You may worry about managing financially on a fixed income, coping with declining health, or adapting to a different relationship with your spouse now that you're at home all day. The loss of identity, routine, and goals can impact your sense of self-worth, leave you feeling rudderless, or even lead to depression.
Depression after retirement is also common. It's estimated that almost one-third of retirees in the United States develop symptoms of depression at this stage of life. Managing depression is possible, though, and self-care and support can make a difference.
Loss and loneliness
The divorce rate typically increases during the first few years of retirement, leaving many living alone. A 2003 study published by the Journal of Aging and Mental Health found the most significant contributor to self-reported depression was a sense of loneliness.
There are different reasons why you may feel depressed after retiring. For instance, you may feel that without a job to go to, you no longer have a sense of purpose. Or, you may not be spending as much time with friends and family as you anticipated, which could cause you to second-guess your retirement plans.
For many people, the hardest tasks in retirement are establishing a structure and personal relationships to replace what they had in their work environments. Work dictated the structure of their days and weeks for decades. In retirement, that structure has to be replaced.
Results indicate that complete retirement leads to a 5-16 percent increase in difficulties associated with mobility and daily activities, a 5-6 percent increase in illness conditions, and 6-9 percent decline in mental health, over an average post-retirement period of six years.
Some common retirement mistakes are not creating a financial plan and not contributing to your 401(k) or another retirement plan. In addition, many people take their Social Security distributions too early, don't rebalance their portfolios to match risk tolerance, and spend beyond their means.
You may be more relaxed, and your life may slow down. Loss of work-related stress may be a great relief and good for your health, but losing the daily structure and your work relationships can also be stressful and harmful to your health. In fact, retirement is ranked 10th on the list of life's most stressful events.
The stage before you actually retire involves imagining your new life and planning for it. This stage can last 5 to 15 or more years before your actual retirement date. Most people shift their focus from building their careers to focusing on the financial planning aspect of retirement.
Retirement can be a cause of loneliness, as it can lead to a loss of social interaction and a sense of purpose. For many people, work provides not only a source of income, but also a place to interact with others and feel like they are part of something larger.
In retirement, you expect to have more time — but to do what? Doing either too little or too much can lead to the same symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, appetite loss, memory impairment, and insomnia.
Older adults are at increased risk for loneliness and social isolation because they are more likely to face factors such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and hearing loss. Loneliness is the feeling of being alone, regardless of the amount of social contact.
Most notably, researchers found that loneliness rates peak among people in their 20s, and reach their lowest point among those in their 60s. Many people also experience a spike in lonely feelings around their mid-40s. These findings are as confounding as they are surprising, at least initially.
40% of respondents aged 16-24 reported feeling lonely often or very often, while only 29% of people aged 65-74 and 27% of people aged over 75 said the same6.
Retirees enjoy over seven hours of leisure time per day, according to 2019 data from the American Time Use Survey. They use their newfound free time in a variety of ways, including taking up new hobbies, relaxing at home, watching TV and lingering over daily activities. Many retirees also continue to work or volunteer.
If you call someone retiring, it isn't necessarily clear whether you mean it as a compliment or something closer to a put-down. Usually, the word is used to describe someone who is shy or modest to a fault. But it can also be used to suggest that someone isn't arrogant, which is usually a good thing.
You may grieve the loss of your old life, feel stressed about how you're going to fill your days, or worried about the toll that being at home all day is taking on your relationship with your spouse or partner. Some new retirees even experience mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
Once you have an estimate of your annual retirement spending, you can begin to work out how much you need overall by multiplying your annual spending by the number of years you expect to spend in retirement, figuring in an extra 3% per year for inflation.