My ears perk up whenever I hear retirement stories in the news. I am fascinated with the topic and love hearing how people manage this major life transition. One story especially resonated with me. Despite her age, Serena Williams shared many of the same fears and desires I have experienced personally and have seen in my retirement coaching practice. Here are five key tips to help you transition into retirement.
1. Acknowledge Tension Between Pre And Post Retirement
In an article for Vogue, Williams shared her fears, desires, and the incredible struggle for her to imagine a life beyond tennis. She wrote, “I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time, I am ready for what is next.”
Despite her young retirement age, 41, and the fact that she is a celebrity with tons of money and resources, she struggles with this transition like many of us. This tension of opposites is a universal feeling amongst many people as they transition to retirement.
Last week I was coaching one of my clients, and she shared that she gave her retirement notice to her employer of 40 years. She and her husband put their home on the market and are beginning to downsize and relocate. She shared that she is sad to leave her home and community. She is also anxious to leave work as she is unsure of who she will become and how she will spend her time. She also shared that despite these fears and anxieties, she is looking forward to doing something new, she’s just not quite sure what that is yet.
2. Living Longer Means Planning Longer
The traditional notion of retirement signaling the end of being a productive and contributing member of society doesn’t make sense anymore. In 1935, the minimum age for receiving full retirement benefits was 65 and the average life expectancy was 60 years. Today, the minimum retirement age for receiving full benefits is 67 and the average life expectancy is 80. This means that, for many, retirement can last between 15-30 years.
I have experienced this myself as a person who had the fantastic opportunity for an early retirement package at age 58. Now that I have the freedom and flexibility to live a more balanced life focused on what I want to do, not have to do. At age 61, I am an entrepreneur, using my talents and passions to build out The Future of You, a business focused on helping pre-retirees create their own vision for their retirement.
3. Focus On Retiring To, Not Retiring From
Start by identifying what you are retiring to versus what you are retiring from. In my coaching practice, I have found that people often feel caught between what they are leaving behind and what they are moving towards. People often get stuck focusing on what they are leaving behind. What gets people unstuck is shifting their focus to what they are moving towards. It is hard to move away from something you love, but identifying why it is time to move from it and having a solid vision for what you are moving towards can catapult you into your next chapter.
Pro Tip: Create a personalized vision of how you want to live your life in this next chapter. A vision that leverages all the experiences, talents, gifts, and passions that you have developed over the years.
4. Develop A Life Plan
Many people enter retirement; happily, they take a much-needed rest and unplug from the rigors of their old nine-to-five job, but after about three months, if they have not planned for their life in this next chapter, ask themselves, is that all there is? Many of these people had a financial plan but needed a life plan for how they would spend their days. As a result, they can become disillusioned with retirement, sad, and even depressed. They struggle with imagining how they will find meaning and purpose in their lives and how they will fill their days.
Start by doing an inventory of the various segments of your life: work, recreation, and relationships. Take a moment and do a current state analysis and then think about how you might want to shift stuff around for the future and develop a plan for making those shifts stick. The average person spends more time planning a two-week vacation than planning for their life in retirement. Now is not the time to be average. Those living fulfilled lives in retirement make the time to plan for it. They revisit those plans regularly and adjust accordingly.
Pro Tip: It’s ok to feel anxious and vulnerable. I work with many brilliant, successful executives who have managed their careers eloquently, and the thought of retirement makes them anxious because there is no roadmap for this next part of their life.
5. Utilize Strengths From Your Career
People’s identities are strongly tied to their careers and leaving a career that you have worked in for 20, 30, or 40 years makes you worry about who you will be once you leave that job. The good news, your identity is bigger than your last role with your former employer. You are not starting from scratch; you’re starting from experience. This next chapter is a wonderful opportunity to reimagine yourself and relook at who you are more holistically. It is not time to lose your identity; it is time to enhance it and transform it into the full one you’ve always wanted.
Think of your former career as the context in which you applied your unique self, which comprises your skills, talents, and purpose. Connecting back to those and imagining ways to use them in your new context is what retirement life planning is all about.
Use that to create a personalized vision of how you want to live your life in this next chapter. A vision that leverages all the experiences, talents, gifts, and passions that you have developed over the years. Then imagine different things you may want to pursue leveraging all of what you are in new and exciting ways
Many people are living rich and fulfilling lives in retirement, but just like other times in your life, you need to spend the time to put together a solid plan to make it happen that goes beyond just your finances. People can find the same sense of fulfillment and purpose in retirement as they had throughout their careers while enjoying all the perks. They need to connect to their whole selves and shift their mindset to find the space to imagine so they can design a retirement that excites them.
