Our world looks drastically different from the days when our parents were planning for retirement. With longer life expectancies and re-visioning of later life, many people plan to keep working during retirement. In fact, a Merrill Lynch and Age Wave study, “Work in Retirement: Myths and Motivations,” found that over seven in ten pre-retirees say they want to work in retirement.
We don’t have to follow the outdated views of retirement from popular culture that if we’re rich, “we should spend our days playing golf, cruising and spoiling our grandkids,” or if we have a more modest income, “we should spend our days in front of the TV, knitting scarves and, if we are especially active, gardening.” Today, we have the freedom to create our own rules of retirement. We each get to choose which rules to break, which to adapt, and which to embrace.
The Merrill Lynch study included this diagram to show how retirement has changed:
Creating a Fulfilling Retirement On Your Terms
So how can we build a retirement that is best for our specific situation? Here are some tips from our team:
- For many of us, our busy work lives have simply provided the template for busy retirement lives. The “busy ethic” is alive and well in our culture. Before you fall into a familiar pattern, take a minute to be sure you are considering all possible paths. Ask whether your chosen approach is satisfying your deeper desires before forging ahead.
- Give yourself a break! Many of us have charged hard through careers and are now (finally) more apt to stop and smell the roses. But that guilt in the back of our minds can be difficult to banish. Simply letting go of social expectations, the “shoulds,” is easier said than done. Why does it have to be a guilty pleasure? Can’t it just be a pleasure? Go easier on yourself during this transition.
- Gain insight into the specific learning, work, and leisure activities that are especially meaningful to you. Try this exercise: Complete the following sentences quickly, filling in the blanks with the first word or words that come to mind.
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- I have always wanted to learn more about…
- When I have free time, I most enjoy…
- What I like most about my current job/activity is…
- What I like least about my current job/activity is…
- When I review my own life story or history, the learning experience that was the most meaningful or interesting to me was…
- When I review my own life story or history, the work (paid or volunteer) experience that was the most meaningful or fulfilling to me was…
- When I review my own life story or history, the leisure experience that was the most meaningful or enjoyable to me was…
- Lastly, write down a list of things that get you out of bed every morning.
Retirement Planning with The Humphreys Group
If we could add an item to our clients’ collective wish list it would be this: find a new, better, less stigmatized name for retirement. Though clients have technically reached retirement, they haven’t retired. There is nothing retired about any of them! So, when our work “outside-the-home-for-pay” stops, what do we do? Do we reinvent? Redesign? Retool? Re-envision? Recreate? Reengineer? Rejuvenate? Relax?
Whatever you call it, we’d like to help you craft a fulfilling, engaging, and meaningful retirement. Reach out to The Humphreys Group today for a complimentary introductory call.
