The Rookie Retiree

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About The Rookie Retiree

Are you a Rookie Retiree, or about to become one? Is there a need for some direction and validation in your new stage of life? Retirement took me by surprise. Writing and researching were the ways I was able to make sense of my new world. Help yourself to any or all of these reflections. I've grouped them by the challenges which are common to any new retiree: Mind-Body-Spirit, Work, Maturing, Pastimes, Home Base.

Warning: Act your "Stage!" � Maturing and retirement

The Rookie Retiree24 Apr, 2023Other

I think the need for this warning stems from a lack of knowledge as to which stage of human development we inhabit at the moment. Mark Manson on Quartz.com and Ye Chen on Medium.com have defined four life stages, and have parsed this subject into possible behavioral pitfalls. Some creative thinking can place retirees who may be stuck in any one of these four stages and become subject to physical injury.

The Initiation: - Mind-Body-Spirit - The Rookie Retiree

The Rookie Retiree21 Apr, 2023Other

It is likely that most hospitals in the United States have something equivalent to The Liberty Lounge. Being housed in a hospital in Philadelphia, the cheery, regional title denotes the place where worried family members await the results of surgeries and other complex medical treatments. I was a visitor to this lounge three times during the pandemic summer of 2021 for my husband?s initial exploratory procedure and two serious surgeries.

Dissecting the Travel Bug - There's more to retirement than a cruise

The Rookie Retiree31 Jan, 2023Other

Traveling and retirement are almost synonymous terms. Of course, you will want to travel in your retirement! Even my friend who lived in London and traveled the globe in her last five years of employment still has places she either missed or wants to revisit. Sadly, most of us never really formulated a future travel strategy. This reflects our inability to imagine any parts of our future lives beyond our cash flow. Now is the time to curate this topic.

How my spouse was miraculously transformed in my retirement?

The Rookie Retiree27 Jan, 2023Other

I was living my pre-retirement life with a great misconception. If I had to reduce it to one word, it would be ?victim.? In my mind, I was the long-suffering spouse who shouldered so much more responsibility both at work and at home, while my husband had the freedom to pursue life at his own tempo. Unfortunately, it was actually my husband who was the victim of my distorted thinking, even if I rarely expressed these feelings out loud. Although we had a fine marriage, my resentments were always an undercurrent.

A Changing Relationship with Time

The Rookie Retiree12 Jan, 2023Other

One of the first issues to surface when one retires, is the quandary of what to do with all of that new-found time! For the first time ever, the way we spend our time is not dictated or subject to the approval of anyone but ourselves. Of course, there are certain pre-existing conditions: possible grandchildren or aging parents who need attention, or any other ongoing familial or social obligation that was in place prior to retirement. However, for most of us, we will begin to look at time differently. If you feel like there is an unwanted surplus, try to remember that in modern life, time is the scarcest commodity. Lost time can never be replaced. It is always diminishing. Money and material possessions can be replaced, but time is a different type of asset.

Ageism: An Ugly Reality

The Rookie Retiree10 Jan, 2023Other

I?ve been noticing that I?m getting subtly annoyed at my friends and close relations who are in my age group. They have not changed their interaction styles. They still have all of the virtues that have made them so precious to me. So??what could it be? The fact is, this change resides in me! Witnessing their induction into the rank of ?senior,? I am exercising my implicit bias: ageism. For the record, implicit bias is an unconscious attitude or stereotype which might affect your actions, but it may not align with what you say or believe.

What Does it Feel Like to Retire

The Rookie Retiree14 Dec, 2022Finance

All humans are blessed with the gift of the imagination. We have the ability to explore ideas that are not in our present environment. These ideas are generated within, without the input from our senses. What might those imaginings look like for a newly retired woman? Most likely, they would be based on images from the media, experiences of real people in her life, and a hefty dose of fantasy. If you are feeling adrift, that is to be expected. It really is not possible to plan this stage of life on a micro level.