Leaping into the Unknown: it’s Called Retirement

Retiring, for many if not most, is a leap into the unknown. New retirees quickly learn that hard work is required to fill the void created by leaving the workplace.

Building and consolidating this new life is the subject of an eye-opening book, “Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You.” Written by five academics in the field of management, their book is so useful to readers because they interview more than 100 older workers and retirees who have gone through this process.

The authors use their unique experiences to explore the emotional and tactical challenges they face in deciding whether to retire and, once they do, how to rebuild lives dominated by decades of work.

There is Gene, who still felt “untethered” three years after leaving a corporate writing job. He’d had big plans to get serious about creative writing when he retired. He fell in love and enjoyed the new relationship. But his plan to become a popular writer in retirement never materialized. After an emotional struggle, he finally accepted that writing would be a hobby and not a second career.   

Fred, on the other hand, slipped easily into a semi-retired state. The research scientist began spending more time on the activities he enjoyed, learned Russian and joined a choral group while he continued to consult on former co-workers’ projects. But even Fred would eventually confront the need to find something that would give him purpose after he and his wife uprooted themselves to relocate near their daughter and her family.

For Bonnie, retiring from customer service made her realize how much being a workaholic had defined her. Her difficulty in making a break from her job was made easier, however, after she took on what turned out to be a “horrendous project” and entered her employer’s work-to-retirement program, which was more demanding than it should’ve been. Once retired, however, Bonnie was surprised at how easily she found “very rewarding” volunteer work at an organization that provides animal therapy to children. 

These and other stories are the heart but not the entirety of the book. Using the interviews with older workers and retirees, the authors sketch out the big themes that crop up again and again in the stories. They describe four stages of retirement: deciding to retire, detaching from work, constructing a new life structure, and consolidating one’s activities into a stable structure.

They also explore how family, friends and employers can help with the transition. They examine the important emotional challenges that come with retiring, including changing relationships with spouses.

Retiring “involves internal, psychological changes as the person sorts through questions about who they are apart from their work identity,” they write.

I particularly liked the authors’ thoughtful reflections on their own late-life transitions that each one shared with readers. For example, Mary Crary, who retired from Bentley College in 2018, found that writing this book with her colleagues provided a new source of “richness” in her life that filled the hole left by leaving after more than three decades at Bentley.

So, are you struggling with whether to retire or, having done so, finding it difficult to anchor yourself in a life of purpose?

This book will reassure you that you are not alone. Others have filled the void, and so will you.  

Squared Away writer Kim Blanton invites you to follow us @SquaredAwayBC on X, formerly known as Twitter. To stay current on our blog, join our free email list. You’ll receive just one email each week – with links to the two new posts for that week – when you sign up here.  This blog is supported by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.