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Jun 1, 2021 · Key points. There are many reasons why the transition into retirement can be emotionally challenging, including boredom and loneliness. Retirement can have surprising outcomes. For example,...
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- 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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- Start Preparing In Advance. A lot of retirees only prepare for retirement financially and are not aware of the emotional impact retirement can have on your life.
- Visualize Your Life In Retirement. You’d be surprised at how many people are so focused on the financial part of their retirement, without thinking about what to do with their time once they retire.
- Communicate With Your Spouse & Family About Retirement Plans. The biggest mistake for couples is not communicating properly what they want out of retirement.
- Check Your Finances. A stress-free retirement is a retirement where finances are in check. Make sure your financial plan for retirement is up-to-date, and you’re on the right track.
Jun 8, 2022 · But more and more, retirement is less about leaving the workforce and more about wanting (or needing) change. Above all else, retirement is a time of transition. There are 5 tell-tale signs that you’re emotionally ready to retire — no matter how old you are or how much you have saved.
- Pre-retirement Phase: Time to Plan. Retirement is nearing and you’re feeling antsy with excitement (sometimes anxiety). This is the phase where retirement is still off-in-th-distance enough that you can’t wait to retire and you start making plans for your date.
- The Honeymoon Phase: Freedom. The honeymoon stage of retirement is when everything is still new and exciting and can last anywhere from weeks to a year.
- The Disenchantment Phase: Now What? According to a recent 2022 survey, more than half of retirees think their lifestyle in retirement is about what they expected it would be before they retired.
- The Reorientation Phase: The New You. After years of working and juggling different roles, retirement offers a huge chance to really focus on who you are (authentically at the core) and what you want out of life.
Preparing for Retirement Emotionally: Navigating The Mental Transition. Retirement marks a significant milestone in adult life, a transition that’s as much emotional as it is financial. But what happens emotionally when you retire? Understanding the emotional impact of this life change is crucial for a fulfilling retirement life.
Talk about your shared retirement goals, set boundaries for personal time and time together, decide who will do what around the house, and be prepared to support each other emotionally while transitioning into your new routine.
