I started this series early in my blog, when I cut my hours and wanted to make sure I used my time wisely. I started with lots of big goals, but I knew that I couldn’t follow all those dreams all at once.
I’m now trying to prepare for retirement in earnest. I’ve cut my hours even further, and finding purpose when I stop working seems more pressing.
Every few months, I try to look at what I have accomplished, and see if I can adjust course to focus my free time in the directions I wish I would go: increasing fitness, building (or maintaining) connections with friends, family and community, engaging with the arts, and, lately, keeping up with financial tasks.
My last update was in September 2025. This is a good time to review how well I have been pursuing those goals, especially given my additional time out of the office.
Exercise
Getting to retirement in bad physical shape doesn’t sound like a great time. I have hopes that once I am in retirement, I can become fitter, but I realize I can’t wait that long to take care of my body. So one of my goals–the one I have probably focused most on–is to get more exercise while I am still working.
I try to get 150 minutes a week of some exercise (see: CDC recommendations) with at least 30 minutes of strength building; when I work in the hospital, I just can’t get that much. Instead, I lower my goal to 90 minutes of exercise, since that’s a realistic stretch.
How did I do?
In 12 weeks, I met my goal 11 times. Not surprisingly, it was a hospital week that ruined my successful streak.
My number goals really aren’t going to change for now. I’d love to do more, but I still find it a challenge to get to 150 minutes when I am working. Based on recent weeks, I will be incorporating more stretching, and struggling to figure out aerobic activity, during the winter months.
Connections
More and more is being written about the importance of connections: with family, with friends, with people in the community. If I’m not careful, I can totally let work take over my life. Since I don’t actually want to be a hermit, I really need to work on spending time with people other than Mr. PiN.
My goals have been to keep up with my weekly social video calls, and socialize in-person at least 1.5 times a month. I had also wanted to attend services more regularly, though I lowered my goals to once a month.
How did I do?
I kept up with my weekly video calls, except when I was out of town. My Sunday friends came to my house for an in-person afternoon, and I spent at least 3 afternoons visiting with the friend who lives closer to me. We all met up, with spouses, at a museum event (see Local Adventures, below).
I had dinner twice with several of Mr. PiN’s friends, hosting a couple at our house, and meeting a different group at a local pizzeria.
I flew home to visit my mother for a weekend.
Overall, there were 8 events over 3 months, which is better than I expected.
As for attending religious services, I attended once by video (when Mr. PiN was out of town) and once in person when I visited my mom. Not quite at goal, but better than I did for years.
Going forward, I think I would like to aim for 2 in-person social events per month, and trying to attend services once a month as well. Mailing my holiday cards before New Year’s would be a bonus.
Clear the Clutter
My hope is to start retirement with a (mostly) decluttered home. The thought of having to spend several years shoveling out my house in order to enjoy it is… dispiriting.
My goals for the fall included clearing more journals from my towering pile of mail in the living room, clearing up my office some more, and possibly working on the “piano corner” (currently occupied by a desk with plenty of items atop it).
I kept working on my pile of papers, though I don’t think it’s gotten much lower. I suppose I have been more-or-less keeping up with the incoming mail. I cleared some items from the desk, though it isn’t clear. A few random items were given away through my Buy Nothing group.
Overall, I’ve done a little here, a little there, without big results.
This winter, my goal is to actually donate the contents of the donate box/laundry basket and to lower the level of my mail pile. Clearing the desk would be great; giving away the desk would be amazing. My office needs a little love too. I have several potential projects, and completing any one of them would make me very happy.
Local Adventure
I love to travel, but I feel it’s important to enjoy the smaller pleasures around home. My goal was to go on 1-2 local adventures per month.
I visited a new coffee shop with a friend, attended the opening of a museum exhibit, with several friends, and dined in the local pizzeria.
I had to stretch a bit to get 3 adventures for 3 months, but I managed it. I think 1 outing a month seems reasonable while I am still working.
Reading
I love reading for fun and relaxation. I will certainly keep this up. That’s not what this section is about.
This is my challenge to myself to read the classics, or other books that make me work a bit.
Reviewing my list of books read, I see lots of re-reads, and some books I hadn’t read before by authors I already know. I did find 2 new authors during this period, so I suppose that is something.
I will keep this on my list, but I am starting to wonder if this may be a goal I don’t work on until I am retired in truth. We will see.
Creative Activities
I have been writing for a couple years about three goals: blogging, knitting, and working on photo books.
My blogging continues, I did a bit more this period. I still haven’t put together any photo books for a while, but I might count my (photo) holiday card as a project of minor creativity.
This is an area where I think I need to spend more effort. 2026 might be a good time to try harder.
