Retirement has traditionally involved a brief period of well-deserved rest after a lifetime of backbreaking work. But today’s retirement offers a chance for a whole new life.
Whether you retire at age 62 or even 70, you likely have a lot of years ahead of you. But your career has concluded and your children may not be around anymore, so you need to reinvent yourself for your next couple of decades. Here are some ways to find purpose and discover meaning in your new retired life:
[See: 10 Ways to Celebrate Your Retirement.]
Enjoy your freedom. Most Americans have not suffered a lifetime of hard labor. But even those who sat behind a desk faced deadlines, performance appraisals and sometimes crushing boredom. So relax and enjoy the feeling of not being exhausted all the time. You will probably find your anxiety slowly slipping away and may start to sleep better. Without so much stress in your life, you might find that your health and energy levels start to improve.
Rediscover yourself. If you begin to feel that you’re no longer being productive, then it’s time to move past the initial vacation stage of retirement and think about what you really want to do — rather than what you’ve always felt obligated to do. Explore your interests, do some research and write down your thoughts and dreams. You could go back to school to finish a degree, start a business and consider projects you didn’t have time for while working, but now you do. Many retirees volunteer at places where they might have wanted to work before, but couldn’t because of the low pay. Or maybe this is finally your opportunity to travel or live abroad.
[See: 10 Financial Perks of Getting Older.]
Make some plans. It’s one thing to dream big, and another to turn those dreams into reality. You need to map out a course, then pull the trigger on the starting gun. Some dreams expand, while others become more realistic. Maybe instead of walking the entire Appalachian Trail, you walk a section of it, or instead of going back to school to earn a law degree, you attend classes at a community college. Consider a retired federal employee who took classes at his local senior center and later started teaching a course in international relations, and a retired construction manager who found his niche restoring old barns and wooden boats.
Develop new routines. Your old work and family life involved a routine, and you may miss that routine at first. So develop a new one. You might attend an exercise class twice a week, take on a part-time job, find a regular volunteer position or go to church every Sunday. It could be as simple as meeting friends for coffee two or three mornings a week. These routines provide structure for retirees who might otherwise feel as though they are drifting along with no purpose.
Make new friends. You might begin to miss seeing your old work colleagues every day. Loneliness can creep up on you as you lose old friends, and it’s sometimes hard to make new ones. So don’t be afraid to reach out to new colleagues at your volunteer job or college classes. Or try joining the senior center in town. These centers typically offer programs with lots of friendly people. Try the line dancing, knitting club or bridge club. If this doesn’t appeal, then get a pet. A pet provides companionship, and you’re likely to meet like-minded friends down at the dog park.
[See: 12 Great Things About Retirement.]
Recalculate. No matter how much you plan ahead, you may find that you’ve made a false start. Some people have trouble adjusting to retirement, and end up taking on a new job for another year or two before they are truly ready for retirement. Or you might move into a retirement community, seduced by its pretty landscaping and built-in activities, only to realize the place isn’t your style. Renting for the first year can make it easy to move on if you change your mind. Maybe a condo in a walkable town without the restrictions of a gated community would be a better fit. So try things out, and then reassess your needs. You might not find your ideal retirement lifestyle on the first try.
Tom Sightings is the author of “You Only Retire Once” and blogs at Sightings at 60.
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What’s the Point of Retirement? originally appeared on usnews.com
