Power Up Blog
Thoughts & Musings on Retirement
You matter to me!
Seriously. When I say I am here for you, it comes straight from the heart. It’s exciting to know that little changes in your life can make you feel closer to relaxing into the retirement you deserve. 😍
But maybe you don’t know what you deserve? I know through experience that many feel overwhelmed by the thought of retiring. What does it mean? How do I do it? What changes do I make? You’re not alone.
No one has ever said to me, “I can’t wait to move into a long-term care home!” So I think it’s a safe bet to say that very few of us want to do so. e want to stay as independent as possible in our own home for as long as possible.
If you take care of yourself as mentioned in an earlier blog, you can hopefully push back long-term care needs well into your senior years.
Whether you will need long-term care or not, there is no doubt however, that long-term care is expensive. Has this been factored into your overall financial plan?
Many people have no idea when their partner is going to retire. They just know their own date of retirement. 🎉
Since retirement is a HUGE change in someone’s life and will certainly impact a relationship, it’s important to find out what you’re each thinking.
The best action to take is to talk about it and there is certainly a lot to discuss such as:
My health means everything and I am doing all that I can to be in the best shape possible so I can continue to have a great quality of life in retirement.
If you want to have great health in retirement, but you haven’t donned track shoes since your last gym class; you don’t eat well, sleep well, take time to recharge your batteries, are often stressed, or are generally in poor health, then you are at a crossroads and you have an important decision to make.
How do you want to feel and what do you want to do in the second half of your life?
Studies show that more and more retirees are either delaying their retirement past the age of 65 or going back to work. In 2015, StatsCan, found that 53.5 per cent of men and almost 39 per cent of women who were 65 reported working during the year.
Some reasons for delaying retirement past 65 or going back to work include - not ready to retire; don’t have enough money; bored; lonely; want to meet new people; want to keep busy; etc.
A purpose is very important to living a meaningful life. Ernie J. Zelinski, author of How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free says that, “Two essentials for successful retirement are sufficient funds to live on and sufficient things to live for.”
You may have a lot of hobbies, interests and leisure activities that may keep you busy, however, if you want your retirement to be meaningful, these will most likely not be enough. You may need to find your purpose.
According to Family Service Canada, boredom is the number one reason for dissatisfaction in retirement. Without a person’s routine and social contacts of the workplace, many people feel alone and disengaged from their usual social circle.
You are going to have a lot more time (at least 8 hours / day or 2000/ year) and anywhere from 20 – 30 years + of life in retirement available to pursue personal interests or hobbies. How will you spend all this extra time?
Loss of social network is a big concern among pre-retirees. When you will retire from your career, you more than likely won’t be seeing your colleagues and / or work friends everyday but that doesn’t mean that they are gone from your life forever. If you had good work and personal relationships with your co-workers, then these friendships may be strong enough to continue once you have left work.
Like all relationships, however, you need to make time and work on your friendships to stay connected.
