What will you do with your life after your career ends through retirement, reorganizations, downsizing, family circumstances, or a nagging suspicion that there is more to life than work? Have you considered how you would like to spend your time once you retire? With the focus on who you are as opposed to what you have done in your career, this stage requires letting go of your work identity to move on. It is filled with all kinds of possibilities.
The following Work Replacement Benefits were developed by Richard Johnson, Ph. D., who founded The Retirement Options Program. In order to prepare well for this stage of your retirement and not flounder about in the abyss of no plans, no structure, and no meaningful activity, here are some ideas for you to consider:
• Time Management/Structure: This benefit keeps your days more focused, predictable, and in sync with your world.
• Financial Compensation: This benefit may be crucial if you do not have enough money to be comfortable in retirement.
• Sense of Utility: This benefit would enable you to have a sense of purpose and meaning in your life.
• Status: This benefit defines an individual’s personal worth and identity when work no longer provides this.
• Socialization: This enables one to meet social needs by keeping in contact with others so both old and new friendships can thrive.
As you build a life after your career, these 5 benefits can be satisfied in various ways such as:
• Recareering: doing something completely different that brings you joy and fulfillment.
• Full-time work in the same or different field. Remember that the impending employee shortage will give you greater leverage to design your ideal work situation.
• Part-time work in the same or different field in the form of job sharing or other variations.
• Volunteerism in a variety of fields.
• A combination of part-time work and volunteerism.
• Leisure with purpose and meaning
What will fulfill you as you imagine retirement? What factors will determine how the 5 benefits discussed above will be satisfied in your life to create balance and harmony?
Please take some time to explore the following websites. They contain valuable resources that will guide and empower you in making important decisions and will optimize the possibility of a successful retirement and successful life after your career if you decide to recareer.
• AARP https://www.aarp.org/careers
• Career One Stop https://www.careeronestop.org/
• Entrepreneur https://www.entrepreneur.com/
• Holland Codes Online career resources https://www.hollandcodes.com/
• Job search site Monster.com https://www.monster.com/
• Startup Journal from The Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/pro/venture-capital
• Volunteer Match https://www.volunteermatch.org/
Feel free to call me at 703-435-2273, email me at dee@lifeandworktransitions.com or visit my website at www.lifeandworktransitions.com if I can support you in this life transition.