I was updating my 2013 calendar with birthdates and realized that this year millions of us who were born just after World War II will be turning 65. It’s a special milestone because it’s the birthday that marks major changes for all of us. Lots of decisions will need to be made that will affect the rest of our lives. Not only will Medicare kick in to change our medical insurance processes, but many will also be retiring. Ah, retirement, the magical time we’ve worked and saved and waited for many years to enjoy.
Retirement conjures up visions of golf courses in the middle of the week and no longer having to get up before daylight to fight the daily commute to work. It’s a time when we’re in charge of what we do with our days without the direction of an employer. It’s also downright scary! Suddenly the rhythms that have governed every weekday for most of our lives will no longer exist and we have to set new patterns for how those days will be spent. Major decisions about retirement savings plans and Social Security need to be made that will impact how those days are financed. There’s a huge void ahead of us and even though we can hardly wait to step over into that idyllic dream of retirement, most of us find our hearts going pitty-pat at the uncertainty of it all.
I was fortunate enough to be eligible to retire at 62 with a full 30 years behind me at Ernst & Young so I’ve already been through part of the trepidation that comes with retirement. For those of you who are reaching that point this year, working with a financial planner or trusted banker when making the financial decisions can ease a lot of the stress. Retirement changes everything!
Before I retired, I was told that at first it’s like you’re on vacation and one day you realize the vacation goes on forevermore. Some people have a hard time adjusting to retirement and I received a lot of advice — some of it good and some of it not so helpful. One of the recommendations that worked really well for me was to plan a specific project of some kind that will fill those first days. For me, it was making my home office into a guest room from the bottom up. By the time I’d finished with that, I was used to not having to be up and dealing with other people before sunrise and had begun to realize that I no longer had to cram all my creative activities into the evening hours or weekends.
One of my fears was that after so many years of being mentally challenged every day that my brain would turn to mush. Another fear was that I would feel isolated from other people because I was no longer interacting with my co-workers ten to twelve hours a day. Statistics show that my concerns were justified. Many retirees develop illnesses, both physical and psychological, when they no longer have the stimulus of their jobs. Oh sure, you say you’ll still get together with your officemates but the reality is that those events become fewer as time goes on. For one thing, conversations often revolve around daily work issues of which you are no longer a part. In fact, you probably don’t even care any more whether schedules or duties have been changed and they certainly don’t affect your daily life any more. Getting together can still be fun and catching up with what’s happening in other peoples’ lives is a great way to stay in touch. But you’re going to need more than that to keep your mind engaged.
So here’s a bit of the advice I found to be helpful: Think of something you’ve always wanted to learn to do and take a class. It will challenge your mind, develop new skills, and you’ll meet people with similar interests. I’ve recently taken up a weekly tai chi class at Fitness in Motion and have decided it’s a wonderful thing. I’ve always wanted to learn how and, with any luck at all, it will help keep me fit through the nasty winter months.
Make a list of the projects you’ve wanted to get done around the house and tackle them one at a time. Do you have boxes of photos that need to be labeled and put into albums? Think about making an album for each of your children or grandchildren so they know who those people are, when and where the photos were taken. Be sure to mark the backs of the photos so that generations from now the information will still be there for future genealogy buffs.
Do the cabinets or closets need to be emptied, cleaned and culled of stuff you forgot you even had, let alone use? With the economy such as it is there are more donation opportunities than ever to places that would be delighted with your old pots and pans, towels and sheets. Or start piling those things up to have a garage sale in the spring.
If volunteering is your thing, consider helping teach English or reading to adults, or mentor a student. Do you have a hobby that could be developed into a marketable skill, like auto or small engine repair? There are places out there who would love for you to share your expertise with people who need those skills to earn a living. Check it out!
Retirement is way more than just a time to not be going to a daily job. It’s the time you’ve dreamed about, the time when you can do whatever you want on your own schedule. Turn the scary abyss into years of active involvement in new areas and exciting adventures in living. There are going to be millions and millions of us fellow retirees to share it with you. Enjoy!
