Two Johnnies are an Irish comedy duo. They do a regular podcast. https://www.the2johnnies.ie/podcast.
The podcast which is geared to the say 20 – 40 age group is by times risque going towards crude. But at the same time always interesting – and funny!
Both men are clearly proud and passionate members of the Cahir GAA club. The club and their activities with the club are referred to frequently in all podcasts.
Anyway the Johnnies asked for feedback from people retired or soon to be retired. Retirement is one of my favorite topics these days, as Irish Stew for the Soul regulars – all 1 million of you – give or take 999,903, will know!
So I wrote the letter to the Johnnies. My letter was not read out. The letter that was read out opined that The Two Johnnies set up a retirement home themselves. I do concede that that letter was imaginative - and funny. The letter deserved to be read out.
See my letter below... the one that was n´t read out. : - (
Dear Two Johnnies,
You do a great show every Monday night; it is full of nonsense, common sense and by times an awful lot of good sense. All that with a laugh - I mean ´what is not to love here!` As my Jewish Mama might have said.
I have no idea how I discovered you lads as I live in Germany, but your Monday podcast is my method of choice against insomnia: When himself is fast asleep and I am not, rather than read, I listen to your Monday night podcasts on Spotify. (I am not going to pay for your Thursday show, I suspect it might be a tad too blue for my delicate sensibilities)
The Two Johnnies Podcast is better than a sleeping pill – I am always asleep before the end of the show! So one podcast of listening will do me the whole week! Great value for money not spent! -
So now it is time to give back.
Retirement.
Last week you asked people to write in on their experience on retirement, or on retiring.
Consider: Nowadays being newly retired if you are healthy and have enough funds is like being a teenager again. - Only now now ´it´ is all allowed, you can pay for it and (mostly) it is legal to do ´it´ now!
I am 66 and 4 months. Newly retired since April this year AND LOVING IT! In fact for me, I feel it is my vocation in life to be retired! (You four are probably too young to have had the nuns or brothers asking you in school to consider what your vocation was.)
It is not that I do nothing all day, rather I do EVERY THING I WANT TO DO, WHEN I WANT TO DO IT. Or. I DO NOTHING AT ALL. All ON MY TERMS. (More on the latter point later!)
All that is possible because now I have time, funds and most importantly my health. None of these things do I take for granted either.
What I do, or not do with my time is not so important for you and your listeners. Rather I enclose for your perusal, and for your listeners auditory pleasure, some observations that may help others arrive at the day of retirement ready to rock and roll. - Or knit, or climb a mountain, or further their education, learn to paint/ French/underwater swimming or whatever.
Tips on Reaching Retirement Age and be Ready to Rock and Roll – or Not!
Just about all these things should be attended to when your in your twenties or thirties. And the sooner you start, the less effort it requires.
1) Look after your Health.
Really this is a no brainier, and one should be doing it all one´s life. Many people reach retirement with sickness through no fault of their own. But a heck of a lot of the rest of us just don´t look after ourselves by eating right, exercising, avoiding mental stress etc.
The sooner you start to care for yourself, both mentally and physically, the more likely the good health will last. Sickness costs money, and quality of life. And that before retirement too, so avoid ill health at all cost.
2) Look after your Finances.
Being poor sucks no two ways about that, being poor and retired sucks even more.
- The man you had on a good few podcasts ago gave great tips on managing finances. Could you have him come back and do a show aimed at younger listeners on how to organise and manage finances with a view to planning for retirement.
(He can help your listeners sort out questions like which is most important for them: Paying for their child´s wedding with 200 guests at a five start venue, or saving a big chuck of €€€ for their retirement fund?)
2b) The best tip on managing finances came from Charles Dickens´ father.
-Who was himself very bad at managing his money; he ended up in Debtors´Prison.
`Income per year 20 pounds. Out goings per year – 19 shillings and 50 pennies. Heaven.
`Income per year 20 pounds. Out goings per year – 21 pounds.
Hell.`
3) About Five years Before you are due to Retire, Consider the Following.
3a) Get to know you!
Sounds a bit weird I know, but if your sense of yourself is strongly connected with the job, ie. you love what you do, there is a lot of social prestige connected with your job, or your circle of friends are all tied with your job. What happens when the job is gone? Who are you then? Find out now.
3b) Sort out any lurking regrets WELL before you Retire.
