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hobbies in retirement

5 Reasons Why You Should Have a Retirement Bucket List

by Maggie 4 Comments

a couple at dinner table -retirement bucket list

Are you dreaming of retirement? What do you plan to do in your free time?

When people start talking about preparing for retirement, they ultimately refer to their finances. But often they forget to prepare for a new lifestyle since they won’t be working full-time anymore. Planning how you will spend your days, weeks and months can be very beneficial for your mental and emotional health.

When we are working every day, we don’t have enough time to travel and enjoy life as we want. Vacations are limited and we have to go back to work. But when we retire, we have more time on our hands.

To many of us, there are always things that we wanted to do or accomplish but never seemed to find the time until we retired. Retirement is something most of us dream of because it means we will finally have the time to do those things that we have always wanted to do.

Now that you are retired it is important to know what you want to do in retirement. Creating a retirement bucket list can be helpful to have goals and ideas so you can make the most out of your golden years.

5 reasons you should have a retirement bucket list:

1. Create a vision.

Many retirees go back to work because they are bored. But then they grow bored because they did not set up any goals for the future. It is so easy to get caught up in the routine of everyday life. But when you try something, you have never tried before it can help you escape your comfort zone and become a more adventurous spirit.

Creating a retirement bucket list will give you a sense of direction and purpose. When you get engaged in things you like to do it makes you feel energized and happy at the same time.

Your retirement bucket list may work as a visionary board. It reminds you of those things you want to do that is bigger than your day-to-day routine.

2. Set goals.

When we have a lot of free time ahead of us, we start thinking about what we would like to do with it. Sorry to say but often life takes over and we may focus more on our day-to-day chores and less on our goals for fun and excitement.

However, it is a proven fact that people who set goals achieve more in life than people who do not.

Setting goals help us define what we want to explore, learn, and accomplish. You look anywhere online at successful influencers, athletes and entrepreneurs, and they will tell you that writing down your goals makes them become a reality.

3. Keep track of your experiences.

The process of creating a retirement bucket list can be inspirational. It gives you time to figure out what makes you happy and what your likes and dislikes are.

While you may not achieve every item on your bucket list, you will definitely complete some. Fitting more hobbies, adventures, and fun into your lifestyle can be beneficial for your happiness in retirement. These are the experiences you may remember the most in your life.

4. Explore and learn something new.

Exploring new places and learning something new can be an exciting experience. Exploring will teach you more about yourself.

When you make a list of all the things you would like to do and all places you want to visit, this activity will make you more aware of what is really important to you. Making your retirement bucket list can help you find perspective on how you currently living your life and what you would like to be doing.

5. Create excitement in your life.

Simply put creating your retirement bucket list can be fun.

Sharing the list with your family and friends, updating the list over time, and then checking off experiences, can be ways to enjoy life more and share the fun with your loved ones.

How to Create a Retirement Bucket List.

Now that you know you need to create your own bucket list, how do you go about it?

Generally speaking, a bucket list is a list of the top things you want to do before you die. This can include places to travel, new skills to learn, people to help, and anything else that matters to you personally.

Visualize what you want.

A retirement bucket list makes you start thinking about what is important to you.

Take time and reflect on everything you want to learn, explore, and experience in your retirement years. Start writing down whatever comes to your mind. It does not have to be all amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Making a bucket list is a time for you to dream big and think about what you really want out of retirement life. This list is to remind you to live every day to the fullest.

Think about this:

  • What do you want to learn?
  • What places or countries do you want to visit?
  • What is meaningful to you in life?
  • What new things do you want to do?

Create a plan of action.

After you put your dreams on paper, start thinking about how to accomplish them.

It is so easy to make a bucket list and then do nothing about it. That is why you need to stay focused and write down the timeframe. The time frame cannot be “before I die”.

You need to be realistic and have some sort of idea for your deadline. For example, a list of things you wish to do before you turn 70, before the end of this year, or before this summer ends.

a couple in a studio - retirement bucket list - new hobbies

Here I want to share 40 ideas you can add to your retirement bucket list. This list is divided into different and helpful categories like traveling, experience, skills, and hobbies so you can create your own retirement list.

