What I Feared More Than Retirement Financial Anxiety Was a Day Without Plans

If asked what they are anxious about regarding retirement, I think many people would answer “money.” I was the same.

I checked my iDeCo and NISA balances repeatedly, re-examined my projected pension amounts, and ran simulations for my retirement funds over and over. I thought that if I could see the numbers, my anxiety would diminish at least a little.

However, when I actually tried to imagine my life after retirement in concrete terms, what truly terrified me was not the balance in my bankbook. The sight of a blank calendar stretching out for next month, the month after, and for decades to come—that was far more frightening.

Another anxiety hidden beneath the financial one

The more I ran financial simulations, the clearer the numbers became, and I could feel a certain degree of relief. This is because I could see a landing point where I could say, “It looks like I’ll be fine with this much.”

Yet, even though I should have been able to feel at ease based on the numbers, the restlessness in my heart did not disappear. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that what I was truly afraid of was not “whether I would have enough money,” but the fact that I had no idea what I would be doing with my time day after day.

Financial anxiety is, so to speak, a “visible anxiety.” Because it can be turned into numbers, it is easy to come up with countermeasures. But hidden deep beneath that was a “more vague anxiety” that could not be quantified. That was the fear of “a day with nothing to do.”

If the end of summer vacation lasted for 30 years

I realized that I had experienced something close to this feeling somewhere before. It was toward the end of summer vacation when I was a child.

My homework was done. I had no particular plans. My friends were unavailable due to club activities or lessons. On days like that, I felt a sense of aimlessness, with time just dragging on. It was that slightly awkward boredom of “a day with nothing in particular to do.”

The reason I was afraid of life after retirement was that I imagined that feeling might not just last for a day, but day after day, for decades. Thinking that the dissatisfaction of the end of summer vacation would spread across the entire long period of retirement—when I thought of it that way, it felt like a much heavier burden than the balance in my bankbook.

The blank spaces in the schedule drain one’s energy

While I was working as a company employee, my daily schedule was set even without me being conscious of it. What time to go to work, what tasks to complete, who to talk to. For better or worse, that framework gave rhythm to my life.

When you reach retirement, this framework disappears entirely. I think this is why many people feel that even though they should have gained freedom in both time and money, they are not necessarily able to live freely. The moment they lose the support of a schedule, they no longer know what criteria to use to structure their day.

When days without plans continue, people gradually lose their energy. As days where you think “I didn’t do anything today” pile up, you can sometimes be dragged into the heavier question of “What am I living for?”

You don’t have to look for a grand dream

Hearing this, some people might brace themselves, thinking, “Then I must find a purpose in life or a dream for my retirement.” However, I don’t think you need to prepare something that big starting now.

What you need is not a grand dream or life purpose, but simply “whether you can have one small plan for today.” Going for a walk, reading a book you’ve been curious about, talking to someone for a bit. Even with such small plans, just having one point of “I will do this today” makes the outline of the day clear. You don’t have to try to fill a blank calendar with big plans all at once.

Trying to fill your schedule with AI

That said, “thinking of small plans for yourself” is surprisingly hard to keep up. For me personally, in the first few days, I would get tired just thinking about “what should I do today,” and in the end, the day would pass without me doing anything.

To be honest, I was initially a bit resistant to the idea of using AI to make plans. I felt that a consultant should be a human, and that asking an AI felt somewhat soulless.

However, once I actually tried it, that worry wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. By simply telling the AI my mood, physical condition, or the day’s weather, it provides reasonable suggestions on the spot. I don’t have to worry about whether I’ll be seen as idle for asking, as I might with a person. No matter how many times I ask similar questions, it never gets annoyed.

So, I tried talking to the AI first thing in the morning, saying, “I want to think of a small thing I’d like to try today together.” The suggestions that came back were more casual than I expected: “Try walking in the neighborhood for just 15 minutes,” “Look up one word you’ve been curious about,” or “Listen to just one song you used to love.”

It doesn’t matter if you can’t set big goals. Just by asking the AI to “think of a small plan for today with me,” a small character is written onto a calendar that was once blank. That accumulation has gradually changed the feeling of “today was another day with nothing to do.”

What’s interesting is that when you ask an AI, it comes up with suggestions from angles you wouldn’t think of yourself. When I, who could only think of “taking a walk” or “reading,” received suggestions like “try looking back at just one photo from a trip you took in the past” or “try taking a detour on a street in your neighborhood you don’t know,” I was honestly a bit surprised. If I had thought of plans only within my own head, I’m sure I would have just listed the same kinds of ideas over and over.

The change in an acquaintance who imagined a “leisurely retirement”

I once had an acquaintance who was about to retire, and they said, “I won’t have much to do after I retire, so I plan to take it easy for a while.” They meant it in a positive way, but when I met them a while later, their expression was a bit clouded.

They reflected that “being able to take it easy every day was fine for the first two weeks, but after that, it actually became tough.” Having no plans feels liberating at first, but when that continues for weeks, it turns into a feeling of “maybe I’m not needed by anyone anymore.”

When I told that acquaintance about the method of having an AI suggest small plans, they were skeptical at first, but I heard that they gradually started going out more, starting with suggestions like “try borrowing just one book from a genre you’re curious about at the nearby library today.” It was impressive to hear them say, “Just knowing I didn’t have to look for a big goal made me feel at ease.”

Anxiety about retirement cannot be filled by numbers alone

Preparing funds for retirement is, of course, important. There are parts where seeing the numbers brings peace of mind. However, I have realized over the past few years that even if your bank balance is in order, you cannot truly live with peace of mind if your daily schedule remains blank.

What is needed is not a grand purpose in life or a special hobby dedicated to retirement. It is about accumulating one small point at a time, saying, “I will do this today.” And I think AI is a presence with just the right distance to be a partner for thinking about those small points.

Things you can do starting today

• First thing in the morning, try talking to an AI and saying, “Let’s think of a small thing I’d like to try today together.”

• Write down just one “small plan” for the day in a notebook or memo.

• Once a week, try asking an AI, “What are some things I could try this week?”