by Linda Joyce

Created on: February 07, 2010   Last Updated: February 10, 2010

There are several reasons why you should retire.  Among those are health concerns, inability to perform your job anymore, and a chance for rest and relaxation.  Let’s take a look at each of these and see which reason fits you, if you have been mulling retirement over in your mind.

Health

After working 40 or 50 years, who wouldn’t be tired?  At this point, your body is pretty much getting up and ready for work by rote.  It’s become a habit, and you just do it.  However, sometimes, even though it’s normal to be tired, a person’s health can break down through disease (such as cancer) or ongoing conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes. 

In the case of an illness like cancer, there usually is a time when a person can continue to work, but if more intense treatment becomes necessary; it’s certain that they will have to say goodbye to work to treat their illness.  With ongoing conditions, if a person is doing what’s necessary to maintain the status quo, they can usually will continue to work as long as they want.  However, if their health should begin to deteriorate regardless of medication and care, there can be no question about retiring.  Besides, who would want to work every day if they were feeling ill and depleted?

The job itself

Unfortunately, some people who wish to continue working can’t because of their inability to continue performing their job.  In some cases, it may be dementia or Alzheimer’s or a combination of either of these and a medical problem.  As bad as an employer may feel about an employee having to leave under such conditions, it is the right thing to do to have the employee retire and replace them with someone new.

R&R

Then there’s the fact that after years of dedication to a job and an employer, you deserve a break!  Rest and relaxation are due you for all the years you put in.  No more listening for that alarm clock or juggling your personal activities to fit in between work hours.  For once, you can play golf all day or do nothing!  Retirement is also a great time to get in touch with yourself, if you’ve forgotten the many things you liked to do before you focused most of your time on work.

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Many people continue working as long as they can, with or without health problems, because they can’t imagine what life would be like without work.  Some even fear that if they retire, it will be the end of them.  But if it’s at all possible, you should retire.  There is a whole world outside of work, and you should take the time to enjoy it before it’s too late.

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