Most of us can attest to the fact that we’ve dreamed about retirement and how it might look for us in the future. The dream vacations we might go on, the joyful reunions with family and friends, and all the other things that our jobs and careers might have kept us from, can feel invitingly close.
The Dream Trips
Have you speculated about an exotic trip to places far away, that you’ve never been to? Or a peaceful RV road trip with the kids, grandkids, and spouse across states? And how about a fun celebratory trip with a group of girlfriends in a loaded SUV… (As once told by group ‘Earth Wind and Fire’: “oh it sounds so good to me, don’t you agree?”)
The Timeframe
And that isn’t just the case for people five or less years away from their desired retirement date. In fact, if you caught this freedom fever a bit earlier, say early midlife, it’s possible that you’ve secured a 401-K, or other retirement related investment plan to make these dreams a reality – that is, affordable to work and build on, right now.
(Now - if you’ve perused a little of my previous posts, you’ll know that I enjoy sharing some of the findings gleaned from interviewing persons who fall in the category of the given topics. That’s right, the anecdotal accounts that formal journals wouldn’t necessarily mention – but this isn’t a peer reviewed post; just peer approved… I’m hoping).
So, what have some interviews revealed?
*The paradise retirement experience is not a hype; it’s real: it is a wonderful feeling to wake up at your leisure, then grab a cup of coffee or tea without having to rush out of the house to perform in an office all day on less-than-enough sleep the night before. That’s the super short version of how wonderful this season of life can be. But, because I spent many decades functioning on not-enough-sleep to complete countless project deadlines, this aspect of retirement is quite meaningful to me.
Aside from my own experience, I’ve found that most of the pre-retirees I spoke with did not give much thought to the years, immediately after the first or second year of retirement. They gave no thought to the other phases they would experience further into their retirement.
“What? You mean it isn’t an automatic, eternal paradise after that last day as someone else’s employee?”
Well, no, it’s not an automatic eternal paradise. But it can come pretty darned close if you take the time to organize your thoughts and your actions:
- For the long haul, how do you really want to experience retirement?
- Are you willing to put an advanced and realistic plan together for each of the retirement stages ahead of you?
Now, let’s look at some things you can expect and some things you can do to truly enjoy each of your retirement stages!
Pre-retirement
This is that exciting stage in which you’re realizing how close you are to achieving that transition to your long-awaited freedom from the 9 to 5 grind. You’re anticipating all the wonderful things you might do, shortly after you’ve hit retiree status.
Remember for the sake of those dreams:
You must consult the necessary professionals to ensure you have taken care of all the prerequisites for retirement qualification. Avoid any surprise disappointments!
It’s understandable that part of this excitement will involve some nervousness about whether you’re following the prerequisite steps correctly.
Create checklists in each category that you feel you won’t remember naturally! After all, you’re not an HR specialist, nor a financial advisor, etc. You get the point. As in other aspects of your process, your Retirement Readiness Coach will guide in the process of creating the right ones for you. You want to enjoy every time you check off a completed task!
Once you’re finally there, when you receive that official confirmation that you have met all retirement qualifications, it will be one of the most exhilarating feelings in life !
It is now time to review those S.M.A.R.T. goals again and create some seasonal roadmaps! These will be your first/second year of retirement guides!
First and Second Years of Retirement
This early stage can make you giddy with anticipation, and for a moment you can’t even figure out which of your many dream activities you want to take on first. (Even though by now you’ve planned it all out in pre-retirement, time, and time, again!)
Remember that S.M.A.R.T. goal setting strategy that you worked on as you prepared for this very moment. (Also refer to my blog post, “The Feel Good Smart Goal Setting Strategy for 2022”)
The strategy you designed with your retirement readiness coach will be your guide and your saving grace in this early stage. You’re about to reap the benefits of having done all this work! This is your high impact stage and you’ve earned the right to enjoy it fully!
Got those travel tickets in hand? Then, get set, ready, GO!!!
Disenchantment
Are you aware that every exciting phase in life comes involves a certain measure of “coming down from the clouds”? After you’ve completed your long-awaited vacations and reunions with special persons, you may actually be happy to reach a resting period of sorts. You’ll likely fall into different routines, like settle in front of the tv a little bit, possibly spend more time with the grandkids and other family. Many of the persons I’ve interviewed did say that spending more time with family was truly the highlight of their retirement season.
However, if you haven’t been preparing for your new life as a retiree, this stage can quickly feel mundane and unsatisfying. This is in part because your new regular days are less filled with the adrenaline rush created by trip itineraries or the responsibilities and timelines of your previous workplace. In fact, if your identity has been rooted in what you did as a professional, this is another status that you might struggle with - if you haven’t considered this, you’re more than likely, unprepared for the third year of retirement and beyond! So, do not despair! The important takeaway here is: those who experience a long period of disenchantment are doing so because they haven’t been cautioned to assess the season before they get there! At this point, that thankfully isn’t you!
Reorientation
The summary from several accounts is that around the third to fifth year of retirement, life was beginning to feel just like the years immediately before pre-retirement. They’d “had enough” and needed an exciting new meaning to their lives. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed this dynamic with dear family members as well. In full disclosure I share, that you have to, …have to, put some work into this season (yes, the meaningful and rewarding things in life always require a little bit of effort on your part!)
You may think back on other activities that you’ve wondered about before retirement was an option. You put those out of your mind back then because you simply didn’t have the time or perhaps had too many financial commitments to truly entertain certain ideas. But the activities that you rediscover during reorientation need not be anything that breaks the bank. And in this exercise of redirecting your routines a brainstorm list is again, very useful.
Get excited about finally getting to do some of the things on your lifelong list. Doesn’t it feel nice to be able to take on your dream hobbies? You may be surprised to find how many of your dreams have been suppressed over the years. Now they are a real possibility!
Reconciliation
Listen, here’s some real talk: we all know that we won’t live forever. Yet, you should also understand there’s a good chance you’ll live a number of years longer than your grandma and grandpa did because you’ve lived a different type of life than they did.
SignatureMD indicates that Boomers to Millennials will indeed live longer lives, but this is not a guarantee that they will also live healthier lives. Here’s a perfect example of how the quality of your living will be - already is in your hands. Prepare for those years to be peaceful. Develop as many healthful practices as you can in those early retirement years, so that you will extend your life in a manner that you can cherish and enjoy for years to come..
Develop routines that promote physical and holistic wellbeing. For example, five to ten minutes of gentle stretching every morning when you wake up, and five quick minutes before you go to bed every night, will keep you limber and keeping a positive outlook on the future.
You may choose peaceful walks around the block two to three times a week or joining a walking/jogging group
You may have a skill that you would love to teach others, like beading, or painting, cooking, or specialty dancing.
Getting the right amounts of protein, greens, grains, and unsaturated fats every day - these day-to-day practices, along with a few activities that are meaningful to you, will definitely have you not just living but enjoying all stages of your retirement years.
Contact me coach me, Coach Mandy S. so that we can get to work on getting you exciting retirement ready. Then, you can go live your totally fulfilling retirement life – all stages of it!
Coach Mandy S.
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