Baby Boomer Retirement Attitudes
Baby Boomer Retirement Attitudes
Have you already retired, or is retirement approaching quickly? How do you feel about that? If you’re like many people in our generation, you probably have a variety of mixed emotions. Maybe you are leaving a job you dislike, and retirement will be a relief. The pressure has gotten to be too much. Or maybe you truly enjoy your job, but have decided that retiring is the right thing to do.
My situation is the second one. I have taught elementary school for over thirty years. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I know in my heart that I’ve made the correct one. Yet that doesn’t mean that I’ll walk out the door this June without a qualm.
So I decided to make a list of benefits of being retired. I hope that some of these will be helpful to you.
1. I can be a full-time homemaker. I’ve always felt pulled between my home and my job. Now, I don’t have to choose.
2. I can keep my housework on a routine schedule. When I work outside the home, I’m trying to do everything on Saturday or in the evenings. Now, I can spread it out through the week.
3. I will have more time to plan nutritious menus and prepare home-cooked meals. We won’t be throwing together quick foods or grabbing fast food as often.
4. I will have more time to plan my grocery shopping so that I’m not spending so much on convenience meals.
5. I’ll have more family time. I’ll be there for my husband, my young-adult children, and my elderly mother. They need me as much now as ever.
6. Work-related stress will be gone. Deadlines, test scores, meetings, and required training will no longer be a source of pressure.
7. I’ll have time for the things I want to do. I won’t feel guilty for taking time to read novels or pursue a hobby that I’ve put on the back burner.
Maybe you don’t need these reminders. Maybe you can’t wait to get away from your job. But if you are having difficulty accepting this major life change, I hope these tips can help.
~Jessica Gerald~