My dad went down the rabbit hole of politics but the liberal direction rather than the conservative one. It was still frustrating to talk to him during the Bush adminstration because even though we had similar opinions he'd get upset about the issue of the day and wouldn't shut up about it. I eventually told him politics were prohibited from lunch. It actually sort of worked. He's a bit better now. Does your dad have many hobbies? Mine doesn't. He'd sit and read CNN all day and email articles back and forth with a friend. I think retired with hobbies can be ok. I realize I probably need more hobbies, low cost ones of course, because today it's work, a few hobbies, and waste time on the internet. If I retired today the work time would be a hole I couldn't necessarily fill by doing my hobbies another 40 hours a week. Maybe I could sell homemade cat toys on Etsy. A retirement hobby with a bit of income seems like a win.