One of the biggest achievements that you can ever have in life is the one where you can finally leave your working life behind. Getting to retirement age is a big enough achievement but to be able to say that you spent most of your working life somewhere that appreciates you is a new thing entirely. You get the chance to say goodbye to a big old slice of your life and it’s all for a good reason. This is your time to kick back and relax for a little while, and it’s exciting that you get to do that.

The biggest question that you now have to answer is how you plan on celebrating that area of your life being over. Are you going to throw a huge party? It doesn't matter either way as long as you are happy to say goodbye! You might get a gift of one of the best selling watches out there - it’s a standard retirement gift - but you will still have the time to really enjoy it. You might not want to organize a party, but it can be done in a way that’s exciting - and we’ve got some of the best suggestions for you below.

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1. Travel. You could use this time to travel the world and see more things in life than you ever thought you could. One of the most popular plans is a cruise and that’s because of all the senior discounts you can enjoy! You can choose to safari in Africa, relax on the beaches of Jamaica or simply spend time in a caravan by the ocean. No matter what you do, you can travel and see so much more than you thought you could.

2. Start giving to charity. So many retirees use the time to spend giving back. Not everyone wants to sit around enjoying life (no, really), some people want to be busy and that means volunteering time. You might have spare income you want to use for a good cause, or you may just have some spare time you want to use for a good cause! Either way, you’ve got time now to choose a charity and start giving.

3. Spend more time with family. One of the main things that people look forward to with retirement is spending time with family and friends a lot more. You could use the years now and spend more time being a grandparent or an uncle/aunt. You can see more of your children and their children, and you can make new memories.

4. Use the time to come up with new traditions. If you love to keep busy by organizing events, then the time is now to try new traditions. You can use your retirement date as a new holiday date in the family and you can organize new game nights and celebrate birthdays and events with new traditions, too.

5. Give yourself a gift for a change. Have you been sitting on a rainy day nest egg? Well, if so, now’s the time to treat yourself. You have been saving money all this time and while you might want to give to others in your family, you don't want to be the richest person in the crematorium, right? 

6. Go backwards. Some of the fun of retiring is the time you have, and you can use some of the time to go backwards down memory lane and revisit all of the older places you used to be in. It’s a nice way to spend time with your kids, too, as you can go and see how things have changed over the years. It’s half the fun of retiring.

7. Take up a new hobby. One of the best ways to spend time saying goodbye to your working life is to do something new with your time. You can take up a brand new hobby and really enjoy every second of your life now that you’re not filling up time with working. 

8. Choose to do something out of your comfort zone. Retirement is only the end of the working life that you chose for the past few years, it's not the end of all things that you ever wanted to do. So, use this time to come up with a new dream for yourself so that you can be ready to have fun no matter what you’re doing. You can be more productive, and try a new dream and you want to boost your creativity! This is a choice that will change your future.