The retirement transition

This article follows on from last weeks’ article on transitions and turning points and is issue 18 of Rethink Retirement, if you are not a subscriber, I'd love you to?sign up.

The transition from being a worker to a retired person can be seen as a macro-role identity transition which follows a three-stage model (Ashforth, 2001):

1. Exit from the present role
2. A period of transition that can be marked by rites of passage and liminality
3. Entry into the new role.

This is in line with The Transition Model created by Bridges (1996). This states that a transition starts with the ending and letting go, goes through the neutral zone until a new beginning is reached. ?

This sounds simple, but as retirement is a major transition it can affect people differently. ?

As we grow older our behaviour is determined by transitions, not age.

This differs from when we move from infancy through childhood to adolescence where there are similarities between individuals of the same age.?Individuals can become parents?from their late teens until much later in life, for example. It is the transition (marriage, divorce, death of a child, retirement) that brings people together rather than a chronological age (Schlossberg, 1991).

Schlossberg’s theory refers to the 4 S’s (situation, self, support and strategies) and can be helpful. For some people the transition will be positive and expected, for others a more negative experience, and people will take varying amounts of time to move through the stages to adjustment. People bring different strengths and experiences to the situation, have differing levels of support and different coping strategies.?

Schlossberg’s transition theory defines a transition as any event, or non-event that results in changed relationships, routines, assumptions, and roles. Clearly, retirement is a major transition and affects all these areas. Whereas earlier life stages (infancy, childhood, adolescence) are biologically determined, as we grow older our behaviour is determined by transitions, not age.

Chronological age is an unreliable predictor of how people will behave (Neugarten, 1986). We may say that we are too old to do something, and someone may believe this is so, but this is not because of biology. This is why an understanding of transitions is important.

A transition requires coping, and people have differing personality factors that can either help or be a liability. The 4 S model refers to personal characteristics and psychological resources under the ‘Self’ coping resource. Whilst some of these are classed as psycho-social such as gender, age, health, and socioeconomic status, there are also psychological resources that include ego development, optimism, self-efficacy, commitment and values, as well as spirituality and resilience, all falling into the personality factors that were researched in my thesis.?Ego development can affect how people respond to ambiguity. Aspects of personality can help with the overall adjustment to retirement, such as high extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness and low neuroticism, values such as autonomy and openness to change along with self-efficacy and self-esteem.

?The retirement transition can be seen differently with some anticipating it and seeing it as a positive stage and others, perhaps having to retire prematurely due to ill health, finding that they have less money alongside health issues that affect their plans. Still others may take an overly positive view and find it is not as they expected. It was due to the fact that the transition can vary greatly that my research was only interested in two years beyond retirement to allow the individuals to pass through the transition.

There is also a diversity in people’s experience of retirement, and considerable variability in the way that retirement is defined. Some people will choose the ‘clean break’ and stop work entirely; others may move to part-time working possibly in a different type of work. Others may return to work after a break. Therefore, seeing retirement as a life transition is more in line with people’s experiences.

Friedmann and Havighurst, in their book The Meaning of Work and Retirement, (1954) listed five reasons for work: (1) as a source of income, (2) a life routine structuring the use of time, (3) a source of personal status and identity, (4) a context for social interaction, and (5) a meaningful experience that can provide a sense of accomplishment.

So, when we transition to retirement, we face major changes

• Will we have enough money coming in, and if not, how will we find it?
• Do we need a routine, as without it we can feel ‘unmoored’?
• Who are we without our work identity?
• Where will we meet people if most of our connections are through our work?
• What will give us meaning?

Useful questions to consider at an earlier life stage as part of our preparation to move forward.

Any questions or comments, I’ll be delighted to read them.

Dr Denise Taylor is a Chartered Psychologist and Vision Quest Guide, specialising in retirement transitions and elderhood. Regularly featured in the media, she is the author of 8 books including Find Work at 50+ and Now you've been shortlisted.

My next book – Rethink Retirement will be published in Summer, 2022

• Award winning career coach with Amazing People
• Working with people at 50+ - The 50 Plus Coach
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