A
hhhh – retirement! Something we all have been waiting for and/or anticipating. For many people, retirement is the pinnacle of their career, the light at the end of the tunnel, or their biggest dream come true. For others, retirement can mean lost wages, isolation, loneliness, and worry. What does retirement mean to you? How do you envision spending your retirement or how are you currently spending your retirement?
Many researchers have found that retirement can actually be quite a rollercoaster. This retirement rollercoaster is referring to what researchers refer to as “the stages of retirement”. Although these may seem like strange terms, once you read about them, you will most likely be able to recall a story about people you have known who have experienced each one of these stages.
First is the honeymoon stage. This stage is where we may find our beach-goers, those who finally travel to the places they have always wanted, those who are finally finishing the quilt that has been sitting on the sewing table for years, or those who finally get around to fixing up that old car. The honeymoon stage may be liberating and you may finally have the time to do all of the things you want to do.
But then, something happens. You might begin to question, “Did I retire too soon?” “What can I do to replace the void that working has left?” “How much money did I leave on the table by retiring when I did?” or perhaps “What was I thinking?!” This is the disenchantment stage. How many of you know someone who might have experienced this? Or, if you’re retired, how many of you experienced these thoughts or feelings?
Next comes reorientation. Just as newly married couples may learn to live together and will settle into a routine, you, too, will settle into a routine in your retirement. In this stage, you might find an answer to all of those questions you had been asking yourself. “Did I retire too soon?” “No, I didn’t retire too soon. I’ve worked for years and this is finally my time”. This may be the most difficult part of retirement, emotionally. This is where people need to spend the time to re-identify their purpose and figure out what they want to do with their time.
Next comes retirement routine, or what some people call, “thriving in retirement”. This stage is where you finally settle in to a new routine. You are spending your time in ways that makes you feel content, happy, and fulfilled.
The final stage is termination. Termination marks the end of the retirement process. For some this means that you have returned to paid work. For others, this might mean that you are ill and need to care for yourself or perhaps you become a full-time caregiver to your spouse.
The research on successful retirements, or those that are enjoyed the most, shows that four key themes tend to emerge.