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Up to one-third of retirees struggle with retirement.

People tend to approach their retirement years by one of five pathways.

Each pathway can be evaluated as to its risk for mental health complications and adjustment distress.

Let’s start with the good news, which is that most retirees describe this stage of life as positive. However, there is bad news too. Taylor (2024) concludes that up to one-third of people who retire find the transition either stressful or notice a decline in their well-being, and an additional 10 to 25 percent experience difficulties adjusting to retirement, including mental health complications.

Even the popular press now acknowledges that retirement can be difficult. In the book Thrive in Retirement, Thurman (2019) cautions, “Retiring can hurt your health, strain relationships, wipe out your finances, and shorten your life expectancy” (p. 151). In Living Your Best Third Act, Schwarzkopf (2023) states, retirement “may easily become a tragedy” (p. 21), consisting of retirees “making the couch, the fridge, and the TV their three best friends” (p. 36).

As psychological and gerontological research accrues, it is increasingly evident that there are five approaches to retirement, and each one can be evaluated for its risk to adjustment and mental health complications, including loss of identity, relationship distress, sadness, loneliness, substance use problems, gambling concerns, and implicit ageism. We now recognize that how we retire can have long-lasting effects, both positive and negative.

Low-Risk Retirement Types

Type One: The Proactive Retiree

This low-risk retirement type is the individual who plans out their retirement in multiple areas (finances, health care, lifestyle) long before the final day of employment. They questioned how they would create a meaningful and satisfying retirement years before entering this new phase of life. They have already considered and explored post-retirement activities, new roles and interests, ways........

© Psychology Today