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Old 04-30-2013, 08:13 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,743 posts, read 40,800,947 times
Reputation: 61998

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Saw this retirement article today by a clinical psychologist on a South African website:

“Many retirement transitions are less wonderful and fulfilling than they should be, for the simple reason that preparation focused only on the financial aspects. There is little emphasis on numerous critical issues and stresses – both emotional and psychological – or on the health challenges of such a radical life transition."

He says that the old retirements didn't consider what it meant to have a long period without a sense of pupose and power. He talks about pre-retirement anxiety. He talks about people falling off the retirement cliff after they are retired when they lose their identity provided by their job.

The article ends with questions people might want to ask themselves before they retire.

Don

Believe it or not, Don is the link to the article.
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Old 04-30-2013, 08:27 AM
 
Location: NC
1,873 posts, read 2,389,403 times
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I could not agree more. And I have said as much here and elsewhere many times.

The financial part of retirement is relatively "simple, but not easy" - and there's no shortage of books and other resources on the topic.

The emotional/psychological adjustment going into retirement is too often overlooked - and there seem to be far fewer books/resources that speak to this aspect. While some people naturally fall into a healthy support group of friends/family and all the fulfilling activities they could ever want, some aren't prepared for the change and worst case, suffer from boredom or even depression. No matter which group you ultimately fall into, IMO everyone should give 'what you are retiring to' some very serious thought before exiting the (forced social interactions and structure of the) work world. Though some can't admit it, we're all defined at least in part by our work, sadly too much for some people. It's easier to transition to retirement if we know in advance how we're going to fill that void, large or small.

I have found How to Retire Happy, Wild & Free by Ernie Zelinski and Work Less, Live More by Bob Clyatt to be among the two best books to help prepare for the emotional/psychological adjustment entering into retirement. I found the Get-A-Life Tree exercise in the Zelinski book to be very helpful/reassuring. I can't recommend either of them too highly...ideally read before pulling the retirement trigger.
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Old 04-30-2013, 08:30 AM
 
Location: CHicago, United States
6,933 posts, read 8,459,707 times
Reputation: 3510
Quote:
Retirement is an “unnatural condition” that can lead to potentially serious emotional and psychological problems, such as depression, if the pitfalls are not recognised, according to clinical psychologist Dr Woolf Solomon.
I got as far as the first sentence. And stopped. Another in a long line of what seems to be doom and gloom reports. Honestly, life isn't all that bad.
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Old 04-30-2013, 09:36 AM
 
Location: near bears but at least no snakes
26,637 posts, read 28,452,188 times
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That is an excellent article. I feel the same way, that so much emphasis is placed on money-money-money, which is important but it's not the end all and the be all. If you worked all your life at a low paying job you can still be happy in retirement. You have to learn to adjust and to figure out what you want to do. If you are lucky, you already had a lot of interests and hobbies so retirement will be a time to enjoy them more.

Important considerations are living near a good medical facility, living near like-minded people, living where there are places for you to get involved if you want to, and the decision to live near or far from friends and relatives. I don't consider things like climate to be a big deal unless you really really hate it where you live. You can live in a climate paradise but still espise the people and the way things are done and then you'd be unhappy.

As the article states, you could be in retirement for 30-40 years so you'd better consider what you want out of it.

Most people I've known and the people I know now don't make major changes like moving to a 55+ community, they want to stay in a neighborhood with all kinds of people and that feels normal to them. People seem to down size to a smaller house or a small rental house or apartment or get a decent condo. That way they are still part of a community just as they have always been and they can remain independent. I don't know why anyone would buy more house, more cars and so on. You want to simplify so that it is less work for you. Most people are not millionaires and they live within their means and do the things that interest them. Money helps but money cannot buy happiness.
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Old 04-30-2013, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Florida
6,593 posts, read 7,250,695 times
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Very good article. I think finances are the major concern of most people because we know we have to save for years. Addressing the non financial issues are easy to postpone or not even realizing that they have to be addressed.
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Old 04-30-2013, 01:30 PM
 
48,505 posts, read 96,519,768 times
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I agree but financial is the priority has without the abilty it effects what you want to do and abilty to do it.Its also the toughest to solve if not planned for regardless of interest. Of course this is authros field ;so it natural he wrties that.
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Old 04-30-2013, 03:13 PM
 
2,634 posts, read 3,677,331 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LauraC View Post
Saw this retirement article today by a clinical psychologist on a South African website:

“Many retirement transitions are less wonderful and fulfilling than they should be, for the simple reason that preparation focused only on the financial aspects. There is little emphasis on numerous critical issues and stresses – both emotional and psychological – or on the health challenges of such a radical life transition."