Marriage a bit wobbledy? A bad relationship with a sibling/parent/child? Any other unfinished business, or matters niggling at the back of your head? Work on sorting these things out well before you retire.
All that free time to ruminate on retirement, will only make these issues bigger.
3c) What would you like to do when you retire. Start making a list.
Note the question is: What would YOU like to do when you retire? Not what the spouse/ children/friends would like you to do.
3d) Manage your time YOUR WAY on your Terms.
After health and enough funds, the greatest gift on retirement is TIME. Time for YOU to do as you wish. So do consider how you will want to spend your retirement.
For example do you want to give time babysitting your grand children? Consider this one carefully, it can be a minefield.
For example if you have one child and only one grandchild, a day a week to care for the cute little grandchild might be absolutely delightful.
But what if there are four children and eight grandchildren? If you babysit one, then you are stuck with being available to all the others so as not to be seen as having a favorite. (And worse if you consider daughter Mary´s Johnny is such a cutie and such a joy to babysit. But daughter Joan´s son Tom is a horror and no fun to babysit!)
So it would be wise to let all your children know, very casually of course, about your babysitting wishes WELL before you retire.
Likewise with friends and others who need help with, their start ups/pets/travel needs whatever.
4) About six months before you retire. Apply for the pension.
No brainer. But lots of people forget.
5) The Day you Retire. Now what? Nothing. I repeat, nothing.
This tip was given to me by a high flyer who worked a 60 hour week for years. Until one Friday afternoon. Then she woke up the following Monday morning and her time was her own.
5a) Do not commit to any thing for at least 18 months.
On the first day of retirement, most of us for the first time in our adult lives have the chance to do what we please, or nothing at all as we please. Don´t let that go, savor it.
After that you can consider if you want to volunteer, attend classes, start a business - what ever. There will be plenty of time for all that later. But just take these months to enjoy your own company, and do things or not, all on a whim. (Of course the alternative is that you will be dead, in which case there is nothing to discuss, so no problem there either!)
5b) Plan your first day to retire coming into spring or summer.
You talked about a man who did this last week, and it is a good idea.
That way you can get your retirement mojo up and running smoothly before the dark days of winter set in and might cramp your retiring style.
So dear Johnnies, there you have my tips. But this is surely enough from me for now. You can use/edit or what ever any or all of this.
Before ending I have to ask, where do you get the ideas for the topics you talk about, really they are so diverse, just great craic? It all sounds like great spontaneous fun, but I suspect there is a LOT of work being put in to creating all this spontaneous!
God bless you and yours – keep up your excellent podcast-ing!
Hausfrau Róisin.
Dear Two Johnnies,
You do a great show every Monday night; it is full of nonsense, common sense and by times an awful lot of good sense. All that with a laugh - I mean ´what is not to love here!` As my Jewish Mama might have said.
I have no idea how I discovered you lads as I live in Germany, but your Monday podcast is my method of choice against insomnia: When himself is fast asleep and I am not, rather than read, I listen to your Monday night podcasts on Spotify. (I am not going to pay for your Thursday show, I suspect it might be a tad too blue for my delicate sensibilities)
The Two Johnnies Podcast is better than a sleeping pill – I am always asleep before the end of the show! So one podcast of listening will do me the whole week! Great value for money not spent! -
So now it is time to give back.
Retirement.
Last week you asked people to write in on their experience on retirement, or on retiring.
Consider: Nowadays being newly retired if you are healthy and have enough funds is like being a teenager again. - Only now now ´it´ is all allowed, you can pay for it and (mostly) it is legal to do ´it´ now!
I am 66 and 4 months. Newly retired since April this year AND LOVING IT! In fact for me, I feel it is my vocation in life to be retired! (You four are probably too young to have had the nuns or brothers asking you in school to consider what your vocation was.)
It is not that I do nothing all day, rather I do EVERY THING I WANT TO DO, WHEN I WANT TO DO IT. Or. I DO NOTHING AT ALL. All ON MY TERMS. (More on the latter point later!)
All that is possible because now I have time, funds and most importantly my health. None of these things do I take for granted either.
What I do, or not do with my time is not so important for you and your listeners. Rather I enclose for your perusal, and for your listeners auditory pleasure, some observations that may help others arrive at the day of retirement ready to rock and roll. - Or knit, or climb a mountain, or further their education, learn to paint/ French/underwater swimming or whatever.
