The Retirement Journey
Retirement isn’t something that just happens when your work life comes to an end. It’s a process that unfolds in phases, and usually begins years before you actually say goodbye to your job and your colleagues.
Pre-retirement
Starting about 10 years before you anticipate retiring, you will begin making plans and asking questions:
- How will my lifestyle change?
- Am I prepared financially? Have I saved enough? Have I taken into account the cost of healthcare and long-term care?
- What do I need to know about life in retirement, and what activities should I “try on” before I retire?
- Have my partner and I reconciled any differences in our ideas of when, how, and where we want to retire?
- Have I considered end-of-life planning issues?
- How many of these plans have I shared with important family members?
The Transition Period
Once you retire, it takes time to adjust to your new identity and routine. Yes, it’s a relief to have finally passed this threshold, but there can also be some anxiety about how to fill your day without the structure you had in the past. There will be an adjustment to finding a balance between leisure time and other activities, especially if you retire earlier than your spouse or peers. This may also be a stressful time when you are concerned about outliving your money and learning to budget payments from retirement assets. Many retirees seek part-time work for two reasons: a sense of purpose and financial support.
Retirement
Beginning around the third year of retirement, you’ll start to feel like you’ve found your stride. Your post-work identity is solidifying, as is your lifestyle, and family relationships are deepening. Health may become more of a concern. This is also when retirees learn to shift their mindset from accumulation to distribution. You may have thoughts about budgeting that lead you to consider downsizing your home or moving to a less expensive location.
Reflection/Resolution
At around year 15, you will enter the last stage. Happiness, contentment, and enjoyment remain strong, even if there’s been some downshifting due to health issues. You have, for the most, part learned to live within your means and have remained resilient even in the face of loss.
This is also the time when health conditions and age-related limitations become more prominent. According to government statistics, 70% of people over the age of 85 will need help with at least one activity of daily living. Along with this comes the need for assistance from family members, home health aides, or assisted living facilities or nursing homes.
Finally, we come to the end of life. We would all like to peacefully transition while we sleep, but this is often not meant to be. Medicine has allowed us to extend our lives at a cost: our health. We often live longer, but with chronic diseases or illnesses that eventually end our lives. Each of us has to make choices about how we want our lives to end, and these wishes need to be communicated so the people who care for us can carry them out.
You will have countless decisions to make during each phase of your retirement journey, and you’ll be faced with new questions and concerns as your situation changes. The team at Senior Financial Life is here for you every step of the way.