Retirement bucket list Ideas for traveling:

  1. Travel to Africa and go on a safari.

2. Travel to Egypt, visit the pyramids and take a boat ride along the Nile River.

3. Take a trip to Japan for cherry blossoms festival.

4. Visit Machu Picchu in Peru.

5. Climb on top of the hill and visit a Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.

6. Drive around Ring Road in Iceland.

7. Visit Australia and go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

8. Fly to your honeymoon destination.

9. Explore Venice by gondola.

10. Take an unplanned flight to your favorite city.

11. Spend one night in an ice hotel (Hotel de Glace) in Quebec, Canada.

12. Drive the Pacific Coast Highway in California.

13. Go on a cruise around the world.

Retirement bucket list ideas for unique experiences:

14. Take scuba diving lessons or go snorkeling.

15. Learn to go horseback riding.

16. Participate in a baby sea turtle release.

17. Ride on a camel.

18. Go camping and fishing. Take your family with you to make it a great experience.

19. Drive a race car.

20. Take a helicopter tour.

21. Experience a hot air balloon ride.

22. Canoe or kayak along the Maine coast.

Retirement bucket list ideas for learning new skills:

23. Learn how to sail or learn a new water sport.

24. Take salsa (tango) dancing lessons together.

25. Learn new digital skills. Open an Instagram, Pinterest or a Twitter account.

26. Start (or join) a book club.

27. Learn how to be a photographer.

28. Take a cooking or baking class.

29. Learn a new language and write a poem.

30. Write and publish an e-book.

31. Start a blog and learn how to be a blogger.

32. Learn how to paint or take a pottery class.

33. Learn how to play a musical instrument.

Retirement bucket list ideas for starting a new hobby:

34. Start a vegetable garden.

35. Learn to cook gourmet meals.

36. Start a couples’ book club.

37. Create a scrapbook of your life together.

38. Start a food photography blog.

39. Assemble your own cookbook.

40. Explore local museums and art galleries together.

Final thoughts

You only live once. And when you look back you do not want to remember only working, cooking, cleaning, and rushing to complete your chores for the day. It is so easy to get caught up in life and responsibilities that you truly forget to live.

Making a retirement bucket list is a time for you to dream big and think about what you really want out of life.

Related Articles:

  • How to Organize Your Time in Retirement
  • How to Adjust to an Empty Nest Lifestyle
  • How to Travel on a Budget in Retirement
  • Finding Your Purpose in Life in Retirement
  • 15 Ideas on What to Do in Retirement

Do you have a retirement bucket list?

Like this post? Share it if it helped you!

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Retirement Living Tagged With: create a retirement bucket list, hobbies in retirement, learn new skills in retirement, purpose in retirement life, retirement bucket list, retirement lifestyle, travel in retirement

How to Organize Your Time in Retirement

by Maggie Leave a Comment

woman reading a book on a grass - organize your time in retirement

For many people, retirement is a chance to finally do things they have always wanted to do but had to postpone before they have the freedom of retirement. You might have a vision of the ultimate retirement lifestyle of getting up at any time, no alarm clock, no morning rush, and no daily schedules, just relax and enjoy your day.

But with no direction or discipline, you will soon find out that your days and weeks will pass without doing what is meaningful. The next thing you know a few months have passed and you have no idea where the time went and what you did with your time.

A successful retirement lifestyle should consist of a mix of activities that provide physical activity, mental stimulation, and socializing with others.

If you add to this mix the household chores such as cooking, shopping, cleaning, laundry, and house maintenance your retirement life might look overloaded again. That is why you will need some form of a time management system to arrange these activities and find time for it all.

Here are a few important tips to help you organize your time in retirement.

Make a Schedule

Sit back, relax, and do nothing all day is still a dream of many future retirees.

Just remember that if you sit around watching TV or surfing the internet for a few months, your health and fitness level will deteriorate quickly.

This is why starting retirement with no plan or schedule could hurt you in a long run. There is no better way to plan for retirement than to have a good understanding of how you will spend your days and weeks.

Time management in retirement does not mean blocking every minute of your day. It is more about establishing goals and priorities and then making sure that you accomplish what you set out to do.

  • First, organize your activities and household chores on a daily or weekly basis.
  • Second, use an online calendar or a planner to keep track of your activities and tasks. Many people will have a list of things (a bucket list) they want to accomplish once they stop working. It is a good idea to spread them out over some time, rather than trying to conquer everything at once.
  • Lastly, make a list and set reasonable and manageable goals of when you want to have items completed. It might be helpful to divide them into categories such as this week, this month, and this year.

Find your rhythm

It can be hard to structure days in your early days of retirement. After decades of working and having your days structured from morning to evening, it is easy to get overwhelmed with so much free time on your hands.

To establish your rhythm, start your day with purpose and write down two or three things you want to get done that day.

Here is an example of a few activities to keep on your calendar:

  • Cleaning the house
  • Preparing a meal
  • Working in a garden
  • Meeting up with friends
  • Writing in your journal
  • Reading a book
  • Going to the gym/ taking yoga class/ working out

1. Establish your morning routine.

Your morning routine looked the same for the last 40+ years – you would wake up, do some personal hygiene, get dressed, have breakfast (or not) and go to work. Once you are retired, you need to reinvent that part of the day.

There is so much proof behind why your morning routine is important.

man preparing coffee on a table - organize your time in retirement

Your morning routine sets the tone for the day. A good routine gets you on track from the moment you wake up and puts you in the right frame of mind. If you get following a healthy routine every morning you will get a lot of optimistic energy moving around you.

