What are the Negative Effects of Retirement?
Most people can’t wait to retire but are wholly unprepared for what retirement means and how much it will change their life. There are negative effects of retirement that you should be aware of and prepare for. The more prepared you are for retirement the better off you will be.
What can I expect?
As much as people complain about their jobs, what they often don’t realize is how work provides a social network. Regardless of how much you may hate or love your job when you retire you lose a great piece of your regular day and all the social aspects that may provide. Collaborating with colleagues, going for coffee or out for lunch or even socializing after work.
From day one of your retirement all that stops. Many of your friends outside of work may not be retired or have other plans where they are not available to be that “replacement” for work social activities.
Ok so now what can happen
Loneliness
You may get lonely, remember 7.5 -8 hrs of your day was spent at work and don’t forget the commute time that you spent on the bus or in the car. If you live in a large city center that could be as much as another 3 hours a day. On average then you need to fill approx 9.5 hours now with other activities.
Solution – Have a plan. Join a club, join a social group, volunteer, start a new business (that’s why I’m blogging so I can continue to do it into retirement) join the Gym. You’re going to have to create some new social networks that may be a little strange that you’re not used to.
Free time and lots of it
Like I said above now you are going to have all this free time. I don’t know if you’re like me but I’m good for about 2-3 days whether I’m on vacation or off work for whatever reason (sick) I can only sit around for a limited number of days before I’m starting to go a little crazy with boredom.
Solution – Much like above, find a passion if you were ever interested in woodworking, sewing, crafts etc. take a course, join a social group. There are lots out there and the library is probably your best first place to look for these types of groups.
Another option would be if you didn’t do something because time did not permit due to work, kids, location go back to school. Learn a new skill. One idea I love is being a mentor whether it’s applying your 30 years of work experience or maybe it’s being a big brother or big sister. There are lots of people out there that would benefit from your life experience that they otherwise wouldn’t get elsewhere.
More time with your partner
Have you ever thought about the limited time you actually spend with your significant other? I always joke at work with how one of my colleagues is my work wife because I see her more than the wonderful woman I married.
All kidding aside its true and now that you’re retired you are going to be spending a whole lot more time with your partner. This is a hugely significant change and if she or he has already been retired or is still working there are going to have to be adjustments in time and space for each of you.
Solution – Talk to your partner communicate. This is going to be a huge change for them as well so there are two sides to consider how this is going to impact both of you. Have a plan and let each other know how you feel and what to expect.
More time to spend money
This is a scary one and the reason I preach having a side gig or hustle to supplement your retirement income. I don’t think people realize if they have not got their house, cars, kids school and other expenses are taken care they may not have much money to enjoy the retirement lifestyle they were hoping for.
If you are going to spend your time wandering the malls or online and making purchases that you wouldn’t otherwise make you’re going to be in heaps of trouble when the bills start to come in.
Solution – Be prepared talk to a financial advisor get some help so you can see the big picture. This will give you a target to work with. If you find yourself in a situation where your spending too much or need to make more money why not have a hobby that will make you money at the same time.
I was at the local market yesterday and there was a man selling beautiful dog bowls that he made, another woman was selling jams and preserves, another was selling hot sauces, and lastly, another couple was selling pens and razors that were made from different types of wood.
There are lots of ideas for creating a hobby and making extra money out there.
More time to eat
Uhgg this is the one I’m afraid of when I’m working I don’t have time to think about eating because its so busy. When I’m retired I’m afraid I’m going to empty the fridge on a regular basis. I love food I love to cook but the reality is I don’t get much time to do that in retirement I will.
Solution– I’m hoping that I’ll be able to keep myself busy enough so that I don’t need to add notches to my belt. My plan to avoid that is to stay busy, get out of the house as much as possible. Again to avoid an expanding waistline and as well to maintain good health, joining a gym is probably a good solution. A low-cost gym solution is Planet Fitness, you can join for $10/month. It answers a few things, you get out of the house, you may meet new people (social network) and stay in good shape.
More time to be lazy
It’s pretty easy to get into a sedentary lifestyle. You may wake up later, start your day a little later. You’re not bound to a 9-5 schedule any more when you’re retired. This is awesome that why you retire but you’ll need to make sure that you’re staying active. There are tones of stories out there.
I’m sure you may know someone who retired and then passed away not 1-2 years later. Is that how you want to spend your retirement? I don’t’ think so!
So much of that is folks who have no plan for when they retire so they sit around wondering what to do and they slowly fade to a point where their health deteriorates so much that by the time they realize it it’s too late.
Solution – Have a plan, don’t sit around, keep busy
Limited budget
Like spending too much money, some people, unfortunately, may have a very limited budget when they retire. Hopefully, you’ve got an idea of what you will need and if not get to a financial advisor to help you with that. Having a limited budget will really tie your hands when it comes to doing the things you want to do. If you want to travel or spend time away in the winter you may not have the financial resources to do that.
In addition, you will still have bills that will need to be paid. Those don’t stop when you are retired.
Solution – Again when you look at what happened recently with the government shutdown in the USA. Its clear to me that if you had a second stream of income the strain that may have on your family may have been lessened when your not getting a paycheck. Having a side gig will not only help you in those type of situations but will also give you a second income you can continue to work on (a hobby that makes money) into retirement.
Heres a link to another article on ways to make more money
The other way to lessen that financial impact of not having enough money is to downsize to a smaller house, one car, sell your stuff etc. It is possible to fix it now for later but start thinking about it now.
I’ve seen too many elderly persons working at Walmart and that is a real concern. I think it’s sad that they still have to work because they have to to pay their bills. If they are working to stay busy and make extra money that is a whole different story but I suspect if they had a real choice they would not be working at Walmart in their 80’s
Don’t let that be you! There are negative effects of retirement but they can all be avoided with a little planning.
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My goal is to create a retirement community where everyone can share their experiences of either being retired (we want to learn from you), preparing to save for retirement or making more money for retirement we want to hear from you.
If you are at all interested in creating your own blog (I have had so much fun with it!) I highly recommend Alex and Lauren’s courses at Create and Go. They have tried it all and now offer these courses on how to set up your own blog and avoid the mistakes they made.
You can make money Blogging, by the way, Alex and Lauren made $150K last month, so they know what they are talking about. It is an affiliate link, but I have purchased all their courses and love them. They are by far the experts in this area and genuinely want you to be successful.
My review of their Launch your Blog Course is here.
My review of their Pinterest Avalanche Course is here.
All the resources I recommend can be found on the Resources Page. I wouldn’t recommend them if I didn’t use them myself.
As always, If you have any questions don’t hesitate to drop me a line at theteam@wickedretirement.com I’ll always respond.