He says that the old retirements didn't consider what it meant to have a long period without a sense of pupose and power. He talks about pre-retirement anxiety. He talks about people falling off the retirement cliff after they are retired when they lose their identity provided by their job.

The article ends with questions people might want to ask themselves before they retire.

Don

Believe it or not, Don is the link to the article.
I think it is hard to retire. Particularly for men, who identify with their jobs much more than women do (I think -- I may be wrong). I'm a woman and it took me 5 years to settle into retirement! Plus, I retired WAY too early. [I was and am fine financially -- I wasn't prepared emotionally at all. I worked at the same place for almost 30 years with most of the same people over that period of time; I lost my work 'family'.] And I didn't have a job that easily transferred into something else other than Admin Asst., which I never ever want to do again (nothing wrong with it -- I just burnt out).

In retirement, you need a reason to get up in the morning and a goal. Something other than laying around, traveling, the grandkids. You need to have something that keeps you growing mentally and spiritually and even emotionally, and you need a sense of accomplishment. Without those -- retirement can be way too long or we can die too early.
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Old 04-30-2013, 06:15 PM
 
Location: Central Massachusetts
6,554 posts, read 7,002,381 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gomexico View Post
I got as far as the first sentence. And stopped. Another in a long line of what seems to be doom and gloom reports. Honestly, life isn't all that bad.
It is not like that. The report does not put out doom and gloom. It talks entirely about the psychology of retirement. It talks about how this change of life affect so many people in profound ways.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LauraC View Post
Saw this retirement article today by a clinical psychologist on a South African website:

“Many retirement transitions are less wonderful and fulfilling than they should be, for the simple reason that preparation focused only on the financial aspects. There is little emphasis on numerous critical issues and stresses – both emotional and psychological – or on the health challenges of such a radical life transition."

He says that the old retirements didn't consider what it meant to have a long period without a sense of pupose and power. He talks about pre-retirement anxiety. He talks about people falling off the retirement cliff after they are retired when they lose their identity provided by their job.

The article ends with questions people might want to ask themselves before they retire.

Don

Believe it or not, Don is the link to the article.
LauraC thanks for another fine post. This for a change is not about money though money is a big part of people's focus prior. Knowing that you need to find something to fill that void is great as well but to really get your mind off the stress of trying to make so much money and how that affects the health of people. I am currently in a little tussle with my DW whom I love dearly. I get it that she wants to make just a slightly bigger nest egg for us. I see how she is doing it and I do not want her to burn out. That will take a toll on her and I want her around for a long time. So again awesome post.
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Old 04-30-2013, 07:43 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,743 posts, read 40,800,947 times
Reputation: 61998
Before I retired in 2007, I read a lot of books about retirement. In one of the books (can't remember the name), a man who played golf with his workmates (and I believe his clients/customers) said all he could think about was retiring and getting on the golf course as much as he could. It couldn't happen fast enough. I think it was only about 6 months later that he became disillusioned. He said he realized that it wasn't the golf he loved so much when he used to go out but jawing on the golf course about work and kidding around with and competing with his fellow employees.

Unrelated to the above story, I don't think I ever read a retirement magazine article or a story in any book about blue collar worker retirement. I have a guess as to why - retirement magazine and newspaper articles and books are written by white collar types, primarily upper middle class urbanites.
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Old 04-30-2013, 08:32 PM
 
12,999 posts, read 18,804,740 times
Reputation: 9236
A lot of seniors are so isolated and it is sad. So many activities are available, and volunteering is a great option as well. Money is a limiting factor, but you have so much time.
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