Happy Retirement Living

Many people find that they transition smoothly into retirement and enjoy their new lives right away. Some people find it more difficult to settle into retirement than others. Some of us may avoid or postpone retirement due to our trepidation of the unknown.

Why is retirement so stressful?

We often spend years thinking about how we want to spend our retirement. This can include traveling, spending time with loved ones, taking up new hobbies, or simply taking it easy. We often think about the financial aspects of retirement, but we don’t often think about the psychological impact of not working.

At first, it can seem great to get away from your daily routine, a long commute, workplace politics, or a difficult boss. However, many new retirees find that being on “permanent vacation” starts to get old after a few months. If you lose your job, you might miss having a sense of identity, feeling like you have a purpose, or the social interaction with co-workers.

You don’t feel free, relaxed, and fulfilled. You feel bored, aimless, and isolated. The loss of your old life, stress about filling your days, and worry about the toll on your relationship are all normal reactions. Some new retirees even experience mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

Retiring from work can be a very stressful time in someone’s life, even if they have been looking forward to it for a long time. Some studies have found that retirement can lead to a decline in health. According to one study, those who have recently retired are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who continue working. This is especially true during the first year of retirement.

Common challenges of retirement

• Struggling to “switch off” from work mode and relax, especially in the early weeks or months of retirement.
• Feeling anxious at having more time on your hands, but less money to spend.
• Finding it difficult to fill the extra hours you now have with meaningful activity.
• Losing your identity. If you’re no longer a doctor, teacher, designer, sales person, electrician, or driver, for example, who are you?
• Feeling isolated without the social interaction of being around your coworkers.
• Experiencing a decline in how useful, important, or self-confident you feel.
• Adjusting your routine or maintaining your independence now you’re at home with your spouse during the day.
• Some retirees even feel guilty about receiving money from a pension without directly working for it.
• Whatever challenges you face as you prepare for this new chapter in life, the following tips can help you ease the transition, reduce stress and anxiety, and find new meaning and purpose in life.

Be a saver, not a spender

When it comes to retirement planning, numbers are key. And, for good reason. As long as your retirement income is enough to cover your desired lifestyle and eliminate worries about things like long-term care or running out of money, you’ll be much happier. And, in turn, this will increase your happiness.

However, Dan Gilbert, a Harvard University psychology professor and author of “Stumbling on Happiness,” told Time that while having enough money is beneficial, it also has drawbacks.

According to Gilbert, meeting basic human needs is more important to happiness than having a lot of money.

If you earn less than $20,000 per year, you are twice as likely to be happy as someone who earns more than $50,000 per year.

The psychologists at Purdue University found that people are the happiest when they earn $95,000 a year. After you have saved $500,000 for retirement, you do not need to save any more according to certified financial planner Wes Moss.

What exactly does this all mean? When you have enough money to pay for your basic needs and can afford the occasional luxury, you may not necessarily be happier as your wealth grows.

This doesn’t mean that you have to have exactly $500,000 saved at the time of your retirement. Nope. Setting a goal is not something that you have to do, it is something that you can do to help you achieve something that you want. You can change your goal depending on your circumstances and what you want to achieve. And, to make this goal more attainable, keep these point in mind;

Start saving now. Saving money can improve your mood, based on what Elizabeth Dunn says. She is the main scientific officer for the financial technology company Happy Money and wrote the book “Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending.”

She suggests that you break your large savings goals into smaller, more achievable goals, such as those you want to have for retirement. You can develop lasting habits by taking small steps.

Dunn stated that simply taking the time to set up a savings account could have an immediate positive effect on a person’s happiness.

The earlier you start saving for retirement, the better off you will be. If you increase your retirement contribution as you establish good habits, you will have the money you need in the future.

Find new purpose and meaning

For a lot of us, having a job is about more than just making money; it also gives our lives purpose and meaning. Your job can make you feel needed, productive, and useful, as well as providing goals, or simply giving you a reason to get out of the house every day. What separates people who have fulfilling lives from those who don’t is having a sense of purpose, which has benefits for both your brain and immune system.

After you retire, it is important to look for new things that will make you happy and enrich your life. If you want your retirement to be fulfilling, it can help to retire to something, like a hobby, a volunteering position, or continuing education.

