By Sally Power, Ph.D.
Just as people need to assess their finances, health and life goals as they near retirement, they also need to think about the future role of work in their lives. Since retirement is becoming a new life stage rather than simply a winding down, continuing to work in some form is the choice of many.
Those thinking about retirement often want more control, more flexibility and more personal meaning in their work. And employment dynamics have changed significantly in the last 20 years, with both more options and more challenges. This means that thinking and planning for your work transition makes a lot of sense.
What are your personal priorities in your retirement work? Some people will have a clear idea of what work they want to do, but many will need to "experiment." Experimenting makes sense because your job is a big part of your identity as an adult, so changing your job and role in the working world means changing part of your identity. Even if you think you know what you want, trying it out in some temporary fashion can show you aspects of the work that were hidden to you and save you from making a significant commitment that turns out to be much less than you expected.
Build a Bridge
Once you have a goal for the type of work you want to do in retirement, the final step in planning is beginning to identify the "bridges" for your transition. You will be looking for new jobs. Who do you know who might hire you or how can you begin to meet people who do the work that you are interested in doing? Who might know of job openings and be able to speak well of you? If you need new skills and knowledge, think about how you can readily acquire them. You may only need a course at a community college or some private tutoring to be ready to break into your new interest area. Also think about how your current skills and experience might be useful in the new setting. A possible bridge to your retirement employment goal may be taking a job that brings you closer to where you want to go but primarily uses skills and experience from your past.
Financial Planning
Throughout this process, you should be thinking about the opportunity that your retirement savings and investments provide you for the transition into retirement. Depending on how much change you want in terms of your work, you will need to rely more on your retirement income while you make the transition. This income can give you the freedom to take the time to achieve what you want for the next phase of your life.
Second Careers
Most studies show that people thinking about retirement want more personal meaning in their work, more flexibility and more control. Think about the work you want to do. How would you describe meaningful work? Is it about what you do? Who you are able to help? Do you want to advocate for some cause? Think about your past and when you have felt particularly good about the work you did, whether it was for pay or non-profit. Make a list of those situations and look for themes in them.
Finally, don't just look internally but also think about which employers are likely to seek employees with interests like yours—what do they do? Where are they located? When you have some ideas, go to the library and read up in the business or industry periodicals about the challenges and changes that are occurring in the work you are interested in. It is through helping employers solve their problems that people get jobs.
Sally J. Power, Ph. D. is Professor of Management at the University of St. Thomas and author of "The Mid-Career Success Guide, 2006."
