Retiring Well

I am a part of a book club. It’s a wonderful group of people, and I hope we continue to meet for years to come. The books we’ve read have quite the range: three of our recent picks were Crime and Punishment, The Road, and The Secret Garden. (Otherwise summarized as a true classic, a post-apocalyptic novel, and a children’s book!)

The Secret Garden was our most recent book. In the novel, a sickly young boy does not leave his room. He is transformed as he meets his cousin, a young girl named Mary, and they discover a secret garden. They spend time outside, observe animals, play, develop a friendship and a sense of gratitude and awe… and this experience changes his life.

It reminded me of the importance of “fresh air and unsupervised play”. For children, of course, but also for adults.

My husband and I were celebrating our 7th anniversary at the beach when I was reading The Secret Garden. I was reading, and I looked up to see a gentleman flying a kite. It was a blustery fall day, and the kite was spinning and soaring and diving for over an hour.

I thought: how lovely. He knows. He knows the importance of a sense of wonder that children have and that we often lose sight of as adults.

Science fiction author Ursula K. LeGuin said, “The daily routine of most adults is so heavy and artificial that we are closed off to much of the world. We have to do this in order to get our work done. I think one purpose of art is to get us out of those routines. When we hear music or poetry or stories, the world opens up again. We’re drawn in – or out – and the windows of our perception are cleansed, as William Blake said. The same thing can happen when we’re around young children or adults who have unlearned those habits of shutting the world out.”

Whether it’s art, reading, time outside, or flying a kite, it seems that people who are deeply enjoying retirement are those who have held on to some sort of childlike curiosity. They retired to something rather than away from something.

Over the years, I have asked clients and families who seem to be thriving in retirement, “What does it mean to you to have retired well?”. I heard themes of purpose, community, and appreciation of the little things echoed again and again. One individual said, “To retire well, you have to be financially prepared. And just as importantly, you must have purpose.”

The word ‘retirement’ was originally used in the military sense, meaning “to withdraw to a place of safety or seclusion”. But just as the people in my life have alluded to, withdrawing is the opposite of what retirees should be doing. All the research suggests that we are more satisfied when we have purpose and connection, and that only seems to be enhanced in retirement.

If you’re financially planning for retirement, are you also planning for what you will retire to? How are you fostering a sense of purpose and wonder in your current day-to-day life?

If you are retired, what advice do you have for those trying to retire well?

And if you are a reader, what is your top book recommendation? I am up next to make the selection for book club, so any ideas are appreciated!