Untold number of federal employees have retired during the second Trump administration. I say “untold” because the AI-generated estimates fall over the map. But it’s way north of 100,000. Many simply went ahead with planned retirement. Too many were forced out. It’s all been well documented.

Having just passed one year of retirement, I’m finding “retirement” itself is a really vague word. At one extreme is someone I know, whom I won’t identify further. This person essentially walks the old dog and goes to the supermarket.

A better word for what I’m doing, and what I see a lot of federal retirees doing: post full-time, part-time employment. Ungainly, but accurate. You might call it phased retirement.

I’m still part-time at Federal News Network. That plus a few steady 1099 gigs means I’m having a schedule that’s actually a bit more crowded than I wish.

By schedule, therefore, I don’t mean having lunch with other old men or going to the gym at 11 when it’s less crowded. My lunch today is with the president of a major association. I don’t waste time going to gyms and dealing with schlepping and parking. Anyway, isn’t everyone else in a gym obnoxious? A pandemic-era splurge on a Peloton bike plus a nice row of dumbbells and a big TV form our 24-hour home gym right downstairs.

Plus, I’m president of a tiny non-profit I’m hoping to grow.

Ironically, I’ve been commissioned writing a series of pieces on federal retirement and disability planning. Substitute the Thrift Savings Plan with an IRA and the Office of Personnel Management with SAG-AFTRA, and I’ve got a lot in common with retired feds.

A few things I’ve learned in the year since I stepped away from hosting The Federal Drive:

• When you read about retirement planning, pay attention. You must have a plan for retirement. Most feds I’ve encountered, unless they have a severe disability or urgent family needs, want to do something professionally-related after they retire from the government. Your plans won’t gel precisely the way you want. Rather, by being mindful about it, you’ll end up in a good place, even if not to the letter of what you planned. The point of retirement is to have more freedom than you had working fulltime for a single employer.
• If you choose to phase into retirement, as I did, stop saying, “I’m bad at retirement,” or “I failed at retirement.” People get tired of that weirdly boastful expression, as they are of people professing to be “Type A.” What you mean is, “I made choices that fulfill my need to remain connected, active and using my skills. Even if not working fulltime.” Retirement comes in many flavors.
• Have a financial plan. If you are younger than 73, you likely will want to do paid things if only to put off withdrawals from your TSP until you are legally required to.
• OPM is notoriously slow at processing annuities. So have your paperwork in order three months before you plan to retire. I didn’t deal with OPM, but I did deal with SAG-AFTRA, the union of which I’m still a member and from which I receive an annuity. Such organizations are well meaning, but they’re bureaucratic and compliance-oriented. So these things take time. Plan for it. You need to ensure the income streams of retirement begin flowing when you want them.
• Pay attention to habits — sleep, food, exercise, drinking, those sorts of things. By retirement age, your health and fitness need regular attention. In my house, the television is never on before evening. We take turns in the home gym pretty much every morning. Live your own life, but do it intentionally.

Expect your perspective, your psyche, to change.

Embrace it. Reaching 65, 70 or beyond, you’ll find your experience contains that of the young. They don’t know what they don’t know. In fact, mentoring or advising young people can be quite rewarding. Just don’t be smug about it. The Gen Zers are smart, talented and committed, no less than any other generation. Some of them even have a sense of humor. They’re a blast to be around, and they’re also open to learning from you. Just don’t preach, pontificate or patronize.

A few other thoughts:

• If you liked what you did, expect to miss it and the people you worked with. I miss the WTOP/FNN newsroom and its denizens. That doesn’t make me regret the choice to retire, not at all. It’s an “and,” not a “but,” situation.
• Even in phased retirement, don’t be a monk. Or a bore. Enjoy things. Try something new, or rekindle something for which the fire has gone out. My interest in photography has revived. I bought a digital camera the intricacies of which I am learning. I may even take up film again. It’s having a revival, sort of like vinyl records.
• Every day is not Saturday, as people commonly say. But its great being able to have dinner parties or go do evening events any night of the week without having to worry about tomorrow morning. One of the best things about semi-retirement: Going to restaurants on Tuesday or Wednesday night and pretending it’s a pre-retirement Saturday.
• Don’t avoid necessary concessions to age. For instance, I got hearing aids. Notwithstanding they are practically invisible nowadays, I tell people what a gamechanger they are. I’d no idea how dull my hearing had become. My ENT said, “Do it for your brain.” Turns out hearing loss is a big factor in loss of balance, slower movement and dementia. So I did it for my brain before any of that happens. You earned that gray, those wrinkles. Embrace them.

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