Done With Work

Larry Gard, Ph.D. There is something I’ve noticed when people tell me about their first year of retirement.  Occasionally they will mention adjusting to living on a fixed income, but more often it’s the  non-financial  side of things that occupies their mind. In some instances, they sound pleased. For example, they’re eager to talk about new hobbies, interests, or educational pursuits. In other cases, they’re more negative. They’re feeling unsettled in a new home, unmoored without their former routine, or unsatisfied with how they’re spending their days.   The financial services industry has done much to educate Americans about saving for retirement.  Sound fiscal preparation is essential, but we also need to prepare ourselves for the head and heart side of this transition.  Preparing ourselves psychologically is challenging, in part because unlike financial planning, there is very little “hard” data.  Instead, we’re asked to consid...

Larry Gard, Ph.D. There’s an old joke about a couple who were celebrating their 50th anniversary.  When asked about the secret to their long marriage the husband replied, “when we got married, we made a pact that no matter what happens, we would always go out twice a week.”  His wife nodded in agreement.  He then added, “We never missed a week.  I went out on Mondays and Wednesdays, and she went out on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”     Perhaps you have your own secret to a long and happy life together, but the reality is that retiring as a couple can pose challenges, both with regard to doing the planning and to actually implementing your plan.  And plan you should, for there might be a lot of togetherness ahead.  Maybe you’ve spent two or three weeks on vacation with your other half in the past, but we’re talking about (potentially) decades here.     The Skipton Building Society is a financial services orga...

Larry Gard, Ph.D. One of the functions of work is that it provides structure to our lives.  Even if your work is quite varied, chances are you still follow a schedule of some sort.  Now, for just a moment, imagine having no place to go, no appointments, and no schedule.  Some people are reluctant to even  think about exit planning because they can’t conceive of a life without a work routine.  They’re convinced that such a life will feel aimless and unsettling.    So how will you spend your days?  Will you need to have a new routine in place immediately, or will you be comfortable allowing one to emerge gradually?  Either way, you should identify in advance a few practical and rewarding activities that can be introduced into your daily or weekly routine.  The last thing you want is an empty calendar on Day 1 of your retirement.   If you’re truly at a loss about how to occupy your...

Larry Gard, Ph.D. There are some interesting findings in the past two Retirement Surveys conducted by the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies®.  The respondents included over 1800 employers and roughly 6000 workers.  Here is a noteworthy selection from the report:    Three quarters of employers consider themselves to be “aging friendly” yet only 54% of workers share that sentiment, and only about a quarter of firms have adopted a formal Diversity & Inclusion policy that specifically includes age.      The data suggests some disconnects between employees and older workers.  What’s going on here?  Even when companies try to be “aging friendly” it seems that some may be missing the mark.  Like most workplace topics, this one is complicated and there are no simple answers, but I wonder if it has something to do with our cultural attitudes toward aging.    One of my former professor...

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 a...