Four Lessons Learned from Happy Retirees
What you need to know about the first year of retirement
Retirement is a major life transition, right up there with going to college, getting married and starting a family. As with all transitions, the first year can provide a bridge to your future success.
That's why most colleges offer freshman orientation programs, complete with group social activities, campus tours and meetings with resident advisors designed to help new students acclimate and adjust.
Unfortunately, there aren't many orientation programs when it comes to retirement. While there are a handful of university reinvention programs, retirement is more typically a do-it-yourself venture.
So, to help you avoid a rocky start to your retirement, I reached out to readers of my newsletter at MyLifestyleCareer.com and asked them to share insights about their first year of retirement.
Following are four key lessons learned from their input.
1. Take Time to Decompress
Letting go can be hard. So, give yourself permission to kick back before focusing on next steps. Theresa Koster said that she "focused on rest, health, family, new experiences, enjoying life and shedding work/corporate life" and gave herself permission to "do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted." After several months, she added more structure to her day, although it took a while before she began to think more seriously about "discovering and creating her next adventure."
"I don't feel like I ever had that famous honeymoon phase and instead I got right to work to find my next thing."
Everyone processes retirement differently, so you might not find a break useful or necessary. "I took action right away to propel me in my new work of building my retirement life because I still wanted to be somebody," wrote Judith Natrowski. "I didn't have any firm plans and didn't take any trips or have any other big changes to my life. I don't feel like I ever had that famous honeymoon phase and instead I got right to work to find my next thing. I immediately hit my desk, set up a home office, got "un-business" cards (my personal contacts with a cool flower motif), made a new professional looking signature block for my emails, updated my LinkedIn profile and became active on LinkedIn to continue my existing contacts and find new ones that were relevant to my new retired but not done yet status."
2. Adopt Broad Daily Goals
If you do experience the initial honeymoon phase of retirement, it's not uncommon to feel aimless and adrift when the honeymoon ends. If you find yourself searching for ways to fill your time, you may find that setting broad daily goals can give you motivation and focus.
"Writing has kept me mentally sharp as well as professionally connected, although with a different crowd."
As an example, each day Evan Salop focuses on three objectives: exercise, learn something new and make progress on his "infinite list of life things needing attention." In practical terms, this means he walks between three to seven miles daily, depending on the weather. To learn, he attends classes and lectures (in person and on Zoom), visits museums and reads a variety of content. And he chips away at his endless personal to-do list, on tasks like paying bills, making dump runs and figuring out how to slash his cable bill. Having three daily goals helps him be productive, while allowing space for other activities and interests as they evolve.
Margaret Burlingame shared a similar approach, using five goals instead of three. Like Salop, she aims to exercise and learn something new each day. In addition, she finds ways to contribute to her community, circle of friends or at home. She seeks out new friendships, including "pleasant interactions with people she doesn't know." She also looks for ways to satisfy her creative leanings. Burlingame finds it useful to track her activities in a notebook to remind herself to continue to make them a priority.
3. Consider Part-Time or Volunteer Work
Volunteer work or a part-time job can keep you busy and feeling purposeful, even if you don't need the income. Chris Posti, who wrote a long-running Careers column for the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, decided to try her hand at writing novels. "Becoming a novelist in my retirement has been more like a career change than an actual retirement," she said, "yet I have as much free time as I want to do all the things retirees typically do — go on vacations, visit with friends and family (especially those grandkids!), and take care of my health. Writing has kept me mentally sharp as well as professionally connected, although with a different crowd."
After Donna Cassese formally retired, she signed a retainer agreement with her former employer which keeps her working 10 to 15 hours each week. "It keeps me in the game in my field and provides for continued contact with colleagues inside and outside the company," she shared. She also volunteers with SCORE, the small-business advisory service; it is a role she finds very satisfying and interesting. "I learn something new from every client," she wrote.
4. Embrace New Challenges
Finally, several readers found purpose from pursuing new challenges, whether it was a hobby, job or volunteer opportunity. After retiring from running his own business, Kevin Eagan trained as a CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocates) who supports abused or neglected children when they must appear in court. "It is heartbreaking and frustrating work, but so rewarding when you are able to make a difference in a vulnerable child's life," he explained.
"I'm active and exercising along with interacting in my volunteer activities."
Richard Jiminez took a different path, trading in his university job for a gig at Trader Joe's, the chain of boutique supermarkets. "After 32 years working in administrative roles at a major university, my last day at the university was my first night at Trader Joe's. I wanted to prove to myself (and did) I could still work in a demanding environment like Trader Joe's. The work was demanding but the crew at my store are an amazing team. I did it for two years, turned 65 and decided it was time to look into full retirement."
Since then, Jiminez has completed his Master Gardening Program courses and volunteers at various events and public gardens to support sustainable gardening practices. "I'm active and exercising along with interacting in my volunteer activities," he said. "Life's been great."
