Joanne Stuart, 70, retired at age 59 after working as a career development professional in the Barrie, Ont., area. A few years before that, she a month off work so she and her husband Jim and I could spend time in Mexico.

“We were considering moving there in retirement and wanted to see if it would be a good fit. A year later, I asked for two months off to go back again, and my employer asked me if I was interested in retiring. I saw myself working for at least three or four more years, but then Jim and I thought about it more and decided it was time,” says Ms. Stuart in the latest Tales from the Golden Age article. Her husband had retired a few years earlier from a career in real estate.

“I remember the first day of retirement very clearly,” she adds. “It was a Monday, and I was walking down the road near our former home in Penetanguishene, Ont., with this tickle in my stomach. I felt free. I felt childlike, realizing that I could do whatever I wanted all day for the rest of my life.”

Read the full article here including how Ms. Stuart took up ballet and acting in her new home in Ajijic, Mexico.