How to lead a good life post retirement?

It has been a little less than month since I retired form my professional career. 35 years is a long period, and it is not easy to get used to a new way of life post retirement. It gets more difficult when someone retires around 50 years of age.

The Options….

I have seen my seniors and peers struggle with this decision. Most ended up taking up a fresh professional career. I always wondered what the reason behind the decision was. Most said it was due to the desire to keep oneself constructively engaged.

Is taking up a job the only way to keep oneself engaged post retirement? My mind refused to accept it. Aren’t there better options than that? Is financial need the compelling reason? Well maybe yes, but then if one has planned well than 35 years plus is a long service career to invest well and create a substantial corpus to lead a good life post retirement.

Planning for retirement….

Therein lies the major problem as per me. A vast majority fail to plan for a life post retirement during their professional careers. Though I must admit many Indians like to save but most are not into investment. Most cannot differentiate between saving and investment.

Even I failed in this aspect. The investment process must start from day one of the service career. Investment is not just restricted to money but in knowledge, health, and relationships too. The financial corpus one creates, relationships one makes, health and knowledge one gains together will help the person lead a comfortable life post retirement.

Not just my seniors failed to advise me about financial investment during my younger days. Even I as an individual failed to acquire knowledge and invest. I also failed to properly guide my juniors on financial management. But fortunately, I developed good relationships.

I started investment at 35 years of age about 10 years later than I should have started. Even then I have enough corpus to live well post retirement and take care of all my family needs. If I had started at 25 or before than I would have created a corpus to lead a luxurious life.

If finances and family responsibilities are well taken care of than one does not have to force himself/ herself into a job against his/her will for money. There are better ways of keeping oneself engaged. One may use his experience to guide the younger generation, give back to the society through social service.

My suggestions to the younger generation….

Here are some suggestions for the younger generations to help them lead a good life.

Start investing not just saving as early as possible. Earlier one starts investing bigger will be the corpus he / she will create.

Do not waste your hard-earned money.

Keep on adding on to your knowledge and skills whenever possible. Only the most skilled will live well.

Take care of your health. Only a healthy person can enjoy life.

Do not follow anything or anyone blindly. At the same time have the heart to take calculated risks. Only those who take risks succeed in life.

Educate your children well. Well educated children will not depend on your money to live their life. In fact, they will be your support when you need them. Good education is not related to costly schools/ colleges. Intelligently select the educational institutes for your children. Aim should be to provide good education at minimum cost.

Invest time in building good relationships. They will be the ones with you when you need them. Never indulge in building appointment or job- based relationship.

Conclusion….

A decision to retire or re-attire at the end of a professional career is a personal choice. It should be a conscious decision made based on personal needs. But Re-attiring does not necessarily means taking up another job. It can range from starting one’s own independent profession or spending time doing what one had always wanted to do. There is a limit to ignoring one’s own psychological and physical needs. Taking retirement from a profession is must but one cannot retire from life. Life has to go on and go on well.

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