Retirement is a major transformation in your life. So why should you want to ‘fall into it’ when some planning and thought can help?

Here are 5 tips for you if you’re about to retire or have retired recently.

1 – Routine and Ritual

Work (defined as physical and mental activity) has occupied a substantial part of your life. Think of the routines you engaged in, such as commuting, regular meetings and activities, even the ritual of morning coffee. In your retired life these routines and rituals vanish. The question you might ask yourself is whether you want to replace them, or simply wave goodbye. Your call, but something to think about.

2 – Family

I’m going to assume you have a family (partner, children). Your family will probably notice a big difference in your behaviour as you make the transition into retirement. Therefore, I really recommend you engage in a conversation with them about your plans, – they will be interested and want to know what your thoughts are. Something else to think about – at work you almost certainly had access to a space to call your own outside of your home. Therefore you may want to talk with your partner/family about how to divide ‘space’ to everyone’s benefit

3 – Health

Perhaps in your working life you didn’t pay enough attention to your health? Fair enough, you were very busy. But in retired life there are no such excuses. So re-evaluate your health and take the opportunity to start and build some routines around good health. The experts say that once regular exercise becomes a routine it’s no longer a burden. Your continuing health is worthy of serious thought and a key factor in living a fulfilling retirement.

4 – Role

As a worker you had a well-defined role, be it Bridge-builder, accountant, bus driver or CEO. In retirement the 3G model may be on offer to you: Golf, Grandparenting and Gardening. That’s a choice you can of course make. But again why not use this opportunity to think about what you want for yourself? Have you always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument or work in a charity? Well now you can!

5 – Meaning

This is the big one. Work probably infused your life with lots of meaning. Once work has been subtracted from your life it pays dividends for you to think about what your meaning or purpose could be in the remaining decades of your life. There is no correct answer or probably quick answer. But there is YOUR answer. If you struggle to answer this profound question you may want to seek help and talk to someone, such as your financial adviser or a retirement coach who can explore these questions (and answers) through with you.

Source:

Jon Glass, Retirement Coach | 64plus.com.au | jon@64plus.com.au

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