The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Marie. You can read more of Marie’s articles over at her own blog, Family Money Values. Enjoy!
Although most of us are extremely busy leading our lives going about our daily routines, at some point, you might take a moment to wonder what to expect if and when you do ‘retire’.
Are there patterns that most people follow during their retirement years? Are there similarities in things such as what we spend money on, how much we travel, amount of time spent with family, part time jobs or volunteerism activities. Are there patterns that occur at different points in retirement – at different ages?
I’ve been retired now (or semi retired) since spring 2010. I’ve observed some changes in the way I deal with retirement and have noticed changes in other retired folks that I know as well.
The Planning Years
Before you actually retire, you are probably spending at least some time thinking about finances after you leave the workforce. How much do you need to save to quit work, how much can you spend after you retire, will your taxes be less (unlikely) or more when you do retire – all these can be ongoing concerns from the time you first start imagining a retirement.
Closer to the actual retirement date, you may spend time doing some analysis of current expenses to compare that to the income you anticipate drawing during retirement. Of course you also need to add on any additional expenses that you may anticipate during retirement – moving, travel, health spending, new hobbies, etc.
I spent quite a bit of time in 2009 pouring through checkbooks and building spreadsheets of all our expenses for the past few years – then classifying them as required vs discretionary – to see where we would stand.
The Early Years
The early years of your retirement may diverge wildly from what other retirees do.
If you are healthy, active and well funded, these years may include multiple vacations, and/or more spending on entertainment such as concerts, tours, theaters and restaurants. Some decide to pursue a dream – such as living in another part of the country or world, or selling the house and buying an RV, or pursuing more education or training.
You may decide to try to spend more time with family members, perhaps assisting with the care of your grandchildren or visiting out of town relatives or simply doing more with your spouse.
You probably are making adjustments to the absence of work related activities, associates and recognition. You may be making related adjustments to the constant presence of a spouse – finding balance between the need for your own time and the time you share.
Most start these years with eager anticipation and many change lifestyles. I dedicated time to learning how to build my website (FamilyMoneyValues.com) and finally achieving a life long desire to write and publish. My spouse, after spending 30 years encased in a cubicle, has spent his retirement so far joyously working outside on our 6 acres. A couple I know downsized from a luxury home to a luxury condo – not for the savings, but for the freedom from some of the homeowner chores. They became snowbirds – relocating from the Midwest to the Southwest during the winter. An aunt and uncle sold their subdivision home and went back to farm living – complete with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, cattle and cats.
Cautious retirees carefully track spending and income in their early years, until they are comfortable that their new levels of income will support their new lifestyles. It can be difficult to adjust to varying amounts of income as opposed to a regular paycheck. It is hard to anticipate what you can spend or what you will have to put aside for taxes when a good part of your income is paid out once a year at year end in the form of interest and dividends.
The Middle Years
After the initial thrill of not having to go to work every day wears off, retirees typically settle into a new pattern. Spouses generally will have worked out new routines of living together and may have had an opportunity to deepen their understanding of each other (or on the other end of the spectrum, discover they are really incompatible).
On the whole, more than half of surveyed retirees report being well satisfied with life.
However, questions of self-worth may start to arise during these years, perhaps causing an interest in finding and supporting a cause – leading to volunteerism. According to the National Institute of Aging’s Health and Retirement Study:
“People ages 60 to 69 at the time were most likely to have engaged in volunteer service, with one in three people in that age group having done so.”
To counteract feelings of worthlessness, some decide to take a more active role with grandchildren, or find a way to mentor others in an area of expertise.
Health issues may begin to plague us during our middle retirement years. At a minimum, incidents of arthritis, hypertension and suspicion of cognitive impairment (you know – those ‘senior moments’) increase.
Some may find themselves slowing down, becoming less physically active due to depression, flagging interest in formerly enjoyable endeavors or health issues.
Loss of physical and mental ability can be disconcerting to us as we move through retirement stages. Adjusting to fading eyesight and reduced hearing as well as increased difficulty in moving through the day can take awhile. These signs of our impending mortality can make a person seek answers to the age old question of what happens when I die, or what purpose do I have on Earth.
The Later Years
As we age through retirement, we encounter more limitations and health restrictions to our activities. However, in spite of that most of us continue to own our own homes. The Health and Retirement Survey is finding that even among those 85 and older, more than half of the study participants (which were selected to be a broad spectrum of the American population) live in their own home.
Spending on health care typically rises during these years – whether from increased out of pocket prescription and doctor costs; more frequent hospitalization; or from the need for increasing daily activity care.
That Aunt and Uncle I mentioned above that moved to back to the farm in their early retirement years later moved (in their 80’s) to a smaller home across the country to get closer to a daughter and now have settled into a graduated retirement living center. They are now in their 90’s and are in an independent living unit, but receive house cleaning, maintenance and cooking services. They are set to be able to receive more care from the facility if needed as their bodies continue to fail. For now, they still enjoy the center’s activities, their church and weekly visits to the daughter’s house – and both still drive.
A 93 year old mother-in-law, was moved to a senior living center closer to family. Although still mobile and alert, her failing eyes (macro degeneration) and unreliable knees cause multiple doctor visits a month. A decade ago, she gave up driving due to her eyes, so one of the kids escorts her around town. She has a one bedroom apartment in a multistory center and gets maid, laundry and meals and maintenance as part of her rent. She is active attending family events her many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren generate, as well as participating in activities put on by the senior living center – such as morning exercise.
How about you all? What have you observed about the patterns of retiree’s?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/120360673@N04/13856204644/
