Retirement Means New House Rules and Roles

Think you’ve really lived together all these years? Think again.

True story (names changed to protect the guilty).

Phil finally retires. His first night off the job, Judy, his still-working wife, arrives home from a long day.

Judy: “Hi, honey, how was your day?”

Phil: “Fine. Yours?”

Judy: “Great. What’s for dinner”?

Phil: (no dialogue, though an audible “thud” is heard as Harry’s jaw hits the table)

It’s not the idea of making dinner Phil finds daunting. He’s not so lazy, he wouldn’t turn on an oven, boil some water. It’s the very question. Thirty-plus years of marriage, he’d never made a meal. Never had been asked. Why now?

Bruce's Story -  The Satisfaction Cycle

A friend recently shared a story about a family member who, quite unexpectedly, self-navigated to retirement success. When you learn the odds he faced in doing so, his achievement can be called none other than remarkable.

Bruce enjoyed his life’s work as a Pennsylvania school administrator, and liked even more having summers off. He hit his ‘50’s ready to shift gears, and took the state’s generous, early retirement package. Bruce’s financials were solid: two grown, self-supporting children; a modest mortgage; continued income from his still-employed wife; reliable pension.

Want to Experience Meaningful Volunteering? 
Consider Your Talents, Personality and Areas of Satisfaction

Volunteering can give meaning and purpose to retirement.  How to select the right situation depends on your skills, interests and personality.

Retirement is one of the most stressful transitions a person can experience -- comparable in impact to divorce or the death of a loved one.  Many people look forward to retirement as a time of relaxation.  They dream of spending the majority of their time participating in leisure activities.  However, this type of retirement often leads to being irritated and depressed.

Foundation of Successful Retirement:
3 Keys to Healthy Aging

What does it take to have a successful retirement? Start with a definition of "success." In the stage of life we traditionally call retirement, it has two elements. The first and primary success involves having a purpose – a passion or valued pursuit that offers the fulfillment you want from life, a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Second – the foundation – consists of health sufficient to enable you to do and enjoy whatever pursuits you choose for your next phase. Good health represents the single most important foundation in the quality of life for aging adults.

Holistic Retirement Planning

The need for a holistic retirement plan, one that addresses both your non-financial needs as well as your monetary ones, is critical to a successful retirement transition.

Why
Retirement is one of life's most difficult transitions, comparable in impact to divorce or death of a spouse.  According to an American Demographics poll, 41% of retirees report that retirement was a difficult adjustment.  This contrasts to only 12% of newlyweds who felt that marriage was a difficult adjustment and 23% of new parents felt that the having their first child was a difficult adjustment.