Retirement Stress
"Recipe for a fulfilled life: You have to have something to do, something to love, something to hope for, something to believe in, and something to make you laugh. - Immanual Kant
According to the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP), 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every single day, and this is expected to continue into the 2030s. In retirement, inactivity and isolation are your enemies.
Are you coping with retirement stress? Perhaps you are thinking of retirement and feeling anxious as the date approaches. Have you retired and experienced a sense of boredom? Are you wondering how can retire but still live with meaning, purpose and energy?
Restlessness and feelings of lost identity and meaning due to retirement has become more common. Perhaps you think living in retirement is just common sense, but is it?
Eric’s Story -
Eric was looking forward to retirement for the last 10 years. He saved diligently into his 401K and felt proud of himself for having saved enough with his Social Security to live his life without substantial financial distress.
A year prior to his planned retirement at 65 years, his wife developed cancer and died. Her death was tragic and unexpected. They had planned to travel together after retirement.
On the positive side, Eric received considerable support from his co-workers after his wife’s death.
But now he was retired. He had two great kids, but they lived across the country. He typically saw them on holidays. Eric was lonely, bored, sometimes anxious without known cause and had developed a sleep problem.
He was a year out from his retirement and had begun to lose contact with his former co-workers. His best friend and his wife move to another city and while they talked on the phone it was different.
Work Life Involves Routines
Many people look forward to and plan years for retirement. Other people dread the thought of retirement. People spend years preparing for a career and then work hard to move up in their job earning more money and perhaps more responsibility.
Working people’s lives are organized around their job and career. They take the same route to work and arrive there at the same time. The eat lunch the same time and often with the same-co-workers in the same places. They interact with the same people and become adjusted to their routine.
Human beings feel comfortable with habits and predictability. In fact, our brains work effectively to establish and maintain habits.
When you retire all that ends and your life changes dramatically! May people spend more time at work and with their co-workers than the do with their own family. Retirement provides you with the opportunity to engage in activities you did not have time for when you working. That freedom comes with the responsibility of creating a new and satisfying life for yourself.
Life transitions can be wonderful but also stressful and quite challenging.
Symptoms of Retirement Stress
Symptoms often seen when people are experiencing retirement related stress include the following:
Boredom
Lack of Purpose
Loss of identity
Social Isolation
Weight Gain or Loss
Depressed Mood
Irritability
Relationship Distress
Retirement Stress Counseling
The best of times or the worst of times. It is your choice! Why not make retirement the best time of your life? There is a lot of information out there on Retirement Saving and Retirement Portfolios. But what about your Psychological Portfolio.
People enter retirement with the best intentions. But they can quickly unravel as a wide range of thoughts, behaviors and feelings arise. These things are not always easy to talk about let alone work through alone. You often seek professional financial advice.
Why not seek professional coaching to help you navigate the non-financial aspects of retirement life?
Avoid waiting even if the time seems far in the future. And if you are already retired, you can overcome the symptoms of retirement stress. Retirement is a normal and expected staff of life that can be rewarding and exciting. The excitement just takes on a different flavor.
There are many examples of people who have contributed much to the world in their retirement years. We can learn much from those role models. By planning we can be productive, have fun and remain vital and healthy. Do it now!
Retirement With a Mission
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