You’ve spent decades saving for retirement. But now that you’re finally ready to take the leap and leave the workforce, you’re overwhelmed by anxiety. For years, you expected that retirement would bring nothing but relief and relaxation. Yet the reality of retiring might be more nerve-wracking than you expected.
Why does retirement often trigger anxiety? Exiting the workforce marks a major lifestyle change. After working hard for years and years, you’re suddenly faced with endless free time. It’s all too easy to feel disoriented and detached when you have an empty calendar. Here’s why retirement can bring on anxiety, and how you can take steps to address these feelings.
Losing a Sense of Purpose
Perhaps your job gave you a sense of purpose. In retirement, without your job as your anchor, you might find yourself questioning your purpose. Even if you didn’t love your job, you may have been proud of the work you’ve done, the people you trained and mentored, and the positive impact you made at your company.
You may have options to work as a consultant or freelancer in your field. Alternatively, retirement is a great time to look into volunteering. With your flexibility, you can be a very valuable member of a local charitable organization or nonprofit.
Lack of Structure
A full-time job creates a predictable sense of structure in your day-to-day life. Now, you might find yourself going to bed late, sleeping in, spending hours watching TV or scrolling online, or letting entire days pass without doing much of anything enjoyable.
Standing commitments can help you get out of the house on a regular basis while leaving you with plenty of free time for personal hobbies and relaxation. You might want to coordinate regular lunch dates with friends, sign up for a weekly class, or join a hobby group that meets frequently.
Financial Fears
Sometimes, retirement can spark financial anxiety. Maybe you’ve met with a qualified, trustworthy financial advisor. You’ve run the numbers countless times. Yet you still feel nervous about the prospect of living without a steady paycheck.
Creating a reasonable budget and assessing where you might want to cut back on spending can help you ease these fears. In addition to talking to an advisor, you might want to share your financial anxiety with a therapist.
Feeling Distant From Friends
If you were close with your coworkers, you might feel their absence strongly now that you’re no longer seeing them at the office every day. Furthermore, if most of your friends are still working, it can seem like you’re suddenly out of step with your social circle. Maybe you were hoping that you would be able to share your newfound free time with your loved ones. Now, you realize that much of your social group still has to put in a few more years at work before retiring.
It’s important to coordinate plans with your working friends when you’re both available. You may also want to look into social meet-ups for retirees in your community. Staying open to new friendships can brighten up your life!
Health Concerns
With age comes new health concerns. You may be worried about whether or not you’ll be able to enjoy retirement to the fullest if you’ve noticed frustrating medical symptoms popping up. Communicating openly with your doctors is crucial. You can also create daily and weekly self-care and workout routines to help you stay on track with healthy habits.
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If you’re struggling with your mental health as you adjust to retirement, we invite you to reach out to our men’s therapists to explore how we can support you in this new chapter.