USA Today, Wall Street Journal, AARP and a host of other publications have quizzes and checklists that help you figure out if you are ready for retirement. You should be financially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually prepared for a life changing event. Retirement ranks up there along with a death, marriage, divorce, move and bankruptcy for high stressors in people's lives, all which can lead to big health problems. Having a good plan for retirement can mitigate the impact of this on your family life. In future blogs I'll share some of those different checklists I thought were helpful.
Check out the stress assessment tool
There is a switch inside my head that flipped when I was least expecting it. My husband has been retired for several years but up until recently, I just wasn't ready yet. I enjoyed my job and couldn't visualize what my life would be like without it. But over a period of a few weeks my attitude changed. These are the key way points.
Health considerations
Earlier this year I had a hip replacement and while the surgery was much easier than I expected, the rehabilitation and physical therapy have really been a struggle. After listening to stories from people I knew that went through the same surgery, I expected to be back to work in a few weeks. It has now been over 3 months since the surgery and I just now feel like I could go back to a full time schedule.
Why did it take me so long to recover? For me it was because I postponed this surgery for several years and in the meantime adopted some very bad habits of compensating for the bad hip. Physical therapy has been about un-learning the bad behaviors, and strengthening the right muscles so that I can walk without a limp, climb stairs without pulling myself up, get in/out of the car correctly, etc.
**Don't ever listen to people's stories about their neighbor, or Aunt
Susie, or whoever and their experiences because inevitably they were either climbing Mt. Everest
three days after surgery, or, they had the worst time ever in the
history of modern medicine and will never walk again! Well, I am none of those people and should
not measure myself against them. We are all different and heal at
different rates. When people tell these stories, they may not intend to be critical or discouraging but it can be to the person going through the procedure. **
As I struggled through the therapy, I realized I neglected my health for several years. Not only the bad hip but a bad knee also plagues me, and will get replaced soon. The decision to retire now instead of a year from now has a lot to do with the need to focus on me and regaining my mobility and energy.
An article by Joyce Maynard in More magazine really made me sit up and think:
"All my life, my priorities were family and work. Now I asked myself:
Suppose I gave my body the kind of attention I’ve showered on the people
I love? Suppose I took my health as seriously as I take my career?"
Read the rest of the article at: http://www.more.com/health/wellness/how-shape-your-body-when-youre-no-longer-kid
Financial Considerations
We met with our financial adviser last December and looked at the different alternatives for retirement income, the timing and the tax implications. Waiting a few months or even a year really made very little difference in my pension benefit on a monthly basis, so the issue really came down to being ready to make the change from other aspects of my life.
The one unanticipated financial impact is the requirement for my spouse to go on Medicare; he has been covered under my employee medical plan. We had not included in the retirement budget calculations the cost of Medicare Part B and the cost of a supplement plan (anywhere from $200 - $400 per month) until several years in the future when I reached Medicare eligibility. So it was a bit of a surprise to find that he can no longer be covered under my employee retirement medical since he is Medicare eligible.
This is a small challenge. We still will cover the cost of this without undermining the retirement plan. We just need to adjust the budget a bit. As I plan to do some work in future that will bring in some extra money (more about that in another posting) it may not be a big deal at all.
Spiritual Considerations
To me this is the most important consideration for the retirement decision. I realize that not everyone who reads this is a Christian, or even in same place that I am spiritually but for me, I had to be sure my decision to retire was completely in the Lord's will for my life. I believe that the Lord has a specific plan for my life, one that is in sync with the calling I have, and a plan that blesses me hugely, uses all my natural talents, and helps me to grow. I also know with certainty the Lord cares about the details of my life -- not just the big picture -- so a decision like this, and the steps leading up to it, the timing of all the events, and the outcome of all the small, daily steps are in His hands.
I am not absolutely sure the day I realized that this is what the Lord wants for me; it was more a gradual realization. As I prayed about all the small decisions, they all were answered in a positive way toward this outcome.
Not very much is written about spiritual preparation for our retirement. Certainly the publications listed above don't mention it, or only in the briefest possible way. It seems that the spiritual part of our beings is sorely neglected in our modern culture. I felt pulled toward a different kind of work in future, so that, along with the confirmation of the plan that came together in perfect timing and detail was my preparation.
**The Holy Bible does not have a retirement plan for believers because once a born again follower of Jesus Christ, we are always a follower. No matter what age or state of health or finances, we still have a calling to carry out until we are in heaven. **
