Finding Purpose in Retirement

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Finding Purpose in Retirement
Retirement planning isn't just about savings
Last Updated: 09/19/2008
By Gayle Turim

If you're an American baby boomer, the chances that you'll live into your 80s, even 90s, are better than those of any previous generation. And though it's unlikely that in your later years you'll still be working nine to five every day, the idea of your retiring in the old-time sense of 24/7 porch-rocking, knitting, and golf is now probably unlikely as well. Retirement is changing, and opportunities to find purpose in retirement are just waiting for those who seek them out. David Corbett, an expert in career transitions and the author of Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50 (John Wiley & Sons), calls the time after you leave full-time employment your "post-career years." And he says these times can be filled with promise and potential — if you give your retirement, and what you want to do with your days, the advance planning it deserves.

Retirement Planning: Finding Your Purpose
To make the last one-third (or more) of your life as fulfilling as possible, take time to define some goals and identify a guiding purpose for yourself, stresses Harold G. Koenig, MD, professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and codirector of Duke's Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health. To begin planning for retirement, he suggests that you inventory your personality traits, your likes and dislikes, spiritual values, and time and physical constraints.

Be honest: Are you happiest as a leader or a follower? Is being outdoors important to you? Would you rather deal with people one-on-one or in groups? What strengths do you have that others have always admired? With your answers to these questions in hand, you can then begin to seek out worthwhile opportunities — whether you'll be paid or unpaid — that you will find fulfilling.

"If you need help in retirement planning or goal-setting, consider consulting a pastor or a social worker with gerontology experience," Dr. Koenig suggests. "Some universities offer adult-ed courses related to finding purpose in retirement, and if you attend one of those, you'll see how normal your own struggles really are."

Retirement Planning: Focus on Significance, Friends, and Fun
Dr. Koenig advocates strongly for incorporating altruistic and spiritual elements into whatever it is that you choose to do with your time, ideas he details in his book Purpose and Power in Retirement: New Opportunities for Meaning and Significance (Templeton Foundation Press). Such activities can be anything from calling and checking on housebound seniors to working in a kindergarten classroom to creating a fund-raising plan for a local charity. "You'll probably get an immeasurable return on your investment of time and effort," he points out. "Sometimes [in life] you don't hear 'thank you' as much as you'd like. That's easier to deal with when your inspiration for being there includes your own personal incentives, which give you a more powerful motivation."

Another goal to fit in to your retirement plan should be keeping friend and family bonds as strong and positive as possible. Having confidantes — simply people to talk to — reduces psychological stress, Dr. Koenig notes, and quelling stress may also help your physical health in many ways, from bolstering your immune system to reducing your risk of heart disease.

Avocations from canasta to cruising are an important part of a balanced "life portfolio," too, but even in hobbies, we should have purpose, Corbett maintains. He offers the story of former Exxon executive, Al McNeilly, as an example of someone who's embraced this philosophy. Now in his 80s, the one-time Exxon mogul spends his days hand-hauling 42 heavy lobster traps up from the water near his beloved Maine home; McNeilly does this not for the money but to stay firmly engaged in the friendly — and aging-defying — competition among the local lobstermen.

Retirement Planning: Factor in Health
As valuable as they are, fun, purposeful goals, good deeds, and friends aren't quite enough to ensure continued good physical health. So you also need to plan on finding an internist or geriatrician to manage your medical needs as you age. "Interview several doctors until you find one you really like," Dr. Koenig suggests, "and do it well before you turn 65. Many physicians aren't accepting new patients on Medicare, but if you're already in the practice before then, they're not likely to stop seeing you."

Resolve to remain as active as possible, despite minor aches and pains. Dr. Koenig describes reducing activity when you're achy as a "vicious downward cycle," leading to continued inactivity, further deconditioning of muscles and joints, and potentially, true debility and dependence.

At any age, but maybe especially after 60, "good health requires sacrifice and discipline," says Dr. Koenig. "But it's definitely worth the effort."

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