Tips on Reaching Retirement Age and be Ready to Rock and Roll – or Not!
Just about all these things should be attended to when your in your twenties or thirties. And the sooner you start, the less effort it requires.
1) Look after your Health.
Really this is a no brainier, and one should be doing it all one´s life. Many people reach retirement with sickness through no fault of their own. But a heck of a lot of the rest of us just don´t look after ourselves by eating right, exercising, avoiding mental stress etc.
The sooner you start to care for yourself, both mentally and physically, the more likely the good health will last. Sickness costs money, and quality of life. And that before retirement too, so avoid ill health at all cost.
2) Look after your Finances.
Being poor sucks no two ways about that, being poor and retired sucks even more.
- The man you had on a good few podcasts ago gave great tips on managing finances. Could you have him come back and do a show aimed at younger listeners on how to organise and manage finances with a view to planning for retirement.
(He can help your listeners sort out questions like which is most important for them: Paying for their child´s wedding with 200 guests at a five start venue, or saving a big chuck of €€€ for their retirement fund?)
2b) The best tip on managing finances came from Charles Dickens´ father.
-Who was himself very bad at managing his money; he ended up in Debtors´Prison.
`Income per year 20 pounds. Out goings per year – 19 shillings and 50 pennies. Heaven.
`Income per year 20 pounds. Out goings per year – 21 pounds.
Hell.`
3) About Five years Before you are due to Retire, Consider the Following.
3a) Get to know you!
Sounds a bit weird I know, but if your sense of yourself is strongly connected with the job, ie. you love what you do, there is a lot of social prestige connected with your job, or your circle of friends are all tied with your job. What happens when the job is gone? Who are you then? Find out now.
3b) Sort out any lurking regrets WELL before you Retire.
Marriage a bit wobbledy? A bad relationship with a sibling/parent/child? Any other unfinished business, or matters niggling at the back of your head? Work on sorting these things out well before you retire.
All that free time to ruminate on retirement, will only make these issues bigger.
3c) What would you like to do when you retire. Start making a list.
Note the question is: What would YOU like to do when you retire? Not what the spouse/ children/friends would like you to do.
3d) Manage your time YOUR WAY on your Terms.
After health and enough funds, the greatest gift on retirement is TIME. Time for YOU to do as you wish. So do consider how you will want to spend your retirement.
For example do you want to give time babysitting your grand children? Consider this one carefully, it can be a minefield.
For example if you have one child and only one grandchild, a day a week to care for the cute little grandchild might be absolutely delightful.
But what if there are four children and eight grandchildren? If you babysit one, then you are stuck with being available to all the others so as not to be seen as having a favorite. (And worse if you consider daughter Mary´s Johnny is such a cutie and such a joy to babysit. But daughter Joan´s son Tom is a horror and no fun to babysit!)
So it would be wise to let all your children know, very casually of course, about your babysitting wishes WELL before you retire.
Likewise with friends and others who need help with, their start ups/pets/travel needs whatever.
4) About six months before you retire. Apply for the pension.
No brainer. But lots of people forget.
5) The Day you Retire. Now what? Nothing. I repeat, nothing.
This tip was given to me by a high flyer who worked a 60 hour week for years. Until one Friday afternoon. Then she woke up the following Monday morning and her time was her own.
5a) Do not commit to any thing for at least 18 months.
On the first day of retirement, most of us for the first time in our adult lives have the chance to do what we please, or nothing at all as we please. Don´t let that go, savor it.
After that you can consider if you want to volunteer, attend classes, start a business - what ever. There will be plenty of time for all that later. But just take these months to enjoy your own company, and do things or not, all on a whim. (Of course the alternative is that you will be dead, in which case there is nothing to discuss, so no problem there either!)
5b) Plan your first day to retire coming into spring or summer.
You talked about a man who did this last week, and it is a good idea.
That way you can get your retirement mojo up and running smoothly before the dark days of winter set in and might cramp your retiring style.
So dear Johnnies, there you have my tips. But this is surely enough from me for now. You can use/edit or what ever any or all of this.
Before ending I have to ask, where do you get the ideas for the topics you talk about, really they are so diverse, just great craic? It all sounds like great spontaneous fun, but I suspect there is a LOT of work being put in to creating all this spontaneous!
God bless you and yours – keep up your excellent podcast-ing!
Hausfrau Róisin.
