When it is too early to start planning your life post-work? And what do you need to do? Find out how to prepare for the five stages of retirement.
When you’re younger, retirement can feel like a long way off. A time when a very different version of you will stop working and… do what? Travel? Jigsaws? Gardening?
You’ve seen your parents, aunts and uncles and maybe even grandparents retire, and assume that you’ll simply slot into your own version of what retirement means to you when it’s your time.
But giving up almost a lifetime of working, with all the routine, security and sense of identity that comes with it isn’t always a smooth transition. In fact, for some people it can feel quite traumatic. This can lead to significant life changes (research shows that ’later life’ divorces account for 17% of all divorces in the UK), and even depression (a 19-year study found a “peak in depressive disorders” after retirement).
So how can you avoid falling into the common traps that impact many at this important life milestone? The good news is that there are some ways you can prepare.
Why you need to know the five stages of retirement
The first step is to understand how you might feel when you retire – and this can change depending on where you are in your retirement journey. Research published by sociologist Robert Atchley in 1975 identified seven stages of retirement:
- Retirement is far away
- Preretirement phase
- Honeymoon phase
- Disappointment phase
- Reorientation phase
- Stability phase
- Terminal phase
Today, these have been simplified to five stages of retirement:
- Pre-retirement: During this time you are planning for your retirement.
- Honeymoon: You have just retired and are relishing your new freedom.
- Disenchantment: The novelty of retiring wears off and you can feel lost and sad.
- Reorientation: You work out what you need to change to build a new, fulfilling life.
- Stability: You find a routine that meets your needs and helps you feel fulfilled.
The trap that too many people fall into is that they only plan their retirement as far as working out their finances – if even that! They don’t properly consider what they need to be happy and fulfilled, and how they can find a life that meets those needs once their working life has ended.
As a result, they can have a rocky journey working through these five stages of retirement. I don’t want that for you. I want the transition to be as smooth as possible for you, and for you to build a retirement life you love.
So let’s look at how you can properly prepare for each stage of retirement.
How to prepare for the pre-retirement phase of retirement
Unless you have already retired, you are in the pre-retirement phase now. And this is when most of the planning for a good retirement will start.
Firstly, and importantly, you need to ensure you are adequately saving enough for your retirement. While money isn’t all you need for a good retirement, not worrying about money, and having enough to pursue your interests is essential for good mental health.
So how much money DO you need to retire? I prepared an article answering this question here. I have also created a retirement gap calculator for you here. The calculator will help you work out how much money you need to live on, and what you are currently projected to have.
Money isn’t the only thing you need to plan. You also need to answer other important questions:
- Where do you want to live? Can you afford to stay in your home now? Do you want to move to be nearer friends or family?
- What do you want to do with your day? Are you someone who needs to keep active and busy? Or are you happy doing little?
- How much socialising do you need? Are you a solitary person, or do you thrive on interacting with others?
- How much of a challenge do you want? Do you see retirement as a chance to slow down, or are you someone who needs to be challenged?
- How do you want to retire? Are you excited about a complete, sudden stop with work, or would you like to work part time or volunteer for a while?
You may not know all the answers to these questions now, but it’s important to be aware of them, and start thinking about them now. So you can put any preparations you need to in place.
For example, in my own life, I know I need to be challenged, I thrive on being around other people, and I need some kind of structure to my day. I also want to be active and travel.
So although I am only in my early 50s, I have increased the amount of activity I do – two Iyengar yoga classes a week and two hours of pickleball. I have also applied for a volunteer role that will require a minimum of 16 hours of work a month and enable me to work as a team, and give me plenty of variety and challenge. And I have built a life rich with wonderful friends and family who I see often.
Basically I am preparing my body for retirement, and exploring activities that can potentially meet some of my needs when I retire.
How to prepare for the honeymoon phase of retirement
When you first stop work, it’s common to feel a sense of euphoria. Your working life has finally come to an end! You can now decide what you do, all day, every day. You can lie in bed as long as you like, and go to the cinema on a Monday afternoon, if you wish.
But some people can also feel slightly bittersweet, with a niggling sense of worry, and maybe even loss. After all, this is a significant life milestone, but one that marks the end of your career. And even in these early giddy days of freedom, you may feel a tinge of regret.
So be kind to yourself. Understand the everyone will have their own response to retiring and there is no right or wrong. Don’t have any expectations in advance about how you might feel, but understand that your emotions may be quite complex at this time – and that is fine.
How to prepare for the disenchantment phase of retirement
Around one to two months after retiring, you might enter the disenchantment phase. By now, the novelty of lying in bed late and lack of imposed routine wears off, and you may find yourself feeling bored, dissatisfied and lacking in motivation and direction.
If you have felt niggles of regret or sadness at retiring, those niggles can balloon and you might struggle with your identity and a lack of structure; one day can blend uneventfully into another.
This is where your preparations will pay off. You’ll recognise these feelings and understand why you are having them, and that they are temporary. They’re just part of the process.
You will also hopefully have an idea of your needs (remember those questions you asked yourself earlier?) and perhaps even started putting things in place in your life to meet them.
How to prepare for the reorientation phase of retirement
This is where that earlier work you have done comes into its own. Rather than sit and dwell in the disenchantment phase, you can take positive action to build a new life that you love.
Start planning your days, to the extent it suits you. Plan activities that will occupy and stimulate you. Arrange to meet people. Get into a routine of waking up and put structure into your day so you have the security of familiarity and a reason to get out of bed.
If at first you don’t find a routine or activity that fits for you, experiment with new ones. You may need to kiss a few volunteer or social frogs before you find your perfect match; and that is fine! Be prepared to be brave and experiment as much as you feel comfortable. Only you know what your needs are – and it is important that you DO know what your needs are.
Understanding in advance what you will need to do when you reach this phase of retirement can help . So get to know yourself as well as you can now. You are not going to drastically change once you retire; your likes will still be your likes. The more you understand what you need to be happy now, and build a life that fulfils you, the easier you will find it to do the same when you retire.
How to prepare for the stability phase of retirement
Eventually you will transition to the stability phase of retirement. The ideal though, is to find a stability that makes you happy. If you follow this process through properly, you’ll have consciously built a life that meets your needs.
Don’t let yourself sleepwalk into a retirement that dulls you into an earlier grave, or makes you miserable and small. The world is still there for your taking, and you deserve to live out the rest of your life – a time that could span several decades – doing things you love.
So, before you get to this point, you need to actively think about what retirement looks like to you. If you do this, you’ll have a good sense of whether the life you end up living is right for you and will make you happy. And if it doesn’t, you will know to make changes so it does.
Make sure you start preparing for your retirement today
It’s never too early to start preparing for your retirement. The better you know yourself at 20, 30, 40 and 50 years old, the easier you will find it to build a retirement life you love. So make sure you live your life to the full now, and start thinking about what you might need once work is no longer there to give your life structure and meaning, and contribute to your sense of self.
