Creating Happiness in Retirement
In my latest episode of “”The Heart of Your Money,”” I dive into a topic close to my heart: happiness in retirement. I’ve learned that it’s about so much more than just financial security—it’s about creating a fulfilling life after your working years.
Drawing from the renowned Harvard Study of Adult Development, I share insights on cultivating enduring happiness during retirement. I’ll show you why finding purpose, nurturing relationships, and maintaining your health are crucial for a satisfying retirement.
Together, we’ll explore practical strategies to find meaning in everyday activities, stay socially connected, and achieve that elusive work-life balance, even when work is no longer part of your equation.
Join me as I uncover the keys to unlocking true happiness in your golden years.
Show Notes: Creating Happiness in Retirement
Hey there, and welcome back to The Heart of Your Money. This is episode 124. Today we’re diving into a topic that’s at the heart of everything we do: happiness, specifically how to create enduring happiness during retirement.
Retirement is often seen as the golden period of our lives, a time when we can finally enjoy the fruits of our labor. But achieving true, lasting happiness in retirement isn’t just about financial security. It’s about finding meaning, purpose, and joy in our everyday lives. Today, we’re going to explore strategies to cultivate happiness. I believe it’s something we have to nurture and work at. I don’t think retirement will just all of a sudden solve someone’s life and out of nowhere have happiness appear. It doesn’t just happen. The idea is to focus on creating happiness rather than waiting for it.
The first key to enduring happiness is cultivating a sense of purpose. I recommend you read the book “The Good Life” by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. Hopefully I said that right. I’m going to talk a lot about this book today and refer to it because it’s full of gold. In the book, the authors emphasize that purpose is a critical component of a happy life. Their research, which includes the famous Harvard Study of Adult Development, shows that people who have a sense of purpose tend to live longer, healthier, and happier lives.
Now, purpose doesn’t have to come from a career or a grand mission. It can be found in small, everyday activities that bring joy and meaning, and it’s going to be different for every single person. The authors of that book suggest that it’s about finding activities that engage you fully and give you a reason to get up in the morning. This could be volunteering for a cause you care about, mentoring younger generations, or even dedicating time to a hobby you love. What’s important is that these activities align with your values and bring a sense of contribution.
Think of someone right now that you know, that is retired and loving it and happy. Take a second. Who is that person? I’ve got three or four in my brain right now. Most likely they’re active, doing things that give them some purpose and reasons to get moving in the mornings and bring them value.
I just got back from visiting my parents on Vancouver Island, and they have a beautiful piece of land. I think about five or six acres. It’s surrounded by forest. And my dad has created a sanctuary, and it’s taken years. He’s become fully engaged in upkeeping the land.
The grass, planting new trees all the time, drainage, bushes, you name it. Right from the bird feeders to tolerating the deer family that lives underneath the trees in the early morning, he’s out walking the property, the sprinklers are going, he’s watering at like 5:30 in the morning. Then the rest of the day, he’s either on the tractor or visiting the horticulturist in town, chatting.
Now I share this with you because I realized watching him every day that there was a sense of purpose. Every morning he had to get up because he was excited to check on the latest growth, see how things were going or hop on the tractor and play with the new tractor gadgets. It’s about activities of purpose and it can be as simple as being outside or it could be a lot more. I mean, it could be mentoring and continuing on in contract work or still creating and using, you know, whatever things you had when you were working. And you know, I know somebody right now, she’s the most amazing woman and she’s traveling the world and she works for a program and she’s a strategic planner. In her work life, she was a strategic planner.
She still is, but she’s using that to travel the world and help organizations and get them going. And that is, talk about purpose and joy and keeping busy. So there’s whatever it is, as simple as being outside or traveling the world and helping businesses in other countries. As the book suggests, purpose is not something we just stumble upon.
What I can tell you with both of those examples I just shared about traveling the world and going outside, it was something actively cultivated. It didn’t just magically happen and then go along with it. This proactive approach is supported by other research, such as that from positive psychology, which emphasizes the concept of flow, the state of being deeply immersed in an activity. Finding what puts you in a state of flow can be a pathway to enduring happiness.
Now, let’s talk about relationships because that is part of happiness. One of the most profound findings from that book, “The Good Life,” is that good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Now, these relationships do not have to be your children or family. We’re just talking in general with other human beings relationships. It’s not wealth, fame, or hard work, but the quality of our relationships that truly impacts our happiness.
In “The Good Life,” the authors highlight that people who are more socially connected to family, friends, and community are happier, physically healthier, and live longer than those who are less well connected. Loneliness can be toxic. We know that. And in retirement, the workplace is no longer a built-in social environment. We need to be more intentional about maintaining and building these relationships.
Consider this: Retirement can be the perfect time to reconnect with old friends, join clubs, or even start new activities that allow for social interaction. It’s about nurturing relationships that matter and investing time in people who make you feel good, feel valued and heard.
Our friend, Mary, for example, found her happiness spike when she joined a book club, something as simple as that, right? But she never had time for it in her working life, was always kind of tired. And then she found this community and it wasn’t about the books. It was the people they shared stories, laughed, supported each other. I do think there were a couple of glasses of wine in there and investing time with people who make you feel good, valued, and heard.
