Preparing For Unseen Challenges Of Retirement

It’s been a year to date since I retired. The experience and reflections brought different perspective to approaching retirement. My cliched statement on retirement was, it’s not about re-tiring holds truth, yet many who diligently build a corpus struggle to enjoy it. The biggest threat of retirement is not just living long but outliving your plans – both financially and psychologically.

While financial advisors and planners excel at quantifying the retirement (corpus calculations, tax efficiencies, estate/legacy planning), the qualitative transition often gets unaddressed, leaving retirees unprepared for the invisible challenges.

The unseen challenges of retirement include:

Loss of identity:For decades, our careers defined us. Retirement strips that away, almost overnight, creating a void. Survey across the world highlight this.

AARP survey of 2022 puts that 37 per cent of the retirees struggled with a loss of identity after leaving work while a Harvard study on retirement well-being (2021) found that 23 per cent reported higher life satisfaction who replaced their work identity with a new role (e.g. Volunteer, part-time consultant, etc.)

Max Life India retirement index study (2023) found that 47 per cent of the retirees felt a loss of purpose after leaving work and only 28 per cent have planned for how they’d spend time post-retirement. A ICICI Pru retirement study (2022) found that women retirees faced a sharper identity crisis (61 per cent) compared to men (45 per cent)

Social isolation: Professional life ensures built-in social interactions either by design or default. The associations related to work seize upon retirement and difficult to retain the social cohesion into future. However, retirement demands deliberate efforts to rebuild social relationships based on our passions, ideally prepared from younger age itself.

A US health and retirement study (2023) revealed that 1 in 3 retirees felt lonelier after retirement, esp. those who relied on workplace social connections and witnessed 40 per cent reduction in loneliness in retirees who joined social groups (book clubs, fitness classes, etc.). Most importantly socially active retirees had a 30 per cent lower risk of cognitive decline.

Purpose void: Most work involves timelines, goals, aspirations, meetings, etc. which keep one busy and attentive. Retirement upends this without replacement pursuits, turning into monotonous. Most people believe money answers all ills, it’s not true. It enables comfort but can’t replace purpose.

Data shows that 28 per cent felt purposeless in the first two years of retirement (AARP survey 2022) while the Harvard study (2021) showed that without a structured activity the respondents were two times likely to experience early depression.

A HSBC Future of retirement report India (2023) found 23 per cent of retirees depended solely on family for emotional support. However, 1 in 4 felt neglected by younger generation due to changing lifestyles.

The happiest of the retirees don’t just stop working, they start living differently. Here’s how:

Redefine your identity: From ‘what was I’ to ‘what am I now’. Leverage your extensive work experience to explore roles like mentor, hobbyist, writer or volunteer. Unlike the earlier you, don’t expect to make returns on each of these activities. The primary objective is to be cognitively, socially and physically stay active.

Design a routine: It’s difficult to snap out of a rigid work timing all-of-a-sudden. Structure a new routine which is more flexible that includes exercise, reading, passion projects, etc.

Cultivate connections: Rebuild your social portfolio that’s beyond the professional connections. Ideally, this is to begin pre-retirement so that the transition is easier. Join clubs, travel groups or community initiatives while bridging generations. Engage with younger family members or mentees, their energy is contagious.

Micro-purpose: Embrace small goals and win each of them. Cooking a new recipe, finishing a book, helping someone or a cause. Try adding meaning to each of your activity. Measure yourself on the impact it creates.

Psychological longevity: As you diversify your investments, diversify your interests. It’s difficult to sustain a single hobby for decades, stay curious. The brain thrives on novelty. Charlie Munger is a great example of this.

Acknowledge that retirement automatically doesn’t bring bliss but a pivot. The financial corpus is just the ticket, but the real journey is designing a life where money serves your happiness not the other way around. The first question to pose for oneself is: Am I retiring from work or am I retiring into something greater? That answer would provide the enlightenment.

Also, the financial planners/advisors should look beyond the spreadsheets. Recognize that emotional preparedness could lag the clients’ financial planning. Advisors should expand their conversations on what does a fulfilling day looks like for their clients in retirement, how will they replace the intellectual stimulation and social interactions work provided them and what scares them most about this transition.

(The author is a partner at Wealocity Analytics, a SEBI registered Research Analyst and could be reached at [email protected])