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5 Keys to Avoiding Retirement Pitfalls

By Charlotte on August 29, 2012 6:00 AM

By Rob Pascale

 

I retired seven years ago and when I think back, I can see that change caught me completely by surprise. There were times I struggled, and still do today, to come to grips with this life stage - the lack of structure, the loss of personal identity and a meaningful role in our society, and the problem of having to fill so many hours in a day with personally meaningful stuff.

Pasacle 250.jpgTo cope, I went back to being a social scientist - not as a full-time, paid job but on my own terms, working when I wanted, studying what I wanted. I'd run a research company for about 25 years before exiting the workforce. So why not use my skills and my former company to study retirement?

 

We interviewed about 1,500 retirees studying a full array of issues related to the retirement lifestyle. That survey helped us find out how others are doing, uncover problems they've run into and collect tips from those who've retired successfully. The results, presented in The Retirement Maze (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, April 2012), were enlightening.

 

 

Rob Pascale,

author of The Retirement Maze

 

 

How can you avoid the pitfalls of retirement? Here are five tips we hope will help Baby Boomers like me who've already retired as well as those who'd like to be on that path:

 

  • Stay socially connected. Our survey showed that when you retire you lose about half your friends and spend half as much time in the company of others. Being socially connected is extremely important to one's psychological well-being so you have to make the effort to maintain contact with others. That means scheduling regular play dates with friends, joining clubs or organizations, and initiating other activities where you see people. Phone and email conversations don't count - they're not as not as emotionally beneficial as face-to-face meetings.

 

  • Manage your expectations. At first, retirement feels like a vacation. Unfortunately, however, most retirees, including myself, find those positive feelings only last a few months. Over time, some retirees even become disenchanted with the lifestyle, and begin questioning their decision to leave the workforce.

In our survey, we found that your expectations about retirement can affect how well and quickly you adjust. If you're overly positive, you may be disappointed because it's not as much fun as you thought it would be. On the other hand, if you're too negative, you may have problems embracing the retirement lifestyle. Either of these can be discouraging, and staying motivated is a key to success.

All in all, it's probably best to expect too little rather than too much, since you might find it harder to overcome disenchantment due to over-optimism than to live with the pleasant surprise that retirement's not so bad.

 

  • Plan how you'll use your time. Most retirees don't plan enough, and even those who do focus mostly on their finances. We found that only about 1 in 10 laid out detailed plans regarding their social life and the kinds of activities they'll pursue.

Despite the fact that I'm big on planning, I didn't look ahead to the specific steps I'd follow in retirement. I was so in love with the idea of stress-free days and being able to do whatever I wanted that I didn't think enough about what I actually would do, day after day, when I was no longer working. I had some general ideas but nothing specific. The emotional issues I experienced - the sense of feeling lost and disconnected -- because I had not planned enough were difficult and wholly unexpected, and in retrospect, probably caused me as much worry as my job had.

 

  • Keep your plans realistic. After I retired, I thought I would enjoy starting some businesses in new fields. As ridiculous is it sounds, within three years, I had five separate companies going. None of these did well, and I finally had to admit I just didn't want to work as hard as was required to make them successful.

Looking back, these efforts were a waste. I ran a company throughout my professional life, and knew well what was required just to keep one company afloat. How could I possibly have thought I could make several companies successful working each part time?

When plans and goals are unrealistic, success is unlikely. You risk failure that can lead to disappointment and inhibit you from pursuing alternative paths.

 

  • Work on adopting the retiree role. Our roles define us. The worker role is one that is well-ingrained and important for success on the job. This role has to be discarded since it may prevent you acting as a retiree.

I personally found that, well into my retirement, I still looked at myself in terms of my former role as a businessman and market researcher. I was stuck between two worlds. I wasn't a member of the business world but I wasn't willing to define myself as a retiree. This mindset blocked my developing a satisfying retirement lifestyle - not completely, of course, but just enough to slow down my adjustment process.

In truth, I'm not sure I could've done things differently to achieve a smoother transition -- I made wrong turns, headed down a few blind alleys, made some silly choices. But it's impossible to know what retirement is really like until you're actually in it.

 

Eventually, I learned it's about trying new things, keeping an open mind and moving forward. In retirement, you have to re-build your life, and the only way to do so is through trial and error. So, I don't look back on my first years in retirement as mistake-ridden, but rather as a process of trying to find my way.

 

And I am happy with my decision to retire. I answer to no one and have nothing I must do. My wife and I even sold our house so that we're not encumbered by the endless time needed to maintain it. Although I cannot say I'm completely adjusted yet - that takes time, I'm glad to be on the journey.

 

***

 

Boomer Rob Pascale founded Marketing Analysts, Inc. (Mai), a quantitative market research company that over the years has grown into a highly respected international research firm. He retired from full-time responsibilities at 51. Throughout his 25-year tenure as president of Mai, Dr. Pascale was directly involved in more than 5,000 research studies for more than 50 of the largest corporations in the world and has polled well over two million consumers.

 

 

 

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