Retirement Toys

I recently had a hair-raising experience in a contraption called a Mini Moke. The best way I can describe it: imagine a compact car and a golf cart had a baby, slapped a rollbar on it, and threw a canvas roof over the whole thing. My backside was a mere 12 inches from the ground, and despite topping out at 20 mph, it felt like we were about to break the sound barrier. This thing has the aerodynamics of a brick.

This all unfolded at my vacation home, where my newly retired neighbour had just acquired his very first retirement toy and pressed it immediately into service ferrying us down to the harbour bar for a pint of Guinness. It made my own retirement toy purchase, an ebike, feel suddenly very pedestrian and a tiny bit boring.

Another vacation home neighbour who retired two years ago went straight out and bought a speedboat. Now he spends his days messing about in the horseshoe bay by the harbour and teaching himself sea fishing. Meanwhile, I’ve been tying myself in knots over whether to splash out on a reasonably priced sea kayak to explore the local coastline. A speedboat versus a kayak: I’m starting to see a pattern here, and I’m not sure it flatters me.

Which got me thinking: is buying yourself a proper retirement toy shortly after leaving work actually “a thing”? My sample size is admittedly tiny, but the evidence is piling up. I’m curious whether the Humble Dollar community has been down this road. Did you go all in on something big and expensive, consequences be damned? Or, like me, did frugality whisper in your ear and steer you toward the more sensible option?

I’d love to hear about the toys you treated yourself to, the more unusual the better. How did you square the splurge with the nagging voice that said you ought to be responsible with your money at the start of retirement? Because clearly, some of us are better at ignoring that voice than others.