Together or Apart?
08/24/2015
One of the interesting aspects of retirement is the new dynamic between couples that occurs when you both have a lot of time on your hands. Pre-retirement, your time together may have been limited by such obligations as work (especially if you both worked outside the home) and raising children. In retirement, however, you may face the unusual challenge of actually interacting quite a bit more with your significant other.
This is an adjustment that can take its toll, even on the most stable relationships. Miriam Goodman, author of the book, Too Much Togetherness: Surviving Retirement as a Couple, writes in an article for Next Avenue, "To not drive each other crazy, couples need a mutually acceptable game plan for the future. They need to think about and discuss how they want to spend their time, including how much time they want to spend together. These talks should begin long before retirement."
Couples should think about how best to make the transition to retirement, both separately and together. For some, it may make more sense for one partner to retire first, and then the other to follow later. For others, retiring simultaneously doesn't present a problem. My wife and I didn't look at our next phase of life as retirement; instead, we viewed it as "rewirement." We both left our jobs, relocated, and decided to start a small business together. We later sold the business and moved on to our next phase, during which we both volunteer and work part-time.
Goodman suggests some strategies for a happier retirement together, including, "Take time to adjust to being retired," "negotiate sharing more household responsibility," "make sure you each have enough 'alone time,'" and "plan, but don't overplan or overschedule."
You can purchase Goodman's book directly from Amazon below.
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