While you’re preparing financially for your golden years, don’t forget to prepare psychologically for the big adjustment, too
There’s a climactic scene in the classic film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, when the three glamorous heroes finally fulfil their long-held dream of climbing to the top of Australia’s spectacular King’s Canyon in full drag gear. They reach the summit, soak in the moment, and then… One of the characters turns to the other three and asks: ‘So what now?’
Reaching retirement age can feel a lot like that. You’ve worked your whole life, dreaming of the day you can finally leave your desk and enjoy some well-earned time to yourself. And then… ‘What now?’
Dr Robert Delamontagne sums it up well in his book, The Retiring Mind: How to Make the Psychological Transition to Retirement. ‘For the first time in my life, I had no answers,’ he writes, reflecting on the months immediately after his retirement. ‘I had fallen into a black hole where there were no guideposts for me to follow. What had happened to me? I built a successful company and lived a very active and dynamic life. I travelled the world, was financially successful, met talented and interesting people, and had no serious health problems; overall I had a great life. Yet I had no clue what to do next.’
Some retirees have no problem making the adjustment. They’ll spend more time with family and friends, create new networks, catch up on decades’ worth of reading, and enjoy hobbies and long-delayed projects. Others really struggle.
A 2013 study from the UK’s Institute of Economic Affairs found that retirement decreases the likelihood of people being in ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ self-assessed health by about 40% and increases the probability of suffering from clinical depression by about the same amount.
So, what’s the secret?
Why do some retirees enjoy a new lease on life, while others fade away? Dr Randall Paulsen, a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has an idea. ‘During that phase of going from a lot of structure to almost no structure, men can exhibit the same signs as someone who is overworked,” he told Harvard Medical News, underlining the difficult adjustment period for anybody who’s going through this major life event.
Part of the problem is that when most people plan for retirement, their focus is entirely on finances. The biggest concern is about how much you’ll need in your retirement savings, how drastically you’ll have to adjust your household budget, and whether you’ll outlive your savings. But while financial considerations are immensely important, you can’t afford to overlook the emotional side of it.
Even if you continue working during your retirement – be it as a consultant or in an entirely new career – there is a seismic identity shift that you’ll need to navigate. For many professionals, your work is an integral part of your identity. It’s the answer to the questions ‘Who are you?’ and ‘What do you do?’. You’re a dentist. You’re a doctor. You’re a sales exec. It’s how you identify yourself… especially if you’re good at it. So without your job, who are you?
How to ace your identity crisis
A Harvard Business School study found that, when they face that retirement moment, many people are able to maintain a sense of continuity between their pre- and post-retirement selves by using what is known as “identity bridging”. The researchers found a handful of strategies that helped create that bridge. These include:
- engaging in an activity or relationship that you couldn’t focus on when you were working full-time (for example, spending time with grandchildren)
- awakening a dormant passion or hobby that you could never get around to when you were working
- reassessing your pre-retirement identity (for example, did you really love your job that much?)
- repurposing your career skills in retirement (perhaps through a hobby or by volunteering)
- finding new sources of affirmation (replacing your work boss’s positive feedback with feedback from the people at your community organisation)
- finding a material anchor for your new identity (by starting a new small business, for example).
The good news is, you have time to prepare for all of this. As you approach retirement age, start setting up new support networks, spend more time with your spouse or partner, and find new ways to stay active and engaged with life. Volunteer. Take a class. Start a second career. Make new friends. Build those ‘identity bridges’ and find out where they can take you. You may even find that the best is yet to come.
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