Retirement isn’t the elixir for our boredom
Self actualisation comes from following personal passions. Retirement is an opportunity, but not the mandatory event to start doing it.
I have heard many oldies in the family talk about retirement as a proverbial cure-all. To each of my suggestions, there is always one redirection - “we will do it post-retirement”. My parents, uncles, and Aunts have been postponing all sorts of important activities for their retirement.
I find retirement overrated. Especially as their solution for “escaping from work”. Even the oldest person need not retire, just change gears. I agree that our regular jobs pay the bills. However, with progressing careers and increasing salary levels, we crave much more than just food, clothes, and a roof. We crave self-actualization. Retirement from work is not going to give this self-actualization.
Image Source: verywellmind.com
My tiff with Retirement
My father, like most government servants, had a love-hate relationship with his job as a tax officer. He was proud of his contribution to the government’s revenue. But he hated the bureaucracy and lack of novelty in his daily work. For him, the only possible escape plan was retirement. He won’t change his job because it's preposterous to give up a government job in India. Instead, he would postpone all his “happy moments” to his post-retirement time.
Me: “Papa go for a vacation this spring, you haven’t been to the Taj Mahal in the last 30 years. It's just 3 hours away from our place”
Papa: “I am planning to go after retirement”
Me: “Papa let me book your air tickets to visit Bangalore, you have never been in an airplane”
Papa: “let it wait till retirement. I won’t be able to manage the anxiety of flying for the first time with my office work pending”
Me: “Papa buy a new car, this one is now a 15-year-old model”
Papa: “With my retirement fund, I will”
Me: “Papa, get your eye-cataract operated. You were waving to a cow on the road, it was not Mr. Sharma”
Papa: “OK beti, after retirement.”
Me: “Papa, breath…”
Papa: “Retirement …”
Well, you get the drift.
With so much pinned on a single event called retirement, I thought my father must be dreaming about it every day. Instead, he was dreading it. As per him, he would miss that he is needed and appreciated. Even though he was tired of the daily grind, he wanted to continue doing something, albeit at a slower pace. He said, “I just want a break, and then do something to re-tire me. I am anxious about having nothing to do”. Hmm. Re-tire after retiring from an active job - that’s what could be the key to post-retirement happiness.
Multiple studies have shown that retirement by itself does not lead to happiness. “More than one-quarter (28 percent) of recent retirees said life is worse in retirement than before it.” (Source: CBS news https://www.cbsnews.com/news/retirement-and-happiness-its-complicated/)
What leads to happiness is the utilization of free time for things that one wants to do. Doing activities that are meaningful for that particular person. Failure to plan post-retirement activities may fail the retirement itself.
What could be the solution?
Juggle up things in the current situation itself. Bring in the novelty factor in existing work-life. Change teams or change the workplace, and if possible change the career. Go the gig economy way. Another solution could be picking up endurance sports, gardening, or any other hobby. Chandramouli Venkatesan, the author of the book “Get better at getting better”, reckons such activities give a sense of growth and learning in things other than just office work. Hence, having a personal passion other than a job soothes the boredom of “daily office life”.
So, next time I meet my father, I will tell him “enough with your post-retirement plans. Come live the life you deserve right now”. Life is short, I don’t want to deceive myself that we have to wait for an event for things to get better. I don’t ever want to retire. I want to keep iterating my work-life environment till I hit my jackpot.