A lifetime of experience changes into something new and wonderful when you retire. But it's both a joy and a challenge. There's more to retirement than simply confronting a new financial situation. Retirement also brings a big emotional transition, but with some careful planning, retirement can become what it was meant to be: the best years of your life.
Here's the 10 best tips to help you adjust to retirement.
* Re-connect with friends and loved ones. The biggest change that comes with retirement is suddenly having extra time on your hands. The good news is this allows all the time that you'll need to catch up with your friends and family. This also makes it easier to schedule time with new friends - and it's important not to isolate yourself as you're withdrawing from the workplace.
* Establish a routine. One retiree told me that he didn't want to live like a teenager on summer vacation - flitting from one recreation to the next as the time drifted away. The best way to avoid this is to make a "wish list" of things you'd like to accomplish, and to pencil in a rough schedule for when you'll work on these things during the week.
* Calculate your monthly income. The Social Security administration will send you clear information on exactly how much money you'll receive each month in your social security checks. Obviously you'll want to subtract your living expenses and monthly grocery bills - so you'll how much is left-over for enjoying yourself.
* Make a plan for withdrawals from your other retirement funds. There's some specific legislation that affects your retirement savings accounts, including IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401(k) plans. If you time your withdrawals correctly, you can avoid some of the taxes that you'd otherwise have to pay!
* Take the new deducations on your tax return. When you're officially retired, your income is taxed at a much lower rate. In fact, there's many new rules you'll encounter when you fill out your first personal tax return as a retiree. And you'll find that many of these new rules are much more lenient.
* Watch your health. I always remember the joke that youth "is wasted on the young." When you're finally retired, you'll want to take advantage of your new freedom - and you don't want to be limited by low energy or other physical problems. Staying physically fit can also help your mind and even your emotions. If you want to make the most of your retirement, spend some time to make sure you're staying in shape!
* Deal with your feelings. There are horror stories about retirees who grapple with alcoholism after the extra structure is removed from their life. One psychological study found these fears were overblown, but at the same time also reported retirees "were more likely to report the onset of periodic heavier drinking and problems with drinking."
* Remember what you learned. A friend of mine once recorded an oral history of his grandfather's experiences in World War II. But even in your professional life, chances are you accumulated a depth of useful experience. It's easy to overlook the value of a lifetime's worth of work, but you'll be surprised how valuable it can be to the people who still work in the same field!
* Consider going back to work. Many retirees find that they miss the emotional satisfaction in making a useful contribution to a larger enterprise. For some, the solution is to volunteer regular for a local cause, but others actually pick up part-time or "consultant" work. (I knew one retiree who actually made almost as much money as a consultant for his old employer than he had when he'd worked for them full-time!
* Take up a new hobby. Is there something that you've always wanted to try - or a new skill that you've always wanted to learn? Retirement offers you the one thing that you've always been lacking: some extra spare time! And what better way to use it than by making a lifelong wish come true!