The three most common fears of retirement are lonliness, poverty and rejection. In the ABS census we often read or hear of the increasing number of one person households. Recently, Nick Duerden, published a book titled A Life Less Lonely. This discusses the current social crisis and suggests strategies for ways to manage lonliness. Lonliness can impact our outlook on life and even impact our health. Nick discusses two types of lonliness. Transient lonliness is just as the name suggests a temporary state. Chronic lonliness is enduring and likely to affect our mental or physical health. Check out Nick’s book.
We all experience lonliness during our lifetime. As we approach retirement the fear of being lonely may influence the time we choose to retire, where we choose to live in retirement and what we choose to do in our retirement. Is the fear related to the numbers of hours currently spent at work which ‘fills in’ the day for us and gives us a sense of connectness and importance? One strategey to address the issue of lonliness is to plan some retirement activities before you hit the ‘disconnect from work’ button.
