Has your retirement plan changed because of the pandemic?

Larry Gard, Ph.D.


I’m not referring to the financial aspects of your plan, although that too may have changed.  I’m talking about the picture you have in your mind about what your next chapter will look like and feel like.  We’ve all heard about the Great Resignation/Great Reshuffling, as Americans seek work that is more flexible, rewarding, and meaningful.  I’m hearing from clients that because of the pandemic, they’re reassessing what they want out of retirement as well. 

Perhaps you had planned to spend time taking classes, traveling, or tackling long-neglected projects around your home.  Do those things feel as important and motivating as they once did, or do you seek to augment those activities with something more compelling?  

Noted personality theorist Erik Erikson described 8 stages of development throughout the lifespan.  According to Dr. Saul McLeod, during the seventh stage, called Generativity vs. Stagnation, “our task is to find a way to give back to society and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture.  Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.”

The pandemic released a shockwave that tested us as individuals and as a society. Compounded by the war in Ukraine, political fissures, and fears of recession, the “new normal” still seems fluid and unsettled.  Some of my pre-retirement clients question how they can remain useful and feel a sense of accomplishment in their next chapter when the landscape has changed so dramatically.  They ask, “how do I impact the bigger picture when the problems around me seem insoluble?

 

Grand gestures are not required.  Even modest contributions of time and effort may provide the impact you’re looking for.  That said, organizations that rely on retired individuals as volunteers may need to adjust assignments so that they resonate and align more closely with people’s values and priorities. 

 

I’ve long advocated that people plan for the psychological side of retirement.  Doing so can help you avoid feeling aimless and ensure that your time is spent in fulfilling ways.  That remains as true and important as ever, but the pandemic has led many to reevaluate exactly what fulfillment means.  Be patient and don’t be surprised if it takes you a bit more time to identify how best to pursue your personal mission moving forward.    

 

McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 03). Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html

Popular posts from this blog

Let's be honest about retirement

Image
Larry Gard, Ph.D. I had coffee last week with an esteemed colleague who offers pre-retirement coaching like me. We were discussing how notions of retirement have changed over the past few decades, so much so that many people have tried to coin new terms to replace the word “retirement” itself. “Reengagement” and “Life 2.5” are two such contenders.  While it may be the case that baby boomers have reinvented retirement, I’m a bit wary about giving retirement a new name. True, we have access to a greater range of active, compelling paths in retirement than our parents and grandparents did. Yet by giving retirement a new name, one that highlights the meaningful and rewarding activities that lie ahead, we run the risk of overlooking what makes retirement such a profoundly moving transition.   Jack Beauregard, founder of the Successful Transition Planning Institute, points out that unlike most life events, which flow from beginning to end, retirement starts with an ending. As much as we can
Read more

Accomplishment and Pride vs. Unfinished Business

Image
  Larry Gard, Ph.D. For many of us, work is a primary source of accomplishment and pride.  Throughout the course of our career, we point to projects completed, problems solved, and people helped.  If you’re contemplating retirement, it’s easy to imagine you will find yourself missing the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, not to mention dwelling on the things left  undone .      Unfinished business and unmet goals can make it hard to stop working.  Our inclination to focus on what we  didn’t  accomplish reflects a psychological phenomenon called the Zeigarnik effect.  It’s the tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks more easily than those that have been completed.  This phenomenon was first noticed in the early 1900’s and has been reproduced in a number of studies.  The point here is, just because we more easily remember what is unfinished doesn’t mean those things should unduly influence our decision about stopping work.  There is no guarantee that if you stay
Read more

Are you psychologically ready to retire?

Image
  Larry Gard, Ph.D. We’ve all seen the ads on television telling us to plan for retirement and save more money. They’re absolutely correct and the earlier you start the better. But whether or not you build the nest egg you want, you still need to be psychologically prepared. In fact, I’ve encountered many financially comfortable people who were surprised by how strongly their emotions impacted their transition to retirement. You can’t go from the present to an active and meaningful retirement without giving it some thought. It simply doesn’t emerge on its own. What Has Been Satisfying? Long term, you need a strategy to figure out what is going to be interesting, meaningful, compelling, and rewarding. As a starting point, one exercise I do with clients involves determining key satisfactions derived from work and then identifying alternatives that can provide similar benefits. For example, perhaps one satisfying thing about work is that it allows you to tackle problems. You don’t need to
Read more