4 Factors to Consider as You Think about Your Retirement

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Margaret Miyagishima, One of Thousands of Retirement Coaches on Noomii.

Not sure what to consider as you think about your retirement? Looking at the 4 factors of Structure, People Connection, Usefulness and Self Worth/Identity and determining what we need more of or less of can guide us in finding direction. Let’s look at each of them.
Structure: For some folks, having a daily and/or weekly plan makes their lives run much more smoothly. Instead of routine being a burden or hindrance, it’s a support. If that’s you, as you enter retirement, having a predictable routine may be comforting and supportive. This is not to say that you have as strict a routine as you did while working full time, rather that you have built a schedule that feels supportive and not constrictive. Let’s look at Pamela who trained for and then spent her entire working life in a medical related field. She excelled in it. Absolute accuracy and strictly following procedures were critical to her work’s success. Pamela thrived in this demanding environment and, as a busy mom, structured off duty time too. As she and I worked through an exercise on this topic together, once she saw the value of structure and routine to her, Pamela realized that her pre-planning for the first several months of her retirement was not excessive, it is simply matching her natural preference. Pamela knows that adding structure and routine to her retirement life is essential for her.
People connections: For some people, the people at work are what make everything worthwhile. Many people have built deep and lasting friendships with co-workers and clients. Some people may even have put more energy into work connections than into building and maintaining connections in the rest of their lives. Looking at Dolly, she is a social, outgoing, and curious person. Her work life was made richer by the relationships she formed and what she learned along the way. While working, she took time to volunteer with an arts organization in ways that connected her with others working towards the purpose of a seamless audience experience. As she enters retirement, she is exploring another volunteer opportunity. This role will not only help people young and young at heart to learn more about the natural world, it will also bring her into community with others who value this too. Dolly lights up when she talks about this new opportunity – another way to build new people connections and keep learning.
Usefulness: Many of us find a deep purpose in our work. We see daily how our work makes a difference. We feel valued when we are called upon for advice and guidance from more junior staff members, or when our opinion is sought. Let’s look at Grace, who had a long and rewarding career in public education in a way that combined both her teaching abilities and her technical training in libraries. She also has a love of history and is a gifted musician. Being able to play the piano both by ear and through written music are skills she shares generously. In retirement, Grace took up a volunteer role that would take advantage of her gifts and experiences both professionally and personally and would allow her to feel useful. These roles include playing the piano in a historic home when it is open to the public. This gift of music has brought pleasure to the thousands of people from around the world who visit the historic park and decide to stop by to have a look and a listen. She even takes requests! Many years later, her “summer job” at this public historical resource is a valued part of her life.
Self-worth/identity: This shows up in different ways. For some of us, after working for a lifetime to stay at the top of our game, many of us feel a sense of self-worth from our identity as a professional in our field. In retirement, we may need to find something else that gives us that feeling of self-worth, or perhaps continue to contribute in another capacity to our profession. Sometimes, though, the time and commitment required by our paid work has prevented us from fully exploring other key parts of ourselves. The time freedom that retirement brings offers new possibilities. Let’s look at Melody who has been a gifted musician since childhood. Music has been and most likely always will be integral to her life. However, for Melody, as a professional working in another field, music always had to take a back seat to working for a living. Through some exploration, she and I discovered that one area she would love to look at was expanding the role of music in her life and perhaps even earning some income while living out her dream. At first, it seemed completely unrealistic to even explore making music a larger component of her life. Once we looked at it, though, it wasn’t as farfetched as it might seem. Melody is excited about exploring this new identity.

Paying attention to the 4 factors to consider as you think about your retirement, you can move forward knowing that your direction is right for you. Which of these four areas feels like it’s primary for you? Secondary? I encourage you to book a discovery call with me to explore what is most important for you.

The 4 Considerations are based on the book Rethinking Retirement by Jeannette Lalonde and Mary Morency and are used with permission as a Licensed Associate of Rethinking Retirement.