Retirement; Our Final Journey

You know I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Sc-fi….. throw some dragons in there and a wizard and I am in. So, when I read the headline…. Retirement: The Final Frontier, it resonated with me. It also made me stop and think about how it made me feel. How do you feel when you think about? Excited, happy, scared, depressed?

We are allowed to feel what we feel. There is no wrong feeling here. Retirement is a BIG deal. Like when a woman first experiences pre-menopause symptoms or a man goes through mid-life crisis. The realization that you are half-way there is terrifying! It’s ok to be scared or mad. But this doesn’t make it go away. I want to enjoy that final frontier, that final stage of life. We’ve all worked so far to get there, we should enjoy it!

Here is the article I read by Mark Cussen:

Journey Through the 6 Stages of Retirement (investopedia.com)

It discusses the 6 stages of retirement. About how there isn’t much research on the topic (besides the financial side of things) and about how you will need to process each step and phase of retiring: process emotionally and sometimes physically.

I was speaking to a policewoman recently and her first step to her retirement was retiring from the force and getting a different, less stressful job for the last stages of her working career. This, firstly, is awesome! Some people can rip off the band-aid and jump in two feet and some need to ease back. BUT what she said to me is, “This feels so strange, I am a Constable. That’s just who I am.” Of course, that’s not entirely true, but a major part of her focus was that. Now it’s gone. Of course, she will feel loss. Maybe sadness or regret or happiness, maybe she will emotionally feel lost for a bit. This is normal and natural and ok.

Never underestimate the feelings of someone else’s retirement or yours. Don’t be ashamed of those feelings, don’t hide them. And, PLEASE, don’t become an ostrich and bury your head in the sand like it’s not going to happen, or happening. Plan for it, embrace it and enjoy it.

The 6 Stages of Retirement

1. Pre-Retirement: Planning Time

2. The Big Day: Smiles, Handshakes and Farewells

3. Honeymoon Phase: I’m Free

4. Disenchantment: So, this is it?

5. Reorientation: Building a New Identity

6. Routine: Moving On

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Retirement Resource Links — Retirement Resources. Downsizing your house or retiring at your home. Helpful tools to get you into and through retirement. Whether thats selling your home to buy a smaller home, a condo or townhouse. Moving into assisted living or becoming a snowbird. Here are some tools and retirement based articles to help you decide on your future. (retirementresourceswithlisa.com)