Saturday, October 20, 2007

Five Stages of Retirement

The Five Stages of Retirement by Michael Katz in the Street.com shares a joint study by AgeWave, Ameriprise Financial and Harris Interactive on the five emotional stages of retirement. A key point of the study is that emotional preparation is as important as financial preparation. Here is a table from the article showing the five stages:

The Five Stages of Retirement
Stage Timeframe Emotions, concerns and aspirations
Imagination Six to 15 Years Prior to Retirement • Growing enthusiasm and excitement as retirement gets closer.

• 74% expect to enjoy retirement a great deal.
Anticipation Zero to Five Years Prior to Retirement • Excited and hopeful until worry and doubt set in one to two years prior to retirement.

• 77% expect to enjoy retirement a great deal.
Liberation First Day to First Year of Retirement • Excited and relieved from work stress.

• 78% enjoying retirement a great deal.
Reorientation Two to 15 Years Into Retirement • For some, retirement is more challenging than they thought. May feel depressed and bored.

• Others reinvent themselves and undergo a transformation into a fulfilling new life.
Reconciliation16+ Into Retirement • Relatively content and less depressed and worried, but sad as they begin to confront end-of-life issues.

• 75% enjoying retirement a great deal.
Source: AgeWave, Ameripise Financial and Harris Interactive.

For me, I am enjoying the Liberation phase since I retired less than a month ago. However, since I retired in my forties, I also feel motivated to starting the next phase of Reorientation, to define the "meaningful purpose" in this third phase of life. I can't see 43.5 hours in front of the TV like the average retiree. I've already started taking classes on exploring my options (e.g. my dream job) and am excited about what the future may be.

For more on Reflections and Musings , check back every Saturdayfor a new segment.

This is not financial or retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2007 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do they say anything about people who can't retire? I'm very curious about what I can expect (I expect destitution, but I haven't seen anything from the financial planning community on the subject).

Super Saver said...

Minimum Wage,

Thanks for your comment.

While this post didn't cover people who expect to keep working, I did find another article that addressed the topic a bit at Will you ever be able to retire? The article recognizes that about 1/3 to 1/2 of boomers may not be able to retire at their current standard of living and may need to continue working.