A Journey Through The Phases of Retirement

Recently I came across an article about the phases of retirement.  It’s funny because, before this, I had only ever considered one phase.  The no longer working phase.  But life is seldom so simple.  Even something as final sounding as retirement brings with it a set of challenges, decisions, and continuous goal-setting.  Only recently has the emotional and psychological frontier of retirement been explored.  I read on intrigued, what I was reading felt aligned with my own experience with retirement.

While considering retirement, still in my fifties, many people told me it may not be as great as I think.  Oh, I disagreed!  However, from the start, I was aware that I would want to remain engaged in something that would keep me active intellectually and socially.  I thought back to how I began feeling a certain lack of purpose as a stay-at-home mom when my kids were getting older and going to school.  I worked hard when I returned to the workforce and built a career for which I became fulfilled and proud.  I was determined not to lose my sense of worth post-retirement.

They call the first phase of post-retirement the Honeymoon phase. In the very beginning, it felt more like a vacation phase because I kept thinking I was on vacation and would have to remind myself that I wasn’t going back.  This initial period is where we embrace our newfound freedom and start doing everything we have spent so many years planning and looking forward to.

So, we got about the business of being retired.  We finally took that trip to Paris we had been talking about and set upon some other travel.  We found a club we liked and settled into a golf routine. But, after about a year I was starting to ask myself  “Now what?”   With this newly discovered knowledge, I now recognize that I was nearing the end of this honeymoon phase and moving on to the next.  I must admit I found it comforting to know that other retirees experience the same emotions.  

The next phase, I learned, is the Disenchantment phase.  This time will parallel a marriage when the emotional high of the wedding wears off and the happy couple is faced with settling into building a life together.  In the case of retirement we may start to feel restless and perhaps a little aimless. I have never considered my early retirement a mistake.  I knew it was the right time to leave my then-current position. However, some of my earlier concerns were surfacing and as I entered this second phase, I was sharing some of the same feelings that I was now reading about.  If not exactly bored, I was purposely filling my time.

Reorientation comes next.  Learning to navigate my new set of circumstances is an ongoing endeavor.  It is the most difficult in the emotional process of retirement and takes some effort. It is almost like building a new identity.  It is a time when I took a hard look at what will bring me happiness and contentment.  This is the time when I started to blog which has brought me a great deal of accomplishment.  And a year later I have decided to take on a part-time position that will allow me to be involved in theater, something I am also passionate about.  Although golf brought me some new faces and friendships, this will further the social interaction which I still feel is lacking. 

That brings us to the Routine phase.  So, a new daily schedule is created.  I will work, golf, write, and make time for an exercise regimen.  If retirement has taught me one thing about myself it is that I need structure in my life.  I need my day laid out before me and I love my spreadsheets and checklists. Oddly enough, I seemed to get more exercise in when I had little time to do it.

Eventually, the new landscape will become familiar territory, and I will enjoy this phase of my life with a new sense of purpose.  Although this one is referred to as the final phase, routines can and most likely will continue to change.   

I was happy to have stumbled across this article explaining the phases of retirement. It helped me put some of my own feelings into perspective. Knowing there are others in the same place helped to validate my own emotions at a time when I may have started to believe my discontentment wasn’t allowed for someone fortunate enough to be at this great place in my life. Overall, retirement has been pretty good to me so far and I realize how blessed I am.