employee assistance program betsy johnson, lcsw [email protected] ready to retire?
TRANSCRIPT
The magic and the curse of retirement is that it is the same as your earlier life; it is all up to you. You can pursue whatever you wish. Just be careful what you wish for.
Bill Roiter Beyond Work, 2008
THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE?
“The only people who usually don’t adjust well to retirement are people who never had any life outside of their work . . . they need to find a new life. It is especially important for workaholics to identify a purpose in their life.”
Encyclopedia of Ageism, by Erdman Palmore
Based on Palmore’s research: Aging and retirement are usually better than most people expect. Lot of negative stereotypes
are mostly myths. Unless you have a major problem (health, finances) than you will probably be happy in retirement.
It’s important to educate yourself about the facts of aging. Stay active!
Five stages of Retirement
Preparation
Celebration
Honeymoon
Reality
Reorientation
Dr. Sara Yogev, Chicago, Ill., Business Week
Life Balance
Successful retirement depends on your ability to balance the 4 domains of life:
Financial Physical Social Personal
http://www.beyondwork.net/ “take our retirement profile”
Financial Domain
Roiter’s recommendations: 1. Learn as much you can absorb about your financial situation. 2. Work with a financial advisor you trust.
What gets in the way?Denial – we don’t want to think about it – it’s too depressing – but there are good reasons to do so:
It’s easier that you think Knowledge is power
What steps do people take when they decide to work on their financial readiness for retirement?
Physical Domain
Successful Aging, Rowe & Kahn , findings of the 10yr MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America:
Many of the fears about functional loss are exaggeratedMuch functional loss can be preventedMany functional losses can be regained
Expectation Management
Don’t look back (except to enjoy the memories and recall lessons learned). Respect who you are TODAY.
Look ahead - “Aging is scary when you are ignorant of the future.” LEARN.
Get past negative assumptions. “The more you learn, the fewer assumptions you will have. Assumptions can “create an expectation that things will be worse than they actually may be, causing us to feel pain and worry when there is no need, resulting in a loss of enjoyment and competence.”
Healthy Aging
The 7 variables that were shown to predict healthy aging:
1. No heavy smoking2. No alcohol abuse3. Stable marriage4. Some exercise5. Not overweight6. Adaptive coping styles (mature defenses) – how you
manage problems & anxiety7. Years of education – more years can increase longevity
You at this
moment
Culture Physical Health
Mental Social Health Health
Spiritual Health
Lifestyle behaviors (diet, smoking, physical activity, coping with stress, sleep); genetics
Current state of health; visible signs and symptoms. Sum of the other layers beneath.
Environment
Fulfilling relationships with others
Living a life with meaning and purpose; fits one’s core values, guiding principles, beliefs; caring for yourself and others
Intellectual – Mental tasksEmotional – Expressing emotions, coping, attitude,ability to adapt to change
Source: Taking Care of You University of Missouri Extension
“Iceberg of Health”
Social Domain
“Loneliness is one of the greatest fears we face as we leave work . . . . So how do you make friendships in the years beyond work?”
SOCIAL SUPPORT CORRELATES WITH A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE.
What do retirees miss most? 65 percent said they missed the daily interactions with their co-workers, the camaraderie and structure of their work life.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/retirees-miss-most-least-pre-120000028.html
Review of the 4 domains
Financial: Enough Money?Physical: Managing Your Health?Social: Satisfying Relationships?
Personal: Happy? Know what you want of life? Does your world work for you? Do you feel satisfied?
“The saying usually goes, ‘if you don’t have health, you havenothing.’ I would amend it to‘if you don’t enjoy life, you havenothing.’ What you have is whatliving day to day gives you. It is what you make of whatyou have that creates your life.”
Personal Domain
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.
You are all geniuses, and you are all beautiful. You don't need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. John Lennon
Who am I?
Personality: what others see; how you behave in the world.
Character: your internal beliefs and values; why you do what you do.
Character cannot be developed in Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through ease and quiet. Only through experience and suffering can the experience and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success ambition inspired, and success achieved. achieved.
Helen KellerHelen Keller
Know Thyself . . . How?
IntrospectionSelf-ReflectionPrayer and MeditationPausing to ThinkOpen to new information, but with
boundaries
Spiritual Identity?
“A spiritual identity represents your personality and character and uses your self-awareness to help you understand, to make sense of your world.”
The 3 Ages of New Adulthood:
Making the Move
Enjoying the Life
Appreciating the Life
Develop a Retirement Action Plan
Take the “How Confident Are You?” quiz. www.beyondwork.net
Identify your core focus for retirement. Think about what’s important to you.Explore your goals. Write them down. Take small action steps.Review and revisit your goals.
“It’s All In Your Attitude”
“As you transition into your new adulthood you have an opportunity that has not existed since your early 20s. You have the opportunity to choose who you want to be and how you want to live, and this opportunity is backed by your years of hard-won knowledge of what works and does not work for you.”
