5 tips for a happy retirement (2025)

Retirement marks a significant transitionin life, offering a new-found freedomthat can be both exciting and daunting.While finances are important inretirement, maintaining your wellbeingis equally crucial to fully enjoy this newchapter in your life.

Here are 5 tipsto help you navigate the psychologicalaspects of retirement.

1. Approach it like a new job

Retirement is a difficult time forsome people because they have anunrealistic view of what it will be like.Sitting around all day watching TVmight be fine for a while, but you needstructure in your day to maintain yourmental wellbeing.

We tend to get boredwithout things to stimulate us and thiscan lead to depressionand anxiety.To help prevent this, it can be helpfulto approach retirement like a new job,which means actively planning yourretirement beforehand.

Write down what activities you’dlike to do.These may be things you’vealways wanted to do but, because ofwork, you have not been able to.Or perhaps there are aspects ofyour work that you love and wouldlike to continue to do.

Or maybe youwant to give back to your community,or support a cause you’re passionateabout, by volunteering.All of these are potential activitiesyou can pursue in retirement.

It canhelp to call these activities ‘work’ whenyou’re retired, so other people do notassume you’re not doing anythingwith your time.It can also help you to build a newidentity and prevent the sense of losspeople can feel when their career is nolonger a core part of their identity.

2. Structure your days

Once you’ve decided on the activities you would like to do, you can start to structure your new ‘working’ life around them. The benefit of retirement is that you can choose your working hours, so if you do not want to start work until midday then you do not have to.

But it’s important to identify yourworking hours and stick to them, sowhen you’re not working you’re free todo other things and enjoy them as areward for the work you’ve done.

3. Discuss your plans with family

Speak to your family about yourretirement plans, so they do not haveunrealistic expectations of how muchfree time you’ll have.For example, if you havegrandchildren, you may be asked tolook after them more when you retire,so it’s important your children knowhow much spare time you’ll have.

You can then build looking after yourgrandchildren into your day or week.Also, by sharing your plans with yourfamily and developing them together,you’re more likely to get their agreementand support.

4. Build new social networks

You may not realise it until youretire, but workplaces offer importantsocial structures.If you enjoyed work and made goodfriends, you may want to keep up thoserelationships after you leave.

But if youdid not enjoy work, you may distanceyourself from work colleagues whenyou retire. If this happens it can lead tosocial isolation and loneliness, which inturn carry a risk of depression.

Pursuing activities that you enjoy canhelp prevent this. Most activities requiresome form of social contact, even ifit’s only with a few people. So gettinginvolved in an activity makes it easier toform and maintain social connectionsand build new friendships.

We all need social support, and themore we have the better.

5. Get healthy before you retire

It’s important to be healthy inretirement so you can enjoy it to the full.This means making time for yourhealth before you retire, such asattending health checks for risk factorsfor heart and circulatory conditions,like high blood pressureand highcholesterol, and having regular dental,eye and hearing checks.

A healthy lifestyle, such as eating adiet with lots of vegetables, fruits and wholegrains, maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly, is also essential. Staying activeis especially important as it offers social and mental health benefits as well as physical ones.

It does not really matter what you do – join a dance club or go for a walk in nature. Pets, like a dog that needs to be walked regularly, can be a great way to exercise and get together with friends at the same time.

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