Most of us plan for our retirement by figuring out the financial part first, then what we want to do with our free time. Seems simple enough, but most of us haven't really figured out what we want to do with our spare time. Time we use to work at a full-time job.
We spend a good amount of time working in our career field. You may work for several companies or maybe just for one main company or organization. We identify with our job, we fulfill our job responsibilities, feel a purpose for what we do, and are out in the 'real' world earning a living.
Then you either plan to retire or your job may be eliminated and throw you into retirement without so much as a "thank you very much". In my case, my job was eliminated after 31 years. I wasn't planning on retiring at least for another two years and even then I wasn't sure I would be able to.
Losing my job, applying for unemployment for the first time in my life and starting to collect my pension from my workplace, were all surprises for me in 2009. I was not prepared for this disruption in my life, to not have a job in such a depressed economy, the uncertainty of my future was weighing heavily on my mind.
Being a baby boomer, I don't feel my age, I feel much younger. So to lose my job at age 60 was like being cut down in my prime, I wasn't ready for it. At first it was the financial aspect of losing my job and seeking to find another job that plagued my mind. Would I be able to survive financially? Would I be able to find another job? Did I want to find another job? If I don't find a job, what will I do with my time?
A year and half have passed and it brings me to writing this blog about how to deal emotionally with retirement, whether planned or forced. Jump on board...let's share and learn at the same time, what it takes to find happiness in retirement!
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