Many people think of retirement as the beginning of the end. (Particularly if you retire at/near traditional retirement age.) And that used to be true. If you were fortunate enough to make it to retirement, you’d probably die within a few years. But that isn’t necessarily true anymore. Sure, you could retire at 65 and drop dead two weeks later. Only the Grim Reaper knows. However, advances in health care and knowledge about longevity mean that you might have another twenty-plus years ahead of you, many of which can be high quality. You could have a whole “next act” ahead of you.
So what are you going to do with it?
The traditional answers are always available. Spend time with the grandkids and family. Travel. Volunteer or do more things with organizations you value. Play golf. (Or pickleball, if you’re into new fads.) If you want to stay safe and comfy, those things are always there for you.
Or, you can go out on a limb and totally reinvent your life in retirement. Blow up everything you’ve known and start over. You can become the person you always wanted to be, but couldn’t because of constraints on your life. In retirement, many of the shackles that kept you down are removed, meaning you can finally let life rip.
New freedoms gained in retirement that make starting over possible
Financial Freedom
If you’ve planned well and no longer need to work for money, you have freedom to take some risks. You can try all sorts of hobbies and business ideas without fear of failing. If it doesn’t make money, so what? (As long as you aren’t sinking more money into it than you can afford to lose.)
Always wanted to be a writer? Get started and self-publish your work. Did you always want to act? Take some classes and join some community productions. Or work behind the scenes, if that’s your thing. Did you always wonder how far your music could take you? Start singing or composing and post your work online. See if you can find an audience. Exhibit your art or crafts at local festivals and see if things take off for you. All the things you put off because you needed a steady paycheck are yours to pursue.
Freedom From Caregiving
If your kids have moved out and your parents/in-laws have passed on, you’re likely no longer losing time to caregiving duties. Your time is your own. (And your stress level is way down.) If you started having kids in your 20’s, you may not have experienced this kind of freedom since you left school or the military! There’s no one competing for your attention so you’re finally free to do whatever the heck you want with your day. If you want to spend your time becoming the world’s foremost expert on bubble gum, there’s no one to stop you.
Freedom to Move
You’re also likely to have more freedom to change your geography. You’re no longer tied to school districts, or being near ailing parents. If you want to go spend six months in France to study French cooking, you can do that. Or, if you want to move across the country to be near Nashville while you pursue your country music interests, you can do that, too. On the other hand, maybe you don’t want a physical base at all and you want to become a nomad for a while.
True Freedom: You Can Stop Hiding Your True Self
At some point, probably in your forties or fifties, you stop caring what other people think. When it happens, it’s incredibly liberating. It applies to everything from what you wear, to how you look, to what you do. While you probably still value the good opinion of people you know and love, you stop caring what the world at large thinks. If you want to pursue your dream as an editor of squirrel videos, you don’t care what the guy in the Apple Store thinks about it when you come in to ask which computer is fit for the purpose.
The losses in your life, while sometimes sad, also free you to stop hiding your true self. If your parents are gone, you no longer feel like you have to please them or hide things to protect them (these feelings can last surprisingly long into adulthood). Maybe you never wanted to pursue that career as a singer because your parents pushed you toward business as a safer choice. When they’re gone, you don’t have to worry about feeling like you’re letting them down. When the kids are gone, you can stop worrying about potentially embarrassing or inappropriate choices. Want to write erotica or paint nudes? You can do it without feeling like social services will come take your kids.
Retirement is another chance to decide who you want to be. Many of us had that chance when we turned 18, or went to college, trade school, or into the military. Maybe we chose correctly and wouldn’t change a thing. However, if you feel like you made the wrong choice, retirement is a chance to right the wrong and be whoever you want to be while you do whatever you want. You’re likely freer than you’ve ever been, so make the most of it.
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