Yes, I have a pension gap in the financial sense of the word. But that's not a problem. We've taken precautionary measures for that.
What I'm referring to is that proverbial void people supposedly fall into after retirement. I thought, that won't happen to me. I have plenty of plans and hobbies to keep me busy. I can now spend endless hours behind my laptop, browse through dictionaries and grammar books, go running, tackle that list of chores I've been putting off until this moment. So... no problem filling my time, you'd think.
My retirement officially began on April 1st, 2025. No, not a joke. But I had enough vacation days left to take three weeks off beforehand. This way, I've already gotten a taste of retirement. And what happens? The first day off, after breakfast and leisurely reading the newspaper, I find myself staring into space, wondering what to do next. Plenty of options, but for everything I think... well, that can wait until tomorrow, or the day after, or next week. A strange sensation. What is this? Is this that void I'm falling into? By now, I'm getting used to it and slowly finding a new structure, a new rhythm. Retirees who preceded me told me they experienced something similar. And that it all works out in the end. I don't doubt that, and I'm certainly not losing sleep over it.
But there it is, my very own pension gap 😀