Financial tasks
As I automate more and more of my financial tasks, there is less to list here.
Goals for this period included closing 1 savings account and donating appreciated stocks to my donor advised fund.
I still need to transfer my funds from savings and close down 1 of my superfluous accounts. I did complete a donation to the DAF. I also, yesterday, checked my traditional IRA and transferred a pesky $0.02 (honest!) to my Roth IRA, so I wouldn’t have a balance in the tIRA at the end of the year.
I think it’s past time to close down that savings account.
And, of course, with 2026 right around the corner, it will be time to complete a Back door Roth for me and Mr. PiN
In Summary
I’m feeling better about meeting my exercise goals, and socializing more. I definitely want to keep these improvements going, while considering how I might encourage more creative pursuits in my life.
What goals, if any, do you have for the next few months? Or for 2026?
I love how thoughtful and reflective you are about your plans and goals. You are setting yourself up for success in retirement. I think that’s where many people go wrong. They drift into retirement without a plan, and then wonder why they feel something is missing.
My recent leg injury and a couple of respiratory viruses in a row have prompted me to make health my theme for 2026. I already do well with physical activity, but I need to focus on better nutrition. With both of my daughters living far away, my motivation is staying healthy so I can travel to visit them.
Michelle, I am sorry to hear about your health challenges. I hope 2026 treats you a little better!
As for my plans and goals: I was exposed in a totally different context to the quote “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I do not want to fail at retirement.
It feels like I am making little progress with these posts, but I think writing them keeps me focused–if only for the several days per year that I write the next one! However, I am writing about the topics I find challenging, so I suppose it’s fair that I haven’t conquered each topic in 3 or 4 months.
“I do not want to fail at retirement.” Many people don’t realize that’s a possibility. Author Mike Drak inspired me to get involved in the non-financial side of retirement. He was the first person I’d ever heard admit they failed at retirement. I met Mike soon after he published his first book, Victory Lap Retirement, and we have stayed in touch ever since.
You might enjoy reading Mike’s books. His story is interesting and he provides good food for thought. They’re available as free downloads on https://getbooks.boomingencore.com
Thank you for the book recommendation! I do remember reading posts by a Mike Drak over at Humble Dollar a few years ago. I may have to check his books out over my winter “break.”
Yes. That would be the same Mike Drak. He also writes regularly at Booming Encore, a terrific site for our demographic. https://boomingencore.com
Connections are important. I do not have a connection related goal, although it might be helpful. Exercise, yes; money, yes, but connections are huge and I think my DH is tracking that better than I. (The exercise and money not so much though he is using pickleball as both exercise and social. And money is not a problem for him — he can afford to make mistakes.) Decluttering is also a good goal, and I am particularly bad at that. Part of it is possibly scarcity mindset but also I just kind of hate to get rid of stuff. Actually donating the donate box and reducing mail are both pretty big!
On reading… I think WHICH classics you try to catch up on matters. I seem to recall trying to read The Last of the Mohicans and I’m not sure I got past the first chapter because I thought it was kind of terrible. I remember my English teacher in high school saying that part of why Moby Dick was so long was because the author was paid by the word… and I kind of wondered if that was Cooper’s problem. But then I’m not sure Last of the Mohicans makes it on to high school reading lists so maybe I made a bad choice. I also tried to read Lady Chatterly’s Lover my first year of college as a very “college” read — literature and yet SEX — and found it too tedious to finish as well. And I’m not sure I ever want to commit the time to reading something by someone like Saul Bellow. I internalize enough misogyny on my own, I don’t need it slipped to me in a literary way.
My hope for this year is to get better about nutrition because I am sadly getting to an age where it’s mattering more and more and not interacting well with my genetic heritage (thanks family history of heart disease and diabetes!). My resolution is “eat more vegetables” but that’s not a SMART goal at all (not specific, measurable, etc.) so I should probably think about that a bit more. Last year I’ve been trying to eat less cake but the results have been mixed.
I hope your 2026 is better than 2025, and you make progress on your goals and using your found time wisely!
So good to hear from you, C!
I appreciate your advice on reading. For better or worse, my spouse was an English major. I could ask him for advice on which books to start with, when I am ready to try the classics again, but then there might be issues if I still don’t like them. (That is a bridge I will cross later.)
As for the other goals, I know some people like lofty goals, which are hard to meet. Me, I like easy ones, so I have almost no excuse to fail them. That’s why my social goal for many years was just one in-person meeting per month (averaging allowed, so 2 in one month makes up for an entire month without going out). You might decide to shoot for 1 serving of vegetables every day, though the doctor in me would ask that you increase that goal more quickly than after several years.