What happens after retirement ?

Quitting your daily job is termed as retirement . Now-a-days people do not wait till the age of 58 to retire, as there are lot of career options available.We all know that companies offer special training for people who retire after completing their service. They tell people to spend quality time with family, how to live with their saving, avoid making risky investments etc. Let us see why some people face depression once they retire and how can this be resolved.

After retirement most people will miss out on monthly income, which is one of the main reasons for depression. But there are several investment options which can help them manage monthly income even after retirement. There is another very important reason for depression which is not much discussed — Appreciation.

Appreciation at home or outside is the driving force for all of us since our childhood. In all the tasks we do, we expect appreciation. So what’s wrong with that ? There is nothing wrong , but, its equally important to learn to self appreciate, rather than expecting appreciation from outside. When the person was working at his office, he would have received some sort of appreciation for his work , talent or driving a team. Probably he was not even consciously awaiting such appreciation at that point of time, but he longs for it subconsciously.

Not sure how many of you would have appreciated the person who cooks for you (can be anyone -mom/wife/husband/cook). Even though they do not ask, they feel good if you appreciate. Lets get back to our discussion. So once the person retires, he does not get a chance to prove his talents. Also, at that age, people at home will also be old enough and they will be concentrating in appreciating the next generation.

So, how can this be handled? One solution is to identify what interests you. Our interests vary at different stages of our life, but we should start searching for it at a very early age and not wait till you retire. The work that interests you should be such that you appreciate yourself and feel happy about doing it irrespective of what others think. It could be anything like Travelling, painting, playing a sport, gardening etc. Say, you like to write. Start writing topics that interests you, share your opinion. There will be some set of people to whom your writings will be useful.

To summarise, you can retire at any stage of life. Do not wait till your service ends. Before you plan to retire, ensure you have your savings well planned and most importantly you should have identified what interests you and keeps you motivated.

Do not expect appreciation from others, practice self-appreciation. I personally believe in this quote — “Expectation leads to disappointment”