Retirement is an event,
which is the result of the policies of your employer, and this is an inevitable
stage in all our lives. It has nothing to do with you or your competence. It is
estimated that the population of 60 year olds in the World will cross 1 billion
by the end this decade.
India alone will have
over 100 million seniors
Each one of us is
unique and will have our own suite of needs, experiences, personal and family
circumstances, financial needs and personal health. So why don’t we want to
plan for this next important phase of our life carefully and well in advance of
the date of superannuation? It is important for each one of us to consider the
following thoughts as we plan our retirement. These are merely pointers and by
no means a comprehensive solution to the challenges we are likely to face in
our retired life.
Acceptance of
the New Normal and No Self-pity
The single biggest
challenge I have seen that retirees face is internal acceptance that they have
reached the age of retirement. Till you accept this stage of life happily, you
will always be unhappy and possibly angry for not having been given the time to
achieve all that you may have set out to achieve. You could be angry because
you started work later than others and therefore got your due later than others
or had a shorter working life. You could also slip into a very convenient mode
of acceptance of self-pity.
I have met so many
retirees who preface their venting with the words “If only” and I tell them
“Why blame the World and everyone else for a retirement event that you have no
control over? The quicker you accept that you have retired or are about to
retire, the faster you will adjust to your new life”.
Social Networks and
Technology
There is a whole new
world waiting for us in the world of social media and technology. According
to the Pew Research Centre, Internet use among those 60 and older grew 150
percent between 2009 and 2011, the largest growth in a demographic group.
Furthermore, their study showed that of those that go online, 71 percent do so
daily and 34 percent use social media. Their numbers have increased very
significantly since this research. The seniors use these tools to bridge the
geographic gap between them and their loved ones far away and as a way to
re-connect with friends. Studies show that the internet has become an important
portal for reducing isolation and loneliness.
The “seniors” are
taking to social media like a fish to water discovering school and college
friends like never before. Well beyond our normal Facebook page and our posting
of the occasional photograph and sometimes hitting the “like” button. Skype and
WhatsApp groups are overflowing with forwarded and re-forwarded messages. More
savvy seniors are on Instagram and discovering a whole new world.
For many of us who
believed that we had no time to learn social media because of work related time
pressures, retirement is an excellent time to make this transition. Remember
that when we started work three decades ago, computers were new and we had to
learn this new tool as well! My 87 year old father stayed in regular touch with
his grandchildren using various social media platforms.
Start a social group
with like-minded people in areas that you like and you will soon discover many
new friends.
Management of
Expectations
We have to recognize
one blunt truth. Our lives will change once we retire. There is no point in
hanging on to memories. Even these will change over time. How we manage this
change is entirely dependent on us. We need to understand our own reality and
we need to deal with this reality.
Management of our
expectations post retirement goes well beyond managing our finances. While
money is always a critical component, disappointments of retired life often go
beyond financial security. I have met many retirees who are disappointed that
they have not planned their time well or they have not cultivated any hobbies
or have not built a circle of friends beyond their work colleagues or have lost
contact with family members.
To these people I say
that it is never too late to start. Remember that you are looking at the next
three decades of your life ahead of you.
Establish a new Routine
for yourself
Most of us have been
used to a routine that has been developed in our working life. As most of us
reach the age of superannuation our children will not demand much time since
they would have started their own lives. Our spouses will have accepted our
companionship rather than demanding our time. Our routine would have been
evolved based on spending long hours at the office and spending more client
facing hours. As we retire, we are not able to figure out how to manage all the
surplus time that we have.
The change,
therefore, when we retire is very significant. We will suddenly have most of
our waking hours to account for and use gainfully. In order to achieve this new
normal sensibly, we need to work out a routine and follow it assiduously. Some
people I know have actually got their routine logged into their Outlook
calendar and follow it carefully. Too much of any one activity is not
sustainable and therefore we will have to develop of blend of routines covering
a multitude of activities.
Leisure
Most of us are so
used to working long hours at work that we almost feel guilty when we think of
leisure. Therefore, when we look at retirement as a time for leisure, we
miscalculate or underestimate that this can be a time of fulfilment.
Take out your “bucket
list” and start working on it. If you have not prepared one, now is the time to
start listing out everything you have always wanted to do but did not have the
time to do.
Watch all those
movies and television serials that you did not have time for. Try out all those
new restaurants and cuisines. Develop new skills. There are hundreds of options
available and if this involves you taking some educational courses, so be it.
Travelling today is
easier and much more affordable than when we started working in the seventies
or eighties. If you can afford it, travel to places within your country or the
World. Plan to travel to places that you have always dreamt of but were not
able to go to.
In your retirement,
your leisure is real and well-earned after three decades of working. Retirement
needs effort and the earlier you start making this effort the happier you will
be. For you, moving forward in your new life as a retiree, the World must know
no boundaries.
Planned well, you may
suddenly realise that your retirement will become a busiest phase of your life,
much more than you had imagined.
*******************
The author is the founder Chairman of
Guardian Pharmacies and the author of 5 best-selling books, Reboot. Reinvent.
Rewire: Managing Retirement in the 21st Century; The Corner Office; An Eye for
an Eye; The Buck Stops Here - Learnings of a #Startup Entrepreneur and The Buck
Stops Here – My Journey from a Manager to an Entrepreneur.
- Twitter: @gargashutosh
- Instagram: ashutoshgarg56
- Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com
