The Best Advice for Future Retirees

For people who retired five years ago, what is your advice?

K M Brown
8 min readAug 25, 2023

That’s what u/bobbfrommn asked people who were subscribed to the Retirement sub on Reddit, and he got some thoughtful answers in response. Some suggestions, such as nurturing relationships and taking care of your body, were repeatedly endorsed, and understandably so — it’s very good advice. Robust physical health and supportive social bonds reliably increase your well-being and add years to your life. Giving your mindful attention to both becomes even more important when you don’t have a regular schedule to get you moving every morning or the camaraderie of work colleagues to fall back on.

Beyond that rather universal truth, there was more divergence of opinions about what makes up a comfortable and enjoyable retirement. Many respondents focused on money, a topic that assumes considerable importance once those regular paychecks stop rolling in.

Should you pay off debt before retiring?

Several readers touted the benefits of eliminating debt. Paying off her car and credit cards had a “huge impact” on u/maorine’s ability to retire, and u/Consistent_Jacket892 was unequivocal with the advice…

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K M Brown

Retired psychotherapist who loves a good story. Author of From Fear to There: Becoming a Confident Traveler https://tinyurl.com/26uhya