Retirement on the horizon? Or just curious to know how you might start ensuring your retirement will be happy and healthy? Then this article is for you! We usually talk about how employees can boost their health and happiness at work. But, your health and happiness after you’re done working is also important. New research shows that there are programs you can participate in to make sure you’re more satisfied and well in your retirement. You can learn from these programs now to ensure positive wellbeing outcomes after you stop working. Keep reading to learn more!
What does it take to retire well?
Retirement can be physically and psychologically challenging. While it can also have positive impacts on your life, there are a lot of changes to manage at once. Research has shown that there are three different ways that people tend to adjust to retirement.
The majority of people tend to adjust positively to retirement by taking steps to maintain their social and cognitive wellbeing. For example, having a “bridge job” – a job or volunteer opportunity that carries a lighter load than the job a person is retiring from – can help retireees to ease out of work. Further, having a significant other or best friend to help maintain social networks can help. And planning for retirement also predicts positive adjustment. More on this later!
Others experience a boost in wellbeing in retirement because they use the time to recover from a negative job experience. This is mostly true for those who didn’t like their job or who experienced their work as particularly stressful. Finally, about a quarter of people have worse wellbeing when they retire because they find it hard to adjust. Retiring may mean losing social networks and time spent on activities that were cognitively stimulating. But, as individuals find ways to fill those gaps, they ultimately end up returning to their pre-retirement levels of wellbeing. How can you avoid being in this latter group, who finds it harder to adjust?
Planning to grow social networks can help in retirement
New research shows that you can protect yourself from dips in wellbeing if you plan for your social life in retirement. While researchers have shown that financial planning can be helpful for retirement, a lot of social changes are also prevalent.
You can prepare for these social changes by pre-planning for them. In a study comparing those who participated in a pre-retirement social planning session, compared to those who didn’t, those who participated had better wellbeing. They also anticipated having more satisfaction in retirement.
One important aspect of the training is that it focused on making connections to social groups instead of individuals. Seeing yourself as being a part of something, as opposed to just connected to someone, can help to substitute for lost work identities.
What can you do to plan for your social life as a retiree?
First, this research shows that you can spend time reflecting on groups you love to be a part of, and those you’d enjoy joining. If you grow an appreciation for your social groups, you will stay more committed to them. Second, you can map out your existing connections to social groups, and plan to join new groups in your retirement. In doing so, you’ll be able to ensure you stay connected to your current social circles, but also build new ones to take the place of prior social connections at work.
Finally, you can anticipate challenges to maintaining these social connections and with growing new ones. You can also plan for ways to overcome these challenges so that you’re more resilient if they crop up. In all, you need to be proactive about maintaining and building new social ties in your retirement. If you are, you might be happier and healthier as you transition into this new phase of life!
Interested in work and aging? Hear more on this topic in our podcast episode.
