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RETIREMENT CHALLENGES T Udhyakumar

RETIREMENT

When it comes to retirement, its notjustwhat you have that matters, but how you re-inventyourselfso that you retire with a sense of meaningfulness and significance.

The deep desire and continued need for reationships and companionship

For many, retirement is a period of soul-searching and transformation. Companions can oftenprovide guidance, and help define a new personal identity outside of work. This desire often

etends beyond what spouse or life partners can offer.

!any retirees find they need to forge new relationships and develop new companions throughhobby-related activities, volunteer work or social activities. "ome return to part-time #obs orsecond careers to fulfill this need. "uch social supports help retirees keep track of each otherslives, which provides another reason to live and stay healthy so they can continue to contribute.

A continued yearnin! to earn

$etirees start learning. !ore than three hundred %.". colleges have established &learning inretirement' programs to meet older adults need to be intellectually challenged.

Spiritua and hoistic "e#$ein!

To find meaning in retirement, retirees often return to faith-based endeavors or pursue personalspiritual matters to address well-being issues. !any find that such endeavors help to replace theemptiness that can accompany retirement, after the prestige, position and power of career nolonger provide that sense purpose. Time spent in retirement can make up for perceived missedopportunities due to work commitments. (mbracing spiritual matters helps many eperience

transformation and happiness as they enter retirement.

These three challenges are often overlooked when people plan for their retirement. )lderworkers are bombarded with retirement advice about money, health and relocation issues, yet

somehow we have forgotten that in retirement, the need for relationships, the thirst forlearning, and the desire for meaning become ma#or challenges that retirees struggle to fulfill.

Author - Maria Malayter, PhD. is the Director of the Center for Positive Aging and an Assistant Professor ofApplied Behavioral Sciences at ational-!ouis "niversity, Chicago. She previously served as an AssistantDean for the College of Arts and Sciences #efore she retired to #uild the Center for Positive Aginghttp*++www.todaysengineer.org++"ep+retirement.asp

http://www.todaysengineer.org/2008/Sep/retirement.asphttp://www.todaysengineer.org/2008/Sep/retirement.asp

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