Prepare to Grow Into Your Retirement
By Shane Flait © 2008

Working, raising a family, and striving to get ahead not only kept you busy but produced accomplishment and identity for you. In retirement, your kids have moved on to take care of themselves, your retirement income may be sufficient to relax. How will you handle it?

 

A happy retirement is one that gives you a sense of ongoing accomplishments and an identity. Transitioning into a happy retirement may take a few stages to go through. Let’s look a some for you to prepare for.

1^st Stage - before retirement thinking

Though your busy finishing off your working life, you should find time to think seriously about how you’ll handle retirement – what you’ll do. You certainly will want to so some relaxing, but consider what else will keep you ticking.

2^nd Stage – begin your retirement with a vacation

You’ve been waiting for this – retirement day. Enjoy it…and enjoy planning and doing those things you’ve put off for so long. Take that trip, visit your friends, and play some golf. Enjoy your vacation. 

3^rd Stage – pick up the pieces 

With your vacation over, start taking stock.
Retirement isn't a permanent vacation after all. Work makes vacations appreciated. Vacations refresh you for ‘accomplishing things – some sort of work. So what will you do that gives you what you need. Beyond your ‘retirement vacation’, retirement can breed loneliness, boredom, feelings of uselessness and disillusionment.  

4^th Stage - Build a life to live

You may need to do some soul searching…"Who am I, now?", "What is my purpose at this point?" and "Am I still useful in some capacity?"  

You might try seeing the larger picture of your life. Reviewing where you’ve come and what you have to offer others for having lived your life can help put things in perspective – and give you a direction to go in

Most likely you’ll recognize something that gives you a reason to get up and get going. But you’ve go to work at it! If you do, you’ll succeed at finding you new life – one that you can get up an tackle every day. With so many years to go you have plenty of time to accomplish other things –financial and otherwise – for yourself and as legacy to your love ones…and enjoying doing so.

 

Shane Flait is a writer and educator. See more at www.EasyRetirementKnowHow.com