After working in a career for 31 years, and then retiring at 57, is it better to relax for awhile or get a post-retirement job fairly quickly?

Recently, I penned out an answer to this question asked on Quora.com:

“After working in a career for 31 years, and then retiring at 57, is it better to relax for a while or get a post-retirement job fairly quickly?”

My answer is my 10th most viewed post on Quora (out of 365 posts) with just under 30,000 views.  A number of readers took the time to comment. I like this one in particular:

Terence S. commented: 

“I had the fortune to take a “mid-life retirement” from 40–46. I learned a valuable lesson that prepared me for the rest of my working life. Money, Friends, Purpose really do matter.

1) Having the money to do your bucket list will make you happy. Material things don’t last in my soul, but the remarkable adventures I took in those 7 years make me smile every day. The Corollary to that is get out there and do anything that requires physical effort and stamina before your body gives out! Stay active no matter what. There is a cut off between riding your bike across the United States to riding your bike across the state to just riding 10 miles. Travel while you still can if that’s your thing. Eventually, it will be rocking chair time.

2) Despite having a wonderful time for 6 years I got itchy. The walls started closing in on me. I was bored. I needed a purpose. So I went back to school and got a Masters in Education and have been teaching in an elementary school for the last 14 years. In addition to building upon my previous career’s savings, I’ve now built up a decent pension and 403(b) account. I love what I do and working with kids gets me out of bed every day. Plus I get 2 months off every summer! The irony is that after 2 months I can’t wait to get back to work with the next bunch of kids. As long as I have the stamina I’ll keep doing this.

3) Having community is something I’ve neglected and I realized that as well during my time off. I have a couple of support groups, but I’m trying to cultivate community outside of work.

If you don’t stay active, connected, and purposeful your mind, spirit, and body will give out on you fairly quickly and at that age, it’s hard to recover.”

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Terence is in an enviable position that fewer people are going to be able to realize, having been resourceful with his career and the financial side of his life.

I’ve been fortunate to work with folks who are at a similar “life-decision point” and concur that there is a very strong argument for taking some time off, relaxing, and being self-indulgent for awhile.

But only for awhile.

Long enough to do some serious soul-searching, reflection, and consideration of what you want the rest of your life to look like.

It’s important to understand that we have never been where we are now. This is not our parents’ or grandparents’ retirement. Like Terence, many are moving into a “post-career” phase with the possibility of living 25–40 more years.

That’s a long – and dangerous – stretch to spend in the traditional, full-stop, leisure-based retirement model that still pervades our thinking and planning. I’m sure that 30 years of bingo, bridge and boche ball isn’t going to excite many.

It certainly won’t excite our biology which is designed to grow, not decay. Traditional retirement has proven itself a superior pathway to accelerated decay.

Entering into the retirement phase of life is a critical and exciting juncture. We can decide to continue to grow – or decay. We can decide if we want to continue to produce and serve or pursue the traditional retirement route of being a self-indulgent consumer.

The choice is ours. Some time off to reflect on this is time well spent. It’s a time to reflect back on what we have accomplished in this “first two-thirds” of our lives, a time to think deeply about what really excites is, what we are really, really good at, and how that may intersect with what the world needs.

Maybe that will mean getting another job that touches those areas. It may mean doing work at a non-profit (for-pay or no-pay); it may mean starting our own venture that puts our “active wisdom” to work. Much of that will depend on whether we need to supplement our retirement income.

As you can sense, I am an evangelist for redefining retirement. Terence fit the mold of those I strive to reach with the message that this post-career phase of life can, and should be, the most impactful, purposeful, and fulfilling.

Six decades of “labor-to-leisure”, “vocation-to-vacation” retirement have taught us a number of things beyond the fact that it does not honor our birthright to good health. Foremost of these, in my mind, is the wasting of accumulated talent, skills, and experience that folks, like Terence, can bring forward for the benefit of our society.

We are buried in research confirming that work is a vital component of healthy longevity – contrary to what the traditional leisure-based retirement model has sold us for decades.

Few centenarians didn’t work until they couldn’t.

So. let me step down from my soapbox and encourage us mid-lifers, pre-retirees, early-retirees to take some time off, relax, reminisce, reflect, and respond to our inner urges with the realization that we have a long and impactful future ahead for which we can set the tone, the shape, and the pace. That’s the beauty of this phase – at this phase, we now have the most control we’ve had in 3-4 decades

Just beware of the temptation to slide toward comfort, convenience, and conformity. There will be pressure from peers to “just retire.” Netflix and the voice-activated TV remote can be very tempting. Don’t linger too long in your relaxation!

One of my favorite virtual mentors is Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach. Dan once stated that people die early for three reasons:

1. No money
2. No friends
3. No purpose

Our mission at this point should be to protect our health and work toward a meaningful purpose for the balance of our lives. Without it, our life may be shorter and full of regrets.

My goal with clients who are in Terence’s situation is to help them find a “balanced, flexible lifestyle of labor, leisure, and learning.”

I wish the same for all of you.

If interested in how we help people explore and plan for the possibilities for a healthy, fulfilling post-career, email gary@makeagingwork.com or call 720-344-7784 to set up a no-cost, no-obligation “exploratory” conversation. Also, join our growing list of subscribers if you haven’t already by going to www.makeagingwork.com and adding your email. You’ll receive a free e-book entitled ““Achieve Your Full-life Potential: Five Easy Steps to Living Longer, Healthier, and With More Purpose” and receive a new article every Monday.