Tips for Baby Boomers: Retirement and Panic
Until now, you thought panic attacks were reserved for expectant parents in the OB / GYN room or prima donnas on stage debut. Sudden bouts of sweat were the domain of Olympians diving in as they watched the sinister drop off a 300-meter cliff, or teenage boys confronting their father on their first date. Sinking stomach sensations were felt in the terrifying moments when those dreaded sirens screeched and swirling blue lights flashed, pointing directly at you on a Friday afternoon as you were driving home from work.
But now you know otherwise. The long-awaited Wednesday afternoon arrives for the retirement party in your honor. And you walk into what is supposed to be the best first day of the rest of your life. On Thursday morning you can enjoy a late breakfast in bed, then savor a lunch of two martinis and take advantage of one of those special discounted senior dinners at 4:00 pm. M. You browse channels from one late-night talk show to another, not thinking about a bedtime curfew to prepare for the jolt of your dreaded 6 a.m. alarm.
But then, much to your chagrin and surprise, it’s only next Monday morning and you’re already experiencing a trifecta of panic attacks, sweating, and a sinking stomach. What’s going on? So it’s been a month or more since that fateful “retirement day” and it’s still not happening, whatever it is! By now, the honeymoon is over and you feel more and more rudderless, redundant, nonessential, inconsequential, irrelevant. It seems that he has lost his balance. Your balance has gone south. Even your voice seems to have become less imposing!
Don’t imagine for a minute that you are unique in the whole world. Thousands of colleagues (in fact, more 10,000 daily) are joining their ranks, experiencing their anxiety, and dealing with the ups and downs of retirement life. Let’s examine the sources of his (and his) apprehension.
First, whether you have realized it or not, for more than 30 years, your professional personality has been inextricably linked to your job, your career, your job. Perhaps even more than his family structure, his work defined who he was, gave meaning and purpose to his daily life, provided him with a modicum of power and prestige. Whether he was forced to give up that role or chose to walk away freely, he could not, in any way, have anticipated the psychological jolt brought on by his push or decision to withdraw.
Second, unless you are independently wealthy, you will suddenly realize that what has been a reliable and fairly lucrative biweekly self-deposited paycheck no longer exists. The tap has run out, only to be replaced, in many cases, by a less substantial monthly retirement allowance. Right now, you’re too giddy with panic to step back calmly and realistically assess other sources of supplemental income, such as your 401K, social security benefits, investments, or real estate.
Then there’s the whole social thing: the daily chatter, gossip, and camaraderie that fostered lifelong, or at least fleeting, friendships. He never anticipated loneliness and a lack of daily companionship as by-products of his decision to retire. Who can you compete with now for fashion supremacy, supervisor approval, position promotion? Until now, it hadn’t occurred to him that he would no longer be included in the office lottery, the Friday afternoon meeting at the area’s favorite café or bar, or the Saturday morning golf game.
Time to put down the breathalyzer, tranquilizers, hot and cold towels, Tums. The thousands of colleagues and peers who have come before you, and who are currently experiencing their own ambivalence and anxiety, can assure you that help is on the way. If you are willing to put in the time, effort and energy, you will discover multiple resources that describe the strategies and successes these others have implemented and experienced as they move on to what we truly believe will be the best, most productive, and most enjoyable phase. . of your life.
Three keys are:
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Take as much time to design and prepare for your retirement life and work as you did to select your major career. Explore the seven pathways to retirement, individually and in combination:
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Leisure life
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Life as a volunteer
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Travel life
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Life of involving new jobs
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Life as an entrepreneur
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Life as “creative”
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Life as a student
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Recognize and discover your unique self and hit this oneself precedence in what you choose and make not thing to assume.
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Understand that you have years of value left to contribute … but you road.
