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- Battling boredom. Boredom is one of the biggest concerns I hear from my clients, particularly among those who’ve had successful careers and derive a big part of their identities and community from work.
- Running out of money. With today’s higher life expectancies and continually increasing health care costs, the fear of outliving one’s savings is common.
- Navigating health insurance. If you retire before age 65, you’ll need to figure out how to get health insurance coverage before Medicare kicks in.
- Transitioning from savings to income. The shift from accumulating savings to generating a steady income source can be intimidating for many retirees.
- Overview
- Expect to Go Through Stages of Emotions
- Structure Your Days
- Set Small Goals
- Grow Your Friendships
- Consider an “Encore” Job
- Create a New Budget
- Schedule Volunteer Shifts
- Give Yourself Flexibility to Figure It Out
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You’ve likely thought a lot about how you’ll enjoy your golden years. But there’s a good chance you never thought much about the psychological effect retirement might have on you. Retirement often means a loss of identity. Whether you identified as a banker, cook, or teacher, retirement can cause you to question who you are now that you’re no longer working.
Other issues that accompany retirement—such as more time and less money—can also make for a difficult adjustment. Some retirees experience mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, after they've stopped working.
If you’re in the early stages of retirement and feeling somewhat lost, you’re not alone. Many retirees find the transition can be difficult. Following these eight tips might help you adjust to retirement better so you can feel fulfilled and happy during this chapter of your life.
Your pre-retirement life was measured in meeting milestones, such as making deadlines, finishing projects, or getting a promotion. You can still focus on goals after you retire, though they might be a little different than they were before. Working on goals can give you a sense of purpose. And accomplishing new things can give you a sense of achievement.
Think about what milestones you might want to meet in the first month, six months, or one year that you’ve been retired and write them down. Do you want to lose 10 pounds? Travel to Europe? (Yes, goals can be fun, too!) Finish five books that you’ve been putting off? The sky’s the limit.
There’s a significant risk of becoming isolated during retirement. After 30 years of meeting friends through work and seeing them every day, it might not be as easy to keep up with those you hold dear.
This can play into the restructuring of your daily routine—ask one friend to meet you for lunch every Monday, another friend to go walking through the neighborhood with you on Wednesdays and a third pal to grab a coffee on Friday afternoons.
If you and your spouse are friends with other couples, aim to invite them over for dinner or board games at least once a month. If you don’t feel like you have enough people to keep you socially active, take advantage of the extra time in your life to make new friends.
Check out any programs offered at your church or a local community center, or find a group of like-minded individuals who share an affection for your favorite hobby, whether it’s golf, crafts or cooking. Meetup groups are also available for many hobbies and activities.
Who says that retirement from one job has to mean leaving the workforce entirely? A number of folks try out a less-stressful secondary career, perhaps one that’s part-time, after leaving their longtime industry.
Research finds that retirees who got a “bridge” job, another term for this type of work, are often in better health, both mentally and physically, and report higher levels of life satisfaction. So look around your community (or search the internet for work from home opportunities) for jobs that you might enjoy doing during retirement.
Not willing to go back to the office grind? That’s understandable. You might find you’d rather reap the same benefits by volunteering on a regular basis.
The perks might be related to the expanded social ties that volunteering provides or the sense of purpose a person can feel by committing to charitable causes. It’s not only going to boost your psychological well-being, but it could improve your cardiovascular health and lower the risk of hypertension, too.
Whether you choose to help out at your local library or you decide you’d like to volunteer at the hospital, look for ways to get involved in your community.
Studies show that seniors who incorporate a low to medium level of volunteering in their life report more satisfaction with life and fewer symptoms of depression than those who didn’t volunteer.
You might think that you want to spend your retirement painting, cooking, and reading, but then find out that all that time spent at home doesn’t fulfill the lifestyle you dreamed about. After 30 years in the workplace, you finally have time to experiment with what you really want.
There are many different ways you can spend your time. And fortunately, there’s no need to figure it all out right away. It will likely take a fair amount of experimenting to help you find just the right balance of how you want to spend your time. You can always increase social activities later or develop new hobbies if you want to stay busier.
The joy of retirement is that you’ll have plenty of opportunities to experiment. It’s up to you to design the type of day—and kind of life—that you want to live.
Why Are People Bad at Long-Term Planning?
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Oct 11, 2023 · The most common fears people have about retirement are: 1. Not having enough money: This is the number one fear of retirement, and for good reason. The cost of living continues to rise,...
May 9, 2024 · While not as terrifying as aerophobia (fear of flying), as common as nomophobia (fear of being without your phone) or as unnerving as coulrophobia (fear of clowns), fear of retirement is...
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2.1 #1 Pinpoint Your Why. 2.2 #2 Plan Ahead for Non-Financial Areas. 2.3 #3 Change Your Perception From Society’s Perception. 2.4 #4 Redefine Yourself. 2.5 #5 Set New Goals That Align With Your Purpose. 2.6 #6 Add Structure & Establish a Routine. 2.7 #7 Connect With Others. 3 Transition Into Retirement With Confidence. Retirement Anxiety Symptoms.
Apr 8, 2023 · How to Fight Back Against Retirement Anxiety and Find Your True Self. By Ginny McReynolds April 08, 2023 Lifestyle. I was the first of my close friends to retire – by a long shot. Even most of my work friends had another five years to go.