• Retirement may not have to be all-or-nothing. Many people find that it can help to gradually transition into full-time retirement rather than jump right in. If your job allows, you could take a sabbatical or extended vacation to recharge your batteries and see how you deal with the slower pace of life. You can also use the time to gauge how well you can live on the budget you’ve allocated for retirement.

• Find part-time work after retirement. Another way to make retirement more of a gradual transition is to incrementally reduce the hours you work in your existing job, switch to a part-time job, or work for yourself in some capacity. As well as providing purpose, part-time employment can also supplement your income, keep you socially engaged, and ease the adjustment to retirement without you having to endure the demands of full-time work.

• Volunteer. Donating your time and effort to a cause that’s important to you can add meaning and a sense of accomplishment to your retirement life, as well as benefit your community. Volunteering can help expand your social network, boost your self-worth, and improve your health. It can also be a great opportunity to pass on some of the skills you’ve learned during your professional life—or learn new skills, keeping your brain active as you age.

• Nurture hobbies and interests. If you have a longstanding hobby that enriches your life, you’ve likely earmarked retirement as an opportunity to invest more of your time in pursuing it. If you’ve had to sacrifice your hobbies for the sake of your career, though, it’s time to resurrect old interests or nurture new ones, things you’ve always wanted to try. Whether your interests lay in traveling, nature, sports, or the arts, for example, try enrolling in a club, joining a team, or taking a class.

Stay connected

A famous and highly cited study conducted by Harvard followed 724 men starting from when they were teenagers in 1938. The researchers not only collected health information from members over time, but also asked about their lives and their mental and emotional wellness every two years. In addition to interviewing the individuals themselves, they also interviewed their family members over the course of 80 years.

Why? To unlock the secret to happiness. And, here’s what the researchers found.

Being close to others is linked with happiness. This could be a spouse, family, or friends. According to Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the study, personal connection creates mental and emotional stimulation, which are automatic mood boosters, while isolation is a mood buster. This is a time to focus on positive relationships and eliminate negative people, or at least minimize your contact with them.

If you feel you need to broaden your social life, there are a few things you can do. You can join social media groups, go to events, or start your own event. Volunteer for a cause that interests you. You will probably meet other people who like the same things as you. In addition, volunteering gives you a sense of purpose, which makes you happier. A study published in BMJ Open on May 19, 2016 found that this benefit is strongest among people ages 45 to 80 and older.

You could find companionship through a dog, cat, or bird. Research indicates that there are benefits to both our mental and physical health when we have pets, including reducing cognitive decline and increasing our activity levels.

Embrace change

Although it’s something that happens to everyone, it’s not easy to deal with change. As we age, life seems to change more rapidly. As we experience these transitions, our psychological well-being is at greater risk As we get older, we face more transitions that can cause stress and negatively impact our mental health. These include our kids leaving home, losing friends and loved ones, and facing retirement. It is common to have a range of different, often conflicting emotions in response to these changes.

As you move from childhood into adulthood, you can also move from working to being retired.

• Build resilience. The more resilient you are, the better you’re able to cope with challenges like retirement. You can improve the qualities of resiliency at any age to help you keep a healthy perspective when life is at its toughest.

• Accept the things that you can’t change. Railing against events that you have no control over can be as exhausting as it is futile. Whatever the circumstances of your retirement, by accepting them you can refocus your energy to the things that you do have control over, such as the way you choose to react to obstacles. Look back at examples where you’ve coped with changes in the past to remind yourself that you’ll be able to manage this change as well.

• Set new goals. You may have already achieved many of your professional goals in life, but it’s important to keep setting yourself new ones to strive towards. Having goals can energize you, provide a sense of purpose, and help to redefine your identity. Set goals that challenge and excite you and keep you moving forward in life. Many retirees find that now they’re no longer the family provider, they can focus more on their own hopes and dreams.

• Strengthen your social network. Staying socially connected can have a huge impact on your mental health and happiness. But for many of us, our social ties are closely linked to our jobs—and they’re abruptly cut short when we retire. Make a point to stay in touch with old work colleagues after retirement and explore opportunities to broaden your social network beyond work. You’re never too old to build new, rewarding friendships.

• Join a peer support group. Some senior service and other community organizations offer support groups for older adults making the transition into retirement. Talking to other people who understand what you’re going through can help reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, and isolation. Search for retirement groups in your area or on platforms such as meetup.com.