Morning routine examples:

  • Wake up
  • Breathing exercise
  • Have a healthy breakfast
  • Enjoy a gourmet cup of coffee or tea
  • Listen to a good music
  • Read a book
  • Write your thoughts in a journal.

2. Makes your evenings purposeful.

Evenings could be the most difficult part of the day.

People usually start feeling tired from their daily chores and responsibilities. That is why it is important to make your evenings purposeful. With no discipline or direction, you will discover that you spend most of your evenings on a couch watching Netflix.

You should simply write down a few things you are going to do every evening. For example, if you like to read or write, you can schedule a daily reading or writing in your journal time from 7 to 8 pm every day. I like to cook, so I can schedule preparing a meal from 6 to 7 pm every day.

There are so many other options:

  • Work in a garden
  • Water your flowers
  • Take a daily evening walk after dinner
  • Meet with a friend
  • Listen to a podcast
  • Sit outside to watch a sunset

It is also okay to do nothing and watch TV. But you are better off spending your evenings outdoors than indoors because it will give you more energy and motivation for new things.

3. Combine structured activities with free time.

If the idea of maintaining a daily schedule does not appeal to you, you can establish a less time-based approach.

Start your mornings by writing down two or three things you want to get done that day. Then, once you have done those two or three chores, you can spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want.

You will probably end up with a mix of structured activities, free time to spend however you like, and to-do lists.

4. Limit your time watching TV.

Just do your best to limit time mindlessly watching TV or browsing the internet.

Decide how much time you will allow to do passive activities and do your best to stick to it. For example, you might allow yourself only 30-minutes every morning and every evening to check emails, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social media channels.

Tips for a Smooth Transition to Retirement

Add something new to your life

Retirement is the ultimate time of getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new.

Most of us spend our lives dedicated to duty – building a career, raising a family, and taking care of grandchildren or parents. And unfortunately, we often put our dreams on a shelf.

But retirement is a perfect time to explore something new.

Go back to school. There are so many educational classes, both in-person and online that can help you grow your mind, meet new people, and stay relevant to the modern world.

Public universities often offer special tuition discounts for seniors. If you are not interested in getting a degree, try taking classes at a local community college. Choose a subject that you have always wanted to learn more about.

But if you want to gain more knowledge for free and from the comfort of your home, I recommend listening to podcasts on a topic you want to learn more about or even watching something on YouTube.

Engage yourself in new culture and language. Traveling is one of the most popular ways to do this. It can teach you the new and insightful things and open windows to diverse experiences.

Spend time on your hobbies and interests. Fill up your time with what makes you happy. Think of the activities you would do all day long and use your time in retirement to enjoy those activities.

4 balls of yarn - find new hobbies in retirement

If you do not have any hobbies or interests you are passionate about, try picking a new one from the list below.

Here is a list of interests and hobbies to help you think about new possibilities for retirement:

  • Design and remodeling
  • Entertaining
  • Cooking/ baking
  • Decorating and DIY projects
  • Organizing
  • Painting/ reading
  • Playing musical instruments
  • Singing/ acting
  • Pet care/ animals
  • Teaching/ mentoring
  • Traveling/ learning a new language
  • Sports/ fitness
  • Babysitting
  • Gardening
  • Learning new technology

Related Posts:

  • Top 4 Key Ingredients for a Successful Retirement
  • How to Create Retirement Lifestyle Goals

Learn how to slow down

It is important to establish a healthy balance between work and relaxation.

Once you stop working you do not need to follow your working schedule and pack your days with tasks to the brim. Being constantly busy does not mean achieving any sense of fulfillment. You do not have to be busy every minute of the day. Stop putting pressure on yourself and learn how to slow down.

I know that for some of us it is hard to relax. You might not need to set a schedule for everyday tasks. Instead, just finish a few chores when you are ready and take the rest of the day off. Be flexible and allow yourself to move activities and tasks from today’s list to tomorrow or next week. In the end, it will all get done.

The main thing to remember is that you can be more productive and energetic when you are physically and mentally fresh. So set aside enough time in your schedule for rest.

  • Get sufficient sleep at night.
  • Take breaks between tasks, especially when you are doing physical work.
  • When working in front of your computer, take 5 to 10 minutes breaks to stretch and move around.
  • Set a timer on your phone or computer to alert you when you have been online longer than a specific time. Then, shut it down.

How do you organize your time in retirement? Share your ideas in the comments below.

If you enjoyed reading, share this post so that others can find it, too!

Filed Under: Retirement, Retirement Living Tagged With: hobbies in retirement, organize time in retirement, routine in retirement, schedule activities in retirement, time management in retirement

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Hi, I'm Maggie. Welcome to Save, Invest & Retire! I am on a mission to help baby boomers learn how to save & invest smart. Follow me on detailed information about retirement planning, travels, and living the life of your dreams.

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