So, that is a sense of belonging and it sustained her happiness. There is another book, it’s called “The Happiness Advantage,” and it says, happiness is a work ethic. We must choose to connect, to reach out, and to engage actively. This isn’t just a passive state we wait to fall into. And I do see this, so my husband is a few months away from retirement. We have lots of conversation about everything I’m talking about today.
Because I do know that I’ve seen in my office, there’s transition time at retirement. You can go one of two ways. You either love it. Well, actually it goes kind of three ways, but I’m going to focus just on either the happiness piece or the lost piece. And so we’ve talked about it and he knows he needs to make sure to make an effort to not lose his relationships after work is done, after he retires. And happiness comes from active engagement with life and others.
And so that’s what he’s doing. He’s purposely staying in touch and making an effort to have coffee and visits with friends who he happens to work with, kind of in the same building right now. And so he’s making sure to solidify that so that at retirement, he still has that connection that he can reach out and still stay connected and part of the community within his circle of friends.
Now we cannot underestimate the role of physical and mental health in creating lasting happiness as well. So those are, you know, the active things that you’re doing, creating community, you’re staying busy, but now there is that physical and mental, and I put them together because they are connected. The mind-body connection is powerful.
Exercise and physical activity can significantly enhance mood. It improves our mental health and reduces feelings of anxiety and depression. Retirement offers the opportunity to now actually have time to focus more on personal health. Regular physical activity, whether it’s walking, yoga, swimming, gardening… I know that right now pickleball is a huge one, and golf. I’ve got a couple of people that I know that have been staying super busy and love it doing those activities. You can keep fit and also serve as a social activity during this time. So it kind of is a double benefit, physical and mind and community.
Mental health is just as important. Keeping the brain active and engaged can be achieved through learning new skills, reading, playing brain games. Gosh, I sat with my mom and I played, I think it’s called Wordle. It’s on the New York Times paper that she gets, I think. Anyway, so this Wordle game, she was fantastic. I was learning how to do it and I was kind of, you know, much slower than her and she was zipping through it and she loved it. So engaging her brain and doing all these kind of activities in the morning for her, I was pretty impressed. And so something as simple as that too is helping with the brain.
The other one is practicing mindfulness and meditation. And some people will scoff at this and they might think, you know, whatever voodoo, I don’t know, whatever the thoughts are out there, but mindfulness and meditation, paying attention to the present moment without judgment has been shown to increase happiness by helping us savor life’s moments and reduce stress.
In my scrolling, which I know is another thing that we need to help with our mental health is to stop scrolling, but I was scrolling in there and I was reading that it’s called glimmers, looking for glimmers. And this is the catchphrase right now. And so finding those glimmers wherever you are and appreciative and savoring those moments. It’ll help reduce stress.
Now, especially our mental health. I’m going to, you know, just throw this one sentence in here, especially women going through menopause because it does, it does something to our brain. And there’s a high rate of depression for women going through hormonal changes. So it’s an important piece in the puzzle. Just be mindful of it. Do you know the research? Visit a doctor, but talk to someone. And so if you feel like, you know, you’re finding that decline, another practicing gratitude, that’s another one that, I know there’s science, there’s studies, it shows it actually works. Just taking a few moments each day to reflect on what we’re thankful for.
It can create a shift in perspective. Like those glimmers I talked about, gratitude can turn our focus from what’s missing in our lives to what’s already there, fostering happiness. So take a moment. Name three things that you’re grateful for.
Lastly, financial peace of mind. This is the big one in our office. This is what actually brings people in. Those other pieces, their anxiety, mental health, and all the worries that come with retirement during that transition, they’re there if you peel back the onion. I have to peel back the onion because they’re there. And so we want to try and talk about those as well.
But what gets a person through our door being a financial planning office is that financial peace of mind. And it is critical for enduring happiness. I’m not going to ignore that. That is a strong piece, but it’s not just about having enough money. It’s about feeling secure, knowing that your financial plan is solid and that you can weather life’s uncertainties without fear can be a tremendous relief and allow for those other things to take place like joy and community and activities.
The book, “The Good Life” talks about how financial security can ease anxiety and provide the freedom to pursue what truly matters. It’s about using your financial resources to create experiences and opportunities that bring joy and satisfaction. If you find yourself worrying about finances, this is my little plug here. I encourage you to consult with a financial planner. A well-structured financial plan, in our office we call it retirement income optimizing. So basically knowing what buckets you’re taking out of when and mapping it out and having a defense strategy in place, it’s tailored to you and your needs and goals, it can give you the confidence to then check the box, put it on a shelf and say, “Yep, okay, we took care of that piece and we have a financial planner. They’re earning their 1 percent advisor fee. They’re helping us navigate this.” So I now have the confidence to enjoy retirement, and find all those other activities that make me happy.
So that’s the key: to make sure you find someone that you trust, put them on your team so that they can help you feel confident that you’ve taken care of everything you need to financially.
Remember, happiness fuels success, not the other way around. Feeling secure in your finances can free your mind to focus on what truly brings happiness: relationships, purpose, and health. Okay, my takeaway for you, my closing thoughts, enough of my rant about happiness. Enduring happiness in retirement is about creating a balanced life that’s filled with purpose, nurturing relationships, maintaining good health, and feeling financially secure.
That’s the secret ingredients to a happy life. It’s not about waiting for happiness to find us, but actively cultivating it every single day. That’s it. If you have any questions or need anything, send me a note, [email protected]. Until next time, take care.
