Route 66

Last Monday was Patriot’s Day and the 121st running of the Boston Marathon. As I watched the last of the runners straggle down Comm. Ave. toward the finish line 7 miles to the east in Boston, it got me thinking about paths people can take when they retire. The 6 paths below were chronicled in a book, Too Young to Be Old, by Nancy Schlossberg.

• “Continuers” modify their activities while continuing along a similar path.
  
• “Adventurers” see an opportunity to pursue an unrealized dream or try something new.
• “Easy Gliders” decide that retirement is a time to relax and take each day as it comes.
• “Involved Spectators” receive satisfaction by staying involved with their previous work.
• “Searchers” try to find a new niche and when that plays out, look for something to replace it.
• “Retreaters” disengage from their previous routine and try to figure out what’s next or simply get depressed and become couch potatoes.

Staying with the number 6, there are an equal number of retirement phases one goes through according to Investopedia.

• Pre-retirement Planning Time--when you get to ponder the future and put the financial pieces of your life to be in order.
  
• The Big Day--when you actually retire.
• The Honeymoon--when you start implementing your plans and fulfilling your dreams.
• Disenchantment--when the emotional high of retirement has worn off and you realize that retirement isn’t a permanent vacation.
• Reorientation--figuring out what the purpose of your life is and establishing a new identity. 
  
• Routine/Moving On--creating a new daily routine to ride out the emotional peaks and valleys of your retirement years.  
  

Learn more:
http://www.nextavenue.org/retirement-paths-will-follow/?hide_newsletter=true&utm_source=Next+Avenue+Email+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c08b95bfed-04_06_2017_Thursday_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_056a405b5a-c08b95bfed-165523841&mc_cid=c08b95bfed&mc_eid=4b8d7515b9
http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4441029.aspx
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/07/sixstages.asp?rp=y&partner=YahooSA