Retirement Choices
How retirement looks is a very personal decision. As I prepared for this next chapter, I went on a personal quest to explore what a successful retirement looks like. The most profound piece of research I found was the 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development. The study found consistently that strong, positive human relationships are the most significant predictor of long-term happiness, health, and longevity. Therefore, in retirement social interaction will be a cornerstone of our life. However, we just sold our house and moved to a new area. How are we supposed to maintain social connections when we left behind where we raised our family? This is something we mulled over as we transitioned into the next chapter. What would retirement look like? In addition, some retirees sell it all and travel the world. We didn’t choose this path. Two long trips per year exploring the world is magical, but we still like to come home, have our own things around us, have a rest and see our friends and family. We have spent a lifetime traveling when teachers were off and schools were closed. We now live fifteen minutes from the beach, so we plan to travel in the shoulder seasons while being at home for the beach & the holidays. Our deep, northeast winters will be used for planning.
A lot of reflection led to the following:
We moved to a townhouse which has a smaller footprint, a gym & pool to manage my arthritis, and neighbors nearby for that all important social component. We have a small garden but no lawn or tree maintenance.
I began taking Osher Online Learning classes at SUNY StonyBrook. This is a national program offered at universities across the nation (Find a school near you). Again, socialization and keeping my brain engaged…Before you say “no thanks” to school, I’m talkin’ iPhone Photography to improve my travel photos, and Google Tools, which has seriously helped me to improve organization of my travel documents in Google Drive. I am also taking Yoga online to keep fit and a course on Film and The Law. I am enjoying getting to know my fellow students and choosing what I want to do with my days for the first time in decades.
Until we leave for our big fall trip, I work twelve hours a week mentoring a workforce development professional. Teaching and providing guidance for new employees in my field is rewarding and this helps to fund some of our upcoming adventures.
Now that the move is complete, planning for our big fall trip and developing this website with Vinny gives us a lot of details to organize. More on that in an upcoming blog post.
If you are thinking about your retirement, what do you want it to look like? Volunteer work? Part time employment? Grandchildren? Travel? Exercise? A walking club? Retiring when you have a game plan makes it a bit easier to transition to this next chapter. Stay tuned if you have questions, because we are happily sharing what we are learning along the way.
