After You Retire

Believe it or not, working at a job for many years is similar to a drug or alcohol addiction. You don't realize it, but you think about your job all the time. You dream about it. You actually crave being at work, but you don't know it. Psychologically, you need your job and you can't help yourself. And after you retire, it will take a while, maybe years, to get your job out of your system.

You won't realize that it's happening, but long after you retire, you will still think about your job. You may even wake up in the morning and get dressed before you realize that you don't have to go to work that day. For a long time, you will feel as though you are still on a work day schedule, even though you are not.

You will find yourself wondering about how the day to day operations are going at your former workplace. You will even have dreams about your job for years after you retire which is a natural process. Dreaming about the job happens to all of us.

You will miss having conversations with your co-workers. You will sit at home and watch the clock, and you know what everyone at work is doing at that very moment. You will wonder if your replacement is handling his responsibilities (your former position) in a satisfactory way, even though it is no longer your concern.

After they retire, many people are shocked to discover that all of their friends were at work. Their daily routines, which was what kept their minds occupied for so many years, are no longer a part of their lives. They find it hard to adjust to sitting around the house all day with nothing to do. This causes some people to go stir crazy, leaving them with mental and physical health issues.

Although most people do plan for retirement in a financial sense, they don't plan for a drop in income. Very few people retire with a hundred percent of their income, and social security may or may not make up the difference. Will it be a burden on you if your income is reduced? If so, you may have to downsize your home or take another job. Are you prepared for that?

Health insurance is another big issue. Some people lose some of their health care benefits, such as vision care and/or dental care, when they retire. The expense of taking care of their medical needs may increase substantially, so the loss of income, especially if you still have a mortgage, young children, or other financial obligations can cause increased stress.

• Planning for retirement should be extensive and well thought out. If you, your spouse, or a child are diabetic, have high blood pressure or hypertension, or have any other type of health problems, you should talk with your doctor before you retire.

What else can be expected after you retire?

• You will have a lot of free time. You may be bored at first, but you will learn to relax or make yourself busy with hobbies, yard work, or if you have the resources, you can travel.
• If you are married, you will be in the house with your spouse 24 hours a day. That may cause more tension and stress than you may be able to take at first, but after a while, you will get used to it.

Sure, you can play golf, go out to lunch, go shopping, go for walks, and maybe travel a little, but after that, there is only free time with little to do. Most people go through a certain amount of retirement shock, but like anything else, they learn to deal with it.

The worst thing to do is to become a couch potato. Sitting and watching television all day is very unhealthy, so whatever you do, exercise and stay fit.

There are many questions that should be asked years before you even consider retiring. Retirement is what everyone should look forward to, but many people spend their working years totally missing the point of what retirement actually means.

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