How Do I Handle Retirement With A Spouse?

Many people think handling the retirement of a spouse involves financial planning---and it does. However, you must also deal with emotional issues prompted by lifestyle changes. You may spend more time with a retired spouse than you did when he worked full time. You or your spouse may experience depression, a loss of self-esteem, or boredom when you retire.

Significance

If you or your spouse wants to retire soon, you need to begin planning for major changes in your lifestyle. Retirement means more than a decrease in income; it heralds a change in a worker's sense of self and removes the externally-driven structure of daily activities. Whether you are a homemaker or have a job outside your home, alterations in your life occur when a spouse retires. Counselor Elizabeth Holtzman, writing for the faculty assistance program at the University of Massachusetts, suggests that a successful retirement for you and your spouse depends on finding satisfying pursuits, enjoying meaningful relationships, and engaging in creative mental activities.

Time Frame

A retirement survey conducted through Ameriprise Financial and published in the "Journal of Financial Planning" discusses five stages that people typically go through in retirement. As you or your spouse plans for and then enters retirement, knowledge of these typical stages helps you prepare and understand. Stage 1, more than five years before retirement, includes positive views and anticipation. Stage 2, about five years before retirement happens, may involve increasing worries about finances in retirement. To pass through retirement stages 3 and 4 successfully means accepting reality and reorienting to a new life. Be aware that you or your spouse may take several years to move into the final stages of contentment in retirement.

Considerations

Begin handling the retirement issues before you or your spouse stops working. Spend together time imagining the retirement you want, including where you want to live, where you want to travel, and what you want to do in retirement. Use vacation time during the four or five years before retirement to investigate location options you both enjoy. Organize your financial records and record expenses over a three- to four-year time to gauge your financial needs compared with your assets.

Problems

The University of Michigan study on "Growing Older in America" sponsored by the National Institute on Aging addresses three problem areas that often arise during retirement and that require consideration by both partners in a couple with a retiring spouse: health, health care costs and cognitive impairment. Health care expenses, even with Medicare coverage, may rise to as much as 30 or 35 percent of your after-tax income, depending on your income level. The risk of cognitive decline also increases with age. Make sure that checking cognitive function is part of an annual health care evaluation for you and your spouse.

Expert Insight

The U. S. Department of Labor recommends preparing before retirement by collecting information on your needs and expected benefits from Social Security and pensions. Use the services of a certified financial planner who has experience helping people into a successful retirement, suggests the "Senior Citizen Journal."