Unbeknownst to myself, the day I started working I entered into the first stage of retirement, which is a bold statement. In 1975 a professor of gerontology named Robert Atchley identified seven stages of retirement and throughout time academia has reduced the stages to 6.

Pre-retirement

The first state is known as Pre-retirement, the planning time, and I have been planning my retirement for as long as I can remember. Granted I had no idea what the journey I was about to experience entailed or what retirement really meant. I was taught at an early age to save money so I could have a good life when I got old. As an adolescent, along with the kids in our neighborhood, I would do about anything to make money, from hosting carnivals and candy sales to mowing lawns. I started to understand the concept of retirement while I was in the Marine Corps and, at 18, didn’t take advantage of the pension I could have received at the young age of 38.

After I left the Marine Corps and started working in the real world, I fell into employment represented by the Teamsters. You may have heard a lot of horror stories about unions, but one thing that cannot be denied is that, as a Teamster, you understand retirement and pensions. I believe most people know that retirement is coming, and they try to do everything they can to save for it and dream of what they will do when it arrives.

Retirement

The second stage, retirement, is what we have been waiting for. It was a great feeling not to punch a time clock for the first time in 30 years. This is the stage of my endless vacation: I play basketball daily, go biking, kayaking, hiking, work on the house, and visit all the family and friends I never had time to see. I guess it is called the honeymoon stage because it isn’t supposed to last. With my optimism, I don’t see it ending anytime soon. Some of you are fortunate enough to retire alongside your partner. If you happen to be in my situation and have to wait for your better half, wouldn’t it be safe to say the honeymoon hasn’t started yet?

Disenchantment

During this stage you might have the feeling retirement isn’t a permanent vacation after all. You may also experience boredom and disillusionment and feel useless. Personally, I haven’t experienced this stage yet, and I understand that if and when I do that, it is completely normal to remind myself that I am only halfway through my journey. The last three stages are reorientation, routine, and termination. I will address those stages in a future post.