It's not that hard to have fun, once you retire

It turns out that concerns about having all that time on your hands after you retire may be a bit overstated.

A Merrill Lynch retirement survey, conducted with Age Wave and released last week, indicates that retirees are enjoying their time away from work just fine.

"Retirees are experiencing a liberation from their hard-working and often workaholic pasts and report having more freedom, more fun, new beginnings and greater emotional well being than at any other point in their lives," according to "Leisure in Retirement: Beyond the Bucket List."

"This is taking a popular perception and turning it on its head," said Andy Sieg, head of global wealth and retirement solutions at Merrill Lynch.

Nearly 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring every day and life expectancy is at an all-time high. Because we are living longer, we can now spend as long in retirement as we can in our careers. So instead of viewing retirement as the finish line, nine of 10 of those interviewed see it as an opportunity for new beginnings, the survey says.

And without the pressures and stress of a job, retirees say they are having more freedom, flexibility and fun. Only 7 per cent said they are having less fun in retirement. The main reason for that was -- you guessed it -- financial.

Social networks are important. As it turns out, pre-retirees say what they will miss most from work is that reliable paycheck. But retirees say what they ended up missing most was their social networks.

And finally, as with anything in life, planning was key.

"This study revealed that planning for retirement leisure can have a very positive impact," Sieg said. "Those who have done some preparation are far more likely to say retirement is more fun, enjoyable and pleasurable. Yet, very few people actually plan for this important dimension of their retirement experience."