5 min read

How to Retire Well

When it comes to retirement, most people think with a financial lens, however, retirement is more than just finances. Retirement is a big life transition that comes with some gains and losses that can trigger retirees' psychological and emotional well-being and affect overall life satisfaction. Our expectations continue to evolve to meet the demands of new generations.

Retirement planning continues to evolve to meet the new demands of generational changes. Retirement in the 20th century is not the same as retirement in the 21st century. Now, we expect more from retirement. In the book, What Color is Your Parachute, Bolles discusses a wealth of options that modern retirement presents in terms of career. These options include but are not limited to the following:

Beginning a new career in a different field and never actually retiring.
Becoming an entrepreneur in your golden years.
Renegotiating your employment so you work only on tasks you truly enjoy and then retiring much later than your peers.
Segueing from full-time to part-time status at your job.
Establishing a “revolving retirement,” where you return to your job periodically.
Formally retiring and then becoming a consultant for your employer or other companies in your industry.

When we are approaching retirement, it is important to know that retirement is a life transition that will require adjustment beyond the financial frontier. Although it is a critical factor to plan well financially, it is also critical to grow our mindset accordingly too. A happy retirement requires more than prosperity, it depends on the health and good relationships, along with transitioning from financial dependence to wealth dependence.

To retire well, one must have a positive perspective, plan well for the best of their life, and explore new ways to transcend passion into a purpose outside of their occupations. More so, to find one’s true calling and meaning.

Having a positive perspective about retirement lets you see the goodness of it. When people think about retirement, many think about the end of life. Although retirement is the last life transition stage, it is the stage in life where we start a new chapter. A chapter that can be filled with valuable connections, purpose, fun, and financial freedom. Developing a positive approach to retirement will enable us to maintain serenity, a sense of happiness, contentment, and well-being.

According to Bolles, researchers discuss fortifying strengths in six primary areas including:

Transcendence – Your connection to the world, your relationship with spirituality, and a greater purpose.
Wisdom and knowledge – The ability to remain curious, open-minded, and carry a growth mindset.
Humanity – Empathy, kindness, and emotional intelligence. Having valuable relationships.
Justice – Ability to see the good and bad and make fair, sounds decisions. Having self-awareness of your own biases.
Courage – your ability to take initiative and boost your authentic inner self.
Temperance – Your ability to accept what is and let go of what doesn’t serve you. Prudence and control in heightened emotions.

Important aspects to consider when planning for retirement are the following: the place of living, occupation, relationships, and purpose. Where do you want to live? And where does your partner want to live? Does it make sense to move or downsize your home, or do you need special accommodations to be comfortably mobile in your home? Do you want to move to a different city, state, or country?

Whether you are planning to go part-time at work or stop working completely, reflect on what you want to do with your time instead. We spend at least 8 hours of our day at work, if we are not working anymore, how do we want to invest our time and what do we want to invest our time doing? Maybe you like to travel or have a passion for helping others and volunteering.

When it comes to relationships, how will you maintain a sense of involvement and community outside of working life? This is a good time to evaluate the relationships you have in your life, end any toxic relationships, and focus on valuable relationships. Do you want to meet new people in the community that shares your passion? Will you spend more time with family and friends? How may you nurture your relationships differently?

Lastly, your purpose—what do you love doing and why is it that you do what you do? Think about your passion and how you can transcend your passion into a purpose for the greater good. Think about the things that make you happy and bring you joy—the things that leave you fulfilled in life.

All these factors can affect our psychological and emotional well-being. Retirement is a transitional stage in life, it comes with changes that can trigger you in different ways. Inevitably, we will all reach a point in life when we have to retire even if we don’t want to. Retirement can trigger us to look back in life and miss the things that were instead of looking forward to what will be. Retiring well requires realistic and purposeful planning on a financial, emotional, and psychological level. Approaching retirement with a positive perspective fosters mental and emotional well-being.

If you are struggling with retirement, Naya Clinics Counselors are available to help you navigate your challenges with this transition.