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| Following up on my retirement benefits at the office, April 27, 2026. |
What’s retirement like for you?
People often ask me that question when they learn I’ve already retired, which took effect on March 1, almost eight months before my 65th birthday.
My answer never varies: It’s almost the same as not having retired at all, except that I don’t get the same pay and benefits that I got when I was still a regular employee at INQUIRER.net.
And I’m lucky to have been accepted by the same company as an editorial consultant, which means my workload, though still somewhat hefty, no longer includes supervisory duties, except when my replacement as news editor, who now attends the meetings I used to attend, asks me to take over.
Not being a rich man, I still have to work, not just because I need money but because I need to do something that I enjoy. I’m not just going to sit around waiting for senility.
Yes, retirement has its downside, mainly financial.
But on the upside, I have more energy — not necessarily time — for what I used to consider as mere hobbies: drawing and watercolor painting; playing the guitar, melodica, and recorder; watching videos on YouTube and, of course, reading and writing — this time for my own enjoyment and not as an occupational necessity.
That means my mind is freer to update this blog more frequently.
In other words, without the burden of supervising and guiding other people, checking on their work, and juggling their shift schedules, my mind is freer now to focus on other, less hectic concerns.
So for me, being retired doesn’t mean being tired again, even if I do have to continue working. It’s more like getting a new set of tires for the rest of the journey.
