Previously, retirement was wrapped around a certain age limit. People believed that once you get to that age, you are ready to retire but in this century, age alone no longer determines when one should retire. Read though to the end for signs you’re ready to retire, and also learn more on how to prepare for your retirement.
If you are a civil servant, chances are that you have already stipulated years to spend working for the government after which you will be allowed to retire whether you are ready for it or not, but if you are an entrepreneur, you have the right to declare when you want to retire.
One of the challenges some CEOs have is the inability to know when to retire. Before retiring, you must make sure you are ready emotionally, financially, physically, and even, socially.
How do you know you are ready to retire?
That is the question this article is created to solve. In this article, you would find out signs that you are 100% ready to vacate your office for good – they are different signs you’re ready to retire.
5 Signs You’re Emotionally Ready to Retire
1. Dissatisfied with work-life balance
This is one of the signs you’re ready to retire, it is a sign that you are no longer comfortable with the way things are going, and you need a break from work. Most entrepreneurs and corporate employees invest 95% of their time into work, and very little into other aspects of their lives that matter.
Most times they don’t even recognize it until it becomes so obvious that they need to get their lives back. This brings them to start thinking about retirement. If you are honestly no longer at peace with the way your work is eating up your life, it’s a sign that you are ready to retire.
2. Your Strength Can No Longer Carry You Run
This is where age plays a role in retirement. If it’s obvious that your strength can no longer carry you, if you know that you don’t have enough mental capacity to run your company, it shows that you need to retire and hand over the company to someone capable.
3. Retirement Daydreaming
This is prevalent among those close to their retirement age. They fantasize about the things they will do once they retire, the places they will visit, and how they will live their lives generally. If you fall into this category, it means that you are emotionally ready to call it a quit with work.
4. Jealous of Retired Fellows
This might seem funny but it’s true anyway. When you catch yourself envying your colleagues or age mates that are enjoying retirement with its benefits, it gives a clue that you too should begin to think of how to leave work as well.
5. You Seem Disinterested In Your Work
This does not totally show that you are ready to retire. Sometimes, it shows that you need to quit that particular job for another one that brings you fulfillment, but it also gives a clue that you are emotionally ready to retire.
Apart from being emotionally ready, some other factors show that you are ready to retire. As earlier said, age is one of the factors that determine when one should retire but it isn’t the only criterion. Below are three signs that you are ready to retire.
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Three Signs You’re Ready to Retire – 3 Signs
1. You Are Financially Stable
Since money is never enough, you will never enjoy your retirement if you didn’t save enough money to take care of your basic needs. One major sign that shows that you are ready for retirement is your financial stability.
2. Your Health Insurance is Intact
If you have full coverage when it comes to health, it’s a sign that you are prepared to retire. This isn’t the kind of insurance given by your company as an employee. If you have made provision in this regard, you are an inch closer to getting retired.
3. You Invest in a Social Network
When you retire, you will definitely lose the company of your colleagues, superiors, and those under you. Most times, retired fellows struggle with this issue because once retired, they no longer have those set of people around them.
To avoid this, some people invest in relationships outside the workplace. If this is you, you are ready to retire.
Other Signs You Are Ready to Retire
1. Your Spouse Accepts your Retirement Plan
If you are a married man with kids, you are not living for yourself alone, and again, you don’t make this kind of decision without consulting or seeking your partner’s opinion. It’s totally wrong. If you relate your retirement plan with your wife and she accepts it, it shows that you are both on the same page and that’s a good point for you.
2. You Are Debt Free
Obviously, you must be debt free before thinking of retirement. How else would you clear off your debt if not with your paycheck?. Your ability to pay off all your debt and save up is a sign that you are ready to hit retirement.
How to Prepare for Retirement Emotionally
1. Work on Your Mindset About Retirement
Being retired doesn’t equal being a nuisance or a liability as people thought. Retirement is a gift. It’s an opportunity to live your life better if you’ve not been doing so. It’s an opportunity to do exactly what you love and not what a certain group of people wants.
Don’t see retirement as a means to just empty the savings you’ve made over time, you can actually earn more doing something you love while relaxing your nerves.
2. Build Resilience
Retirement comes with its challenges especially if you didn’t prepare well before going into it. But your ability to withstand these challenges makes the difference, and so, as you approach retirement age, build resilience.
3. Set New Goals
Retirement isn’t the end of your life. You must not stop leaving because you retired. Before retiring, bear in mind that you are about to enter a new phase of your life, and entering that phase without good plans isn’t advisable. Set new goals for yourself, it can be family goals, financial goals, health goals, etc. These goals help to make life worth living after retirement.
If you are an entrepreneur, you must begin long enough to prepare for your retirement to enable your company to run excellently even without your presence.
As a civil servant, ensure that you find something else doing and it must be something that defines or align with who you are and also earn you some money.
Retirement isn’t a punishment, it isn’t a means the government used to reduce your earnings. It’s an opportunity for you to take care of your health and focus on other aspects of your life.