Retired........................ What Do I Do Now?

For most individuals the key to a happy and fulfilling retirement is simple to stay as active as possible, whether it is through leisure activities or involvement in some type of work related activity.  Unfortunately though, most persons only focus on the financial aspect of retirement planning and fail to think about, or plan, for how they will spend their time.  They do not stop to think, What will I do?  Where will I go?  Do I start a new career?  Do I use the skills and experience I have gained over the years in a new way?  Do I want to get more involved in my church, in volunteer work?  Or even better do I want to use this time to create a closer relationship with family and friends?

You may be thinking – why worry about retirement activities now? Retirement is years or decades away.  Thinking ahead and creating a lifestyle plan as part of your retirement road map will help you to lead an interesting and rewarding life after retirement.   Persons who wait until they have retired, rarely begin to develop new interests and often go on to lead an unfulfilling existence during that stage of their life.

It is never too early to create a plan for your retirement; in fact you can begin right now.  Take a few minutes and write down all the things you want to be actively involved in.  Watching television, reading, exercising does not count.  Activities such as these are fine but unlikely to keep you energized and interested for long.  Be as specific as you can, think about the activity – “I want to get involved in charity work” – go one step further and identify the type of charity that you would work with and what you would do.  Make a note as to when you want to get involved in these activities before retirement so that it is easier for you to continue when you retire.

Keep in mind that getting involved in just a few activities won’t create an interesting and fulfilling life.  You need to vary the activities and ensure that they align with the lifestyle you perceived at retirement.   Let yourself dream, then decide what is possible.  You need to allocate time to these activities, as even though it may seem that you have lots of time to do everything, not allocating time can prevent you from achieving your objectives.  There is no more time off from work to carry out activities. Remaining active at retirement is now work.

You may need to reorganize your home; your life to accommodate your new interests at this stage of your life.  Think about how you need to do that and don’t leave it all on your first day of retirement. 

Without good health you cannot achieve all you dream about or enjoy the benefits of your achievement.  If you have not yet begun to do so, pay attention to your health, make it one of your top priorities.  Taking care of your health now will allow you to live a longer and better life at retirement, as well as reduce the amount spent on costly health care at that stage of your life.  Some things will be unavoidable, but if you stop now to think of your family health history, research the health issues that can affect you as you move from your 30s, to your 40s, to your 50s onwards. Formulate a plan of action to mitigate or eliminate these issues where possible.

So you have covered the basic planning in your road map and are now ready for the meat of the matter.  What will you do at retirement? How will you overcome boredom?     Your listing of activities will assist you with the specific and here are a few ideas you can include:

1.      Start a new hobby- travel is a terrific one if funding allows or something closer to home such as painting, photography or even a book club, if you love to read.  Do something new that you will enjoy and look forward to doing every day.  If you already have a hobby, retirement is a great time to revive your interest and devote more time to it. 

2.      Learn something new-  Enroll in a computer class and learn how to connect with the world via the internet.  You will be amazed at the number of persons all over the world that share your interest. Visit a new country through their eyes.

3.      Start new career – work full or part time.   Have you ever wanted to get into the Health Sector but never had the time to train for the various career?  Here is your chance to take that step; it is never too late to do what you have always wanted to do.  It is even better when you determine a date before you retire to begin to learn the new skills required or make plans for a business opportunity as on retirement you will simply be stepping into your new role instead of starting at the beginning.

4.      Volunteering.  Volunteer opportunities are everywhere, whether with a social club such as Kiwanis or Rotary, or your church, your alma mater, or the school in your neighborhood, help is always needed.  Not only will you be staving off boredom you will be making new friends and developing new interests that will keep you active.  Start now to explore your options and narrow down your selection of organizations that you may want to be involved with; begin to attend their meetings without any commitment and use this to determine if they will fit you and your lifestyle when you retire.

Even as you begin the process of relaxing in retirement, it does not mean that your life will not continue to be meaningful and enjoyable.  With prior planning, you can have the best of both worlds. A relaxing and productive retirement, filled with purpose.  Realize that life doesn’t stop on retirement but it is the beginning of a whole new world filled with excitement, empowerment and freedom to be and do all you dream of, all you planned for.

“Retire from work, but not from life. M.K. Soni”