Retirement can and should be an incredible time. After all, you have worked your entire life to achieve financial independence and “retire”.
But then why does The Wall Street Journal say that retirement can be one of the worst things for your health? According to this 2019 article, retirement is often the start of a slow decline that can ultimately lead to death.
But something didn’t feel right. Is retirement really just bad for your health or is there something we can do to make our golden years not just neutral but a huge net positive for our health and life?
After some additional research, I found that there are key mistakes that retirees commit that are giving retirement as a whole a bad reputation.
Killer Retirement Mistakes
But before I get too far, I want to clarify that I am not going to be focusing on the finance side of retirement in this article. I have written hundreds of articles on money and retirement and while that side is crucial, this article will focus on a different but still critical topic.
Bad Habits
There is just something about not having to go to work every day that makes it easy to slip into bad habits. This could be watching too much TV or even drinking or smoking too much.
Retirees tend to be more sedentary than their previous working selves which leads to a whole host of health issues. Without the set routine and structure that a job gives, many people struggle to develop and maintain solid healthy habits.
No Purpose
Most of us work 30-40 years in our careers before we retire. And for many of us, much of our drive and purpose comes from what we do 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.
When that mission disappears overnight, many retirees struggle to find a new mission. Because of this, it can be difficult to set goals and ultimately obtain the fulfillment that comes from reaching those goals.
Many retirees fill this void through a hobby, volunteering, or even starting a business.
No Social Life
As most people graduate college and enter the workforce, friendships and social circles tend to become ever more connected to the workplace. Afterall, it is not uncommon for people to spend more time during the week with their coworkers than their family.
Then that all changes as you retire. You no longer have the built-in social life that comes with working with a team. As a result, any social life that remains is often only what you proactively create.
Because of this, it is common for retirees to feel isolated if they don’t find new social circles relatively quickly in retirement.
The Good News
But despite all the challenges that retirees face as they transition to their new way of life, the good news is that all 3 of these mistakes are within our own control. We control what habits we develop and the goals we set for ourselves. We control how much energy we put into making new friends and building relationships.
Retirement can still be an incredible time free from the worries and drama of your job. But a great retirement does not happen by accident. It comes after years of preparation and planning. And as this article has shown, a great retirement is much more than being financially prepared. It is about creating a life that fulfills us and energizes us every day.
