and bake.

Let's start with what you do in your off time. You work a lot. What brings you relaxation in your off time. What have you always longed to do that you didn't. Early retirement was full of travel for me, in the United States and in other countries. I have always loved gardening and reading. I volunteered in early retirement at Animal Shelters and I fostered and placed in and from my home. I love writing, and have often done that. I love hiking and walking and while it is now done to the latter as opposed to the former, it is still daily. I like to cook at time when I am feeling inspired, and I love to sew, especially kimonos. That has gone from every girl in the family now down to friends. I love junk shopping and can't wait for them to re-open. I love my home and much time is spent in it on plants, small projects of one kind or another. There is family, unfortunately too many of them not in my general area, but there are visits.
I will tell you that I have never known a bored moment, but I cannot honestly remember boredom. I sleep like a log after a busy day.
I can also tell you that the days get shorter. We tease that it is now the Sunday New York Times every 15 minutes at our age. The weeks fly by.
So I would say concentrate on what you now do and love in your off time, and what you always wanted to do that you have no time for. Hoping to see other suggestions from others.

Think of something you’d always wanted to do while you were working, and DO IT, FULL SPEED AHEAD, NO EXCUSES.

Being retired means being able to do what you want, when you want to do it. Whatever it is.

Volunteer work costs you nothing but brings purpose to your life and it can lead to new opportunities to earn some cash.

If you are worried about your money, and are able to work, I think you should look for another client.  YOu might want to look for someone with minimal physical needs.

Retired people who are OK with money?  Golf, travel, gardening, book clubs, spending time with grandkids.  Some not so much during Corona.