Retirement seems to be a rather recent phenomenon. In the old days, there was no such thing as retirement. In a farming community, one works all his/her life until one is too old and weak to do even some light chores. In the city, one works until one loses the job or until one is too old and weak to trot on. Then one would have to depend on children or relatives for support and care. Of course I am talking about the common man. If you are rich with lands and gold and other assets, then you never had to work and there is no retirement either.
More recently, retirement generally means the end of one's lifelong career. After working for a company or the government for 20 or 30 years, one got to a certain age and is allowed to stop working and receive a pension or other type of benefits.
Today, retirement means different thing to different people. For some, it is the "hallelujah" moment when one is liberated from that daily grind of the past 40 years and time to sit on the proverbial rocking chair on the front porch and watch the world go by. For others, it is the long-awaited moment when one is able to devote time on one's favorite hobbies day and night or to play with grand children. For yet others, it is a long-awaited opportunity to start a second career and fulfill one's lifelong ambition. Which path does one follow depend on one's personality, health condition, financial status, family situation and life's other circumstances.
For those who spend their lifetime on the same job or same kind of work without outside interests, or those whose line of work limit their contact with the outside world, retirement can be a ticket to another world unless they have a very supportive family or can quickly change their mindset and develop some activities that make their life meaningful. Even an interest in reading and to acquire some new line of knowledge can make one feel fulfilled. As our life expectancy increases, how to make our retirement life enjoyable becomes all the more important.
I retired 12 years ago at the age of 61, none too early since I found my career was heading to a dead end and the company was willing to give me a quite generous package. Except for a short period of doing some free-lance writing for the company, I never look back. The last 12 years have been the most enjoyable years of my life and I am looking forward to many many more such years to come. My definition of retirement is "the time when one can do whatever he wants to do, rather than what he has to do."
Not everyone is so lucky though. I have seen some people, including friends of mine, who retired, sit back to "enjoy life," found life pretty meaningless without work, and promptly passed away.
My advice to the would-be retirees is this: If you have a choice, don't retire unless and until you know what you want to do in retirement, something that make you find some meaning in life. If you have dreams of doing something all along but were unable to because you didn't have the time, whether it be a hobby, a volunteer opportunity, a new career or business, and if you can financially afford to, then by all means take the plunge. The more "dreams" you have the better. You may be wondering what has taken you so long to make the move.
I would like to share my retirement experience with others in my future postings. I welcome your feedback.
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