The Psychology of Retirement: Coping with the Transition from Work

193 Pages·2013·3.829 MB·English

by  Derek Milne

The Psychology of Retirement
The Psychology of Retirement
Coping with the Transition from Work
Derek Milne
BSc,MSc,DipClinPsych,PhD,CPsychol
(Clinical;SportandExercise),FBPsS
A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication
Thiseditionfirstpublished2013
(cid:2)C 2013DerekMilne
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Milne,D.(Derek)
ThePsychologyofRetirement:CopingwiththeTransitionfromWork/DerekMilne,BSc,
Msc,DipClinPsych,PhD,CPsychol(Clinical;SportandExercise),FBPsS.
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-470-97266-3(pbk.)
1.Retirement–Psychologicalaspects.
HQ1062.M54952013
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2012029608
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1 2013
ForJan,princessofmyheart
Contents
AboutthisBookandAuthor ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. TheSurprisesofRetirement 1
2. UnderstandingRetirement 29
3. ReframingRetirement 55
4. RelatinginRetirement 79
5. SupportingRetirement 99
6. LearningfromLife 119
7. LearningforLife 139
8. Conclusions 159
Notes 177
RecommendedReading 187
Index 189
About this Book and Author
There are many books on retirement, but this is the first to draw thor-
oughly on psychology, being the most relevant discipline for formulating
thechallengeofcopingwiththetransitiontoretirement.Inordertoillu-
minate retirement through psychology, this book applies well-established
theories,recentresearchevidence,retiredpeoples’personalexperiences(in
case study format), filtered through my own professional understanding
of what helps us to develop through life, based on my work as a Clinical
PsychologistwithadultsinBritain’sNationalHealthServiceoverthepast
33 years. I also retired myself a couple of years ago, so have a personal
perspective.Workonfosteringhumandevelopmentwithathletes,coaches,
anduniversitystudentsisafurthersourceofguidance.
Basedonthesefoundations,thisbookprovidesaprimeroncopingwith
retirementbyhighlightingcoreissuesandchallenges,identifyingpositives,
suggesting options, and encouraging an optimistic and constructive ap-
proachtothisvitaltransition,complementingthetraditionalemphasison
thephysicalandfinancialaspectsofretirement.Theseaspectsofretirement
are captured with a RECIPE for addressing this major and rather special
transition:
Resources
Exercise
Copingstrategies
Intellectualactivity
Purpose
Engagement(socialsupport)
x AboutthisBookandAuthor
Unlikeearliertransitions,retirementoffersagoldenperiodthatstartswhen
workinglifeends.Itisgoldenbecauseitrepresentsalong-awaitedoppor-
tunity to develop particular talents and interests, free from the draining
demandsofwork.Itisalsogoldenbecausethetimeandtalentarethere,as
neverbefore.
Acknowledgments
I am much indebted to the many people who have encouraged and sup-
ported me during the preparation of this book during 2011–12. Many of
themhavetakenthetroubletoreaddraftchaptersandtooffersuggestions,
helping me to improve the flow or richness of the material. Others have
simplyallowedmetooutlinemythinkingandhaveofferedtheirvaluable
reactions.Inparticular,Iamhugelyindebtedtomypartner,JanLittle,for
herpatientandskilfulworkonimprovingthebook’sflowandcoherence,
nottomentionhergeneralinterestandunstintingencouragement.Duncan
Grayalsodeservesaspecialmentionforsharinganunflagginginterestinthe
book’sdevelopment,andforhisstimulatingthoughts(e.g.onhappinessand
money). Similarly, my “case study” contributors should be applauded for
tellingmeabouttheirretirementexperiences,wartsandall.Withinthebook
theyhavepseudonyms,andsomenon-essentialdetails(asfarasthebook
is concerned) have been changed, to protect their anonymity. But to give
themthecreditthattheymerit,herearetheirrealnames:DavidBlackwell,
MargaretClark,LynnandJohnJoyce,CeliaandJimKeegan,KevinRobson,
TomSmith,DouglasThomson,andKeithTurner.Pricelessassistancewith
typingmytapedmaterialwasprovidedbyKarenClarkandBarbaraMellors
atNewcastleUniversity.GraphicartistAngelaButlerproducedthefigures.
ResearchAssistantLauraMaddisonsearchedthescientificliteratureforrel-
evantstudies,helpedbyAnnabelBoon.Valuablefeedbackondraftmaterial
was kindly provided by: Christina Blackwell, Kath Bland, Nichola Burns,
Jessica Chapman, Pam Durkin, Ian James, Kath Muat, Roger Paxton, and
byallofmycasestudyparticipants.Interestingideasandgeneralsupport
