I worked very hard for a lot of years, and when it came time for retirement I went into it gladly.
People always told me I would get bored and that I needed to find some hobbies, and it turns out those people were right.
I knew if I didn’t keep myself busy then the retirement wouldn’t be fun, and I felt I deserved some fun. As counterproductive as it sounds, I started working a part time job for a few hours a week. It wasn’t about the extra money, it was just to keep me up and active, and working with the HVAC equipment I was so good at fixing. You should have seen the guy’s face light up when I asked if he happened to need someone with 40 years of HVAC experience on his team. The kid is half my age, but he already owns his own AC repair business, so he must be working very hard. He was happy to welcome me aboard, and started me off as a field supervisor for the HVAC techs. He knew my real value was experience, wisdom, and being able to troubleshoot any heating or cooling issue I might encounter. He lets me go with the rest of the team on bigger jobs just to offer counsel, I rarely even touch the HVAC equipment these days. I leave the work to the young bucks, and am content to sip my coffee and tell them the little ins and outs of HVAC repair they may not know due to lack of experience.