7-1/2 years since I walked out of the office for the last time at the age of 52. My wife continues to work (by choice, since we're FI), but will retire soon as well.
I actually loved my work and career and would have happily continued working for at least a few more years, but retired early for family reasons. That said, I love being retired. I travel a lot, I am getting far deeper into my long-term hobbies and interests, and I am starting new ones. I had a working life filled with adventure and am trying to have a retirement filled with adventure for as long as my body holds up. My body is likely to hold up longer now. I lost about 30 pounds immediately after retiring (I had more time to work out and professional entertaining and sitting behind a desk were no longer a big part of my life). Younger people often tell me that I am living their dream. I am fortunate in that our budget allows me to enjoy my hobbies with very few constraints, but I am pretty sure I could still be very happy even if I had to spend considerably less. My wife and I both look forward to her retirement so that she can join me on some of my (currently) solo travels.
There are a few people who post here about how retirement is the start of a long, slow slide into oblivion or about how they are bored and depressed in retirement. I can't argue with their experience, but it certainly isn't mine.
