Six Stages of Retirement?

[oneill225]

Everyone's RE transition is different I think. Not everyone was happy to retire, some sort of ran out of options, etc.

I still maintain that you're not mentally retired until you STOP saying things like "everyday feels like vacation/Saturday"; you're still using work as your context and reference.
Once you leave that work context behind, you've really moved on to a new life.

Of course, YMMV

This made me ponder a little. On one level, I agree that framing ones feelings around a day off from employment keeps us in work mode, but I cannot see how to look at it any other way. If I ever grow to view my days in retirement as nothing special, then I think I will be losing something that makes me feel good. So, I have no problem looking at my life as "vacation"; that is a good thing.

 

[Scuba]

Actually I can relate to both points of view. Generally I no longer care or necessarily know what day of the week it is, which I see as an improvement. However since most of the rest of the world including many of our friends still w*rk, a lot of our social plans still revolve around weekends. But we do enjoy lunches out with our retired friends, as we had today on a Tuesday[emoji41]

 

[Kickernick]

The article is complete BS. What part of complete freedom is there not to like?

 

[CaptTom]

The article is complete BS. What part of complete freedom is there not to like?

Not sure I'd go that far, but I do take it with a grain of salt. Look at the source. From what I've seen, many financial planners seem to be trying to encourage everyone to w*rk longer.

When I read something like this, I wonder what's in it for them?

 

[marko]

This made me ponder a little. On one level, I agree that framing ones feelings around a day off from employment keeps us in work mode, but I cannot see how to look at it any other way. If I ever grow to view my days in retirement as nothing special, then I think I will be losing something that makes me feel good. So, I have no problem looking at my life as "vacation"; that is a good thing.

Hey, I didn't mean that every day isn't special! They are! There's something great about waking up when you want, going to Home Depot at 10AM on a Thursday morning, sitting there listening to the birds on your deck at lunchtime.

What I meant was that IMHO being fully retired, you eventually lose the work context of 'everyday is Saturday'. If being 'on vacation' works best for you, go for it!! Or it may be something you grow out of!

 

[oneill225]

I think I get where you are coming from and I have no problem if looking at it from that perspective works for you. It is a small philosophical point that I am making. Namely, that we value/judge things by comparing them to something else (relativity). We enjoy a day of freedom by comparing it to a day spent in employment. If we remove the comparison, then we water-down the experience to just another day. For me, getting to that point serves no positive purpose.

 

[Car-Guy]

Let's see:

Stage 1 - took me about 45 years.
Stage 2 - about 1 day (maybe less)
Stage 3 - It took me about a year to settle completely into my new life
Stage 4 - missed stage 4
Stage 5 - missed stage 5 too for the most part
Stage 6 - 5 years and counting and it's evolving

 

[Gumby]

Man, I've got a giant head start on this process! I'm already useless and disillusioned, and I'm not even retired yet.

 

[Ohio Tealady]

I am at the stage where I do not care to stage.

+1

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I've read a lot of retirement articles which seem to be geared towards people who seem to derive a lot of purpose and status from their jobs. I think that leads to a lot of the disenchantment and a need for reorientation.

On this board, it seems like people feel less defined by their jobs and look forward to apply focus on other things in life. Personally, I appreciate my job and all that it's provided to me. But I'm wanting to focus on other interests in life. I'm not sure if my other interests will be able to fill all of my time yet but I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to explore more.

 

[Koolau]

I've read a lot of retirement articles which seem to be geared towards people who seem to derive a lot of purpose and status from their jobs. I think that leads to a lot of the disenchantment and a need for reorientation.

On this board, it seems like people feel less defined by their jobs and look forward to apply focus on other things in life. Personally, I appreciate my job and all that it's provided to me. But I'm wanting to focus on other interests in life. I'm not sure if my other interests will be able to fill all of my time yet but I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to explore more.

Mentioned elsewhere I took a "C*reer Anchor" w*rship at w*rk. This is one of those M-B kind of exercises but the output is purported to tell one what keeps him/her "anchored" to a c*reer. My two main anchors were "Competence" (I liked to be recognized and also feel competent in my c*reer.) Second was "Lifestyle" (which was roughly boiled down to I w*rked to get money to do what i really wanted to do - e.g., ER!)

SO.. It's not so amazing that I stayed beyond FI because I still found "fulfillment" there (I WAS indeed widely regarded as competent in my field, position, accomplishments, etc.). When the w*rk assignment changed, I was outtathere (by end of the week!) Fortunately, the "Lifestyle" meant that I knew what I wanted (well financed ER) and that was what I got. Never really looked back as I find ER too rewarding to think much about what might have been. YMMV

 

[Milton]

I'm going to guess that the people that write these kind of article have never gone through their 6 steps! Case in point Mark P. Cussen, CFP®, CMFC, AFC Bio | Investopedia is the authors creds. Nothing there leads me to believe he has a clue what 'everyone' is looking for.

Absolutely right!