By: Barbara Bowes
Date: March 13, 2010

The first group of boomers has a big smile on their face as they are literally counting the days until they can retire. They have their financial situation in order, the three-month trip has been planned well in advance and they are ready to take off. Excitement is in the air. They can't wait to run away from home, so to speak.

The second group also has a big smile on their face as they consider themselves happily retired. Some have retired at the magic age of 55 and are having a great time. Some individuals retired at a later age, but they all have a routine that gives them pleasure in their life. Some look after grandchildren, while others spend the winter months in a trailer parked in Mexico or Arizona. Still others volunteer, knit, crochet, read, golf, garden and enjoy summers at the lake.

The third group, believe it or not, has a smile on their face only when they think about getting back to work. They are lonely or bored and restless. They are looking for a new job and are literally counting the days till they can return to a more hectic lifestyle.

For these individuals, golf and grandchildren or their other leisurely activities just didn't bring the satisfaction they had hoped for. Volunteerism too, didn't live up to their expectations. While travel focused their attention on interesting sights for a short time, after awhile, they just wanted to return home.

No matter what leisurely activities they tried, these individuals were not able to feel productive. There was simply no emotional satisfaction with the lazy, hazy days of retirement.

The fourth group of boomers are the folks who just can't seem to make up their mind about retirement. There is no smile on their face, just panic! Yes, they have their finances in order, but what about all the other things that bring joy to life? And so they play that youthful daisy game by picking off each petal and saying, "do I? don't I, do I, don't I?". If they really faced the truth, they'd have to admit that they're afraid of retirement. After all, they, too, thrive on the adrenalin that the workplace brings. They are just not emotionally ready.

Thus in my view, the greatest challenge to making the transition into retirement is not people's personal financial situation as much as it is a tug of war between the emotions of risk versus pleasure. Retirement represents a major change in one's life; in fact, it literally represents a complete personal identity shift. For instance, when people retire, they lose their job title and therefore their professional identity. All of a sudden, the structures, the organizational hierarchy, the tasks and the regular paycheque that defined daily work life and identity are gone. Not only that, you lose direct contact with the people who have worked beside you for most of your profession. And, while everyone says they will keep in touch, personal interests change and people tend to drift away.

The contrast between the work world and retirement represents a drastic and abrupt change. All of a sudden, instead of being directed by others, retirees need to direct themselves. While some people are excited by this opportunity, others are quite fearful of this kind of independence. And even though a retiree may feel prepared, they will be surprised by the depth of the emotional shift. After all, it is now up to them to develop a whole new life structure, a whole new set of habits and personal schedules to manage their day.

If the retiree is a social type of person, they will need to maintain a higher level of interpersonal relationships. To do this, they will need to reach out of their home comfort zone and find people with whom to interrelate and socialize. This task will be much harder because the field of friendships is much more scattered.

Part of the challenge is that retirees need to set personal goals for all aspects of their life rather than simply fitting personal productivity goals into a company or departmental goal. They now need to manage the emotional aspects of all this personal change. But if managing this life transition is critical to long-term retirement success, how does one deal with the emotional aspect of this change? The following tips might help.

Know yourself well - Understanding your personality, your motivators, your passion, what you are good at and what you like to do isn't just critical for a successful career, it is even more critical for creating a successful retirement. These personal elements don't change much. What will change is how you match all of these personal elements to a new lifestyle. Search out a personal coach to take one of the popular assessments or search online. But no matter what, know yourself well.

Recognize change stress - Personal change occurs through a standard, recognizable cycle. Prior to retirement, do some reading on how change affects people. Learn to recognize that shock, anger and indecision are all part of the change process. Don't be surprised when you feel lost and disoriented. Be comforted in the fact that stress during change is normal.

Create new life routines - Try to retain many of your normal personal routines, but adapt them somewhat for your new lifestyle. In other words, instead of sleeping in, keep your morning rituals but instead of going to work, do something else. Create a schedule that includes blocks of time that don't create stress and allows you to engage in a satisfactory activity. Keep in mind that having a sense of control will help your emotional transition.

Maintain your network links - Make arrangements to meet members of your network, perhaps for a weekly or monthly coffee. Ask to be put on the company mailing list for newsletters. Slowly build and develop a new network. The key is to create a new routine.

Focus on a positive attitude - Pay attention to keeping a positive attitude. If you start to feel down and out, stop and explore the reasons why. Look at this life change as a challenge -- use your humour and learn to laugh at yourself.

Find a satisfying hobby - Since baby boomers are also knowledge workers, they are used to applying their intellect rather than their hands. Thus, it is important to find some kind of hobby, one in which you can become completely engaged, be it intellectual and/or manual. Go back to school, learn something new. Join a book club. Fix up that antique car.

Making the transition from a thriving work life to a different style of life in retirement requires a major emotional adjustment. Keep a positive attitude and find the courage to be creative and innovative.


Source: The Emotional Aspects of Retirement, Elizabeth Holtzman Amherst College, 2002

Barbara J. Bowes is president of Legacy Bowes Group, a leading talent management solutions firm. She is also the host of BowesKnows on CJOB and author of several books including the new book, Resume Rescue: Essential Resume Saving Techniques.