wasgratefullyreceivedfromKirstyMaddison,AlecMilne,andmygolfing
buddies (Joe Convery, Joe Dickinson, Rob Pratt, Neil Robson, and Alan
Watson).
1
The Surprises of Retirement
Retirement:isthisourfinalact,thedimmingofthelight,theinescapable
descentintohopelesssenility?Thetraditionalanswerisanemphatic“yes,”
as indicated by the dictionary definition: “To give up, to go away, to seek
seclusion,recedeordisappear.”Butrecentdecadeshaveseenatransforma-
tioninthepossibilitiesthatareusheredinbyretirement,atleastinWestern
society.Improvementsinlifeexpectancymeanthat,formostofus,therewill
typicallybe15–20yearsavailableforqualitylivingbeforewetrulyrecede.
ThisisreflectedinareviewbyBaltesintheAmericanPsychologist:
Duringthelastdecade,wehavewitnessedagrowingsuccessstoryregarding
young old age.Because ofmedical,technical,social, economicand educa-
tionaladvances,theoverall ... lifefor60-and70-yearoldshasmademajor
stridesinindicatorsofhealthandpsychologicalfunctioning.Forthisperiod
of the third age, cultural and social forces in industrialized countries have
beenabletooffset,forthemostpartandformostindividuals,theweaknesses
inherentinthebiologicallife-span.1
Inwritingthisreview,BaltescreditedtheRomanphilosopherandstatesman
Cicero(106–43bce)asbeingtheoriginalchampionofretirement.Cicero
wroteanessayonoldageinhisearlysixties,arguingthataproperly-managed
retirement provided opportunities for continued personal development.
DrawingonStoicism,heparticularlyemphasizedthatthewaninginterest
in“bodilypleasures”removedamajordistractionfromself-actualization:
“Nothingismoredirectlydestructivetothedignityofmanthanthepursuit
ofbodilypleasure.”2
ThePsychologyofRetirement:CopingwiththeTransitionfromWork,FirstEdition.ByD.Milne.
©2013D.Milne.Published2013byJohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.
2 ThePsychologyofRetirement
Therefore,anewdawnbeckonsinour“youngoldage,”andabettercur-
rentdefinitionmightbe:Torecedefromworkinglifeandmakeatransition
toanewlifephase,onewherenewopportunitiesforhappinessandpersonal
developmentbeckon.Onthismoreoptimisticdefinition,thechallengebe-
comesoneofensuringthatwemakethemostofourfinalmajoropportunity
tomakeourlifeassuccessfulaspossible.Theideaofmakingatransitionbe-
tweendifferentphasesofourlives(e.g.fromadolescenttoadult)originates
fromresearchontopicslikebereavementandotherkindsoftrauma,though
italsoappliestoseeminglypositivechanges,likeretirement.Thereappears
to be a fairly typical pattern, which starts with emotional turbulence. In
the case of retirement, this might include excitement and a “honeymoon
period”;inthecaseoftraumaitismorelikelytofeaturenumbness,anger,
disbelief,anddenial.Afterthreeorfourmonthstheremaybesomechange
(similarinboththe“positive”andtraumaticsituations),includingconfu-
sion,alossofconfidence,anddepression.However,ifthetransitionfollows
a “normal” pattern of adjustment, then over the following three months
orsoweshouldseegrowingacceptance,moreexplorationofwaysforward
(e.g.developingasocialhobbyinretirement),areturnofconfidenceanda
changed,moreadaptiveengagementwitheverydaylife.
Thetransitionintoretirement,however,canbesurprisinglyhardtode-
fine:manycontinueto“work”invarioussensesoftheword,andresuming
some form of paid employment after retiring from a career post is com-
mon(surveysintheUSsuggestthatover60percentofretirees“un-retire”
andcontinueinsomeformofpaidwork,then“re-retire”or“semi-retire”
sometimelater).Inthissense,expertssuggestthatinitialretirementisnot
so much the end of one’s working life as the beginning of a new stage of
working(e.g.the“encore”career).Whilethisusedtoberestrictedtothose
whoseworkwasnecessarilytime-limitedtherebycreatingaclearfinancial
needtostartasecondcareer(e.g.amongathletes),inrecentdecadesthishas
becomesomethingofthenorm.Inthissense,thereisoftennosingleevent
thatdelineatesretirementcompletelysatisfactorily:itismorelikeaprocess
thatunfoldsoveraperiodofyears.Factorssuchasworkopportunities,fluc-
tuatingfinances,personalneeds,stagesofadjustment,caringfordependant
relatives,andotheremergingretirementissuesallaffectthisnewperiodof
one’s life. Experts therefore tend to define retirement as a developmental
process;atransitiontriggeredbystoppingone’sworkinglifeandaccessing
astatepensionoraretirementpackage,butaprocessthatisbestdefinedby
theindividualandsubjecttotheverydifferentwaysthatindividualsadapt
totheirparticularcircumstancesandcultures.Forexample,Ihaverecently