Retirement, part 2 : What do we need and want? Who needs us?
In Part 1: Retirement. What actually happens when we retire?, I contemplated the fact that so many people aren’t really prepared for retirement. I wrote about how many people do not plan the more fulfilling aspects of retirement such as where they will get their mental challenges and their social life, and commented that retirement is often a time to re-evaluate one’s identity and at times, our intimate relationships. In Part 2, I hope to point you toward some helpful avenues to finding what’s fulfilling to you. For years, our work has provided us with a structure to our days, [...]
Retirement, part 1 : What actually happens when we retire?
People think many things about retirement, their own and others’. What does the word “retirement” mean? Commonly, we understand it as withdrawing from or ceasing to work, withdrawing from the productive structured life that has held us up – and held us back. Withdrawing from the life we’ve found ourselves in, usually for decades, by choice or accident (or a bit of both). It begs the question then, withdraw to what? Many people eagerly look forward to leaving the stresses and constraints of their job behind. They’ve carefully planned for financial stability to continue to lead the life to which [...]