Year 1 RETIREMENT
For so many of their friends, retirement could not come soon enough. Dean was one of the lucky ones. He absolutely loved his profession, loved the patients he got to meet with. His wife Lorraine described the couple as “People-People”.
With a significant uptick in Dean’s commute times in recent years and an increased push towards a more digital patient engagement, the timing seemed just right to exit the profession.
Dean admits he experienced anxiety leading up to the decision. “You work very intensely for a long time at a job you like and then you quit. You hear about people that are depressed and bored and you worry that you won’t have enough to do to fill the void”. So far he has not found that to be the case adding, “We’ll see how this winter goes.”
When asked what some of the top concerns leading up to retirement were, Lorraine responded, “We’re not extravagant, but the concern was always, will we have enough money?”
When asked what recommendations the couple would have for others entering this stage? They both agreed having your finances in order was a top priority. Once they were able to address that question, the next concern became health insurance. It was a critical component that they wanted to get right. “Even as Healthcare professionals, there were so many nuances, wording and verbiage that was foreign to us”, says Lorraine. “Both of us have longevity in our families, our parents have lived into their 90’s.”
Dean adds, “We spent a lot of time looking at social security and different insurance companies trying to get things straight. I think it would be really hard trying to do it on your own. If you’ve been working and your employer provided health insurance, you probably didn’t have to put much thought into it until now. Now, you may be buying four different types of insurance policies to simply cover what you had before.”
They both agreed, talking to your friends who have already taken the leap is a big resource for information.
Another tip: It really helps if you can be open with your spouse about expectations. Lorraine explained, “I think success in retirement boils down to two things, your finances and your relationship with your partner. For those couples who don’t have an open relationship and can’t talk about how they may feel about this new stage of their lives, it can become very difficult. For Dean and I, we have both been on the same side of the street going into this, which hopefully will continue to work for us.”
So what does the future look like?
“We want to do more road trips; because time has always been a constraint, we always opted to fly”, says Lorraine.
“The possibilities are endless now”, adds Dean. “The thing we are really looking forward to most is that there is no exact date we need to return. Here’s our chance; no one cares what we are doing or when we come back… let’s just enjoy it."
Lorraine was quick to add, “Our activities have always been focused on the weekends, but now I feel like it’s 24/7, we can do something for fun. We’re like two free spirits.”
With a significant uptick in Dean’s commute times in recent years and an increased push towards a more digital patient engagement, the timing seemed just right to exit the profession.
Dean admits he experienced anxiety leading up to the decision. “You work very intensely for a long time at a job you like and then you quit. You hear about people that are depressed and bored and you worry that you won’t have enough to do to fill the void”. So far he has not found that to be the case adding, “We’ll see how this winter goes.”
When asked what some of the top concerns leading up to retirement were, Lorraine responded, “We’re not extravagant, but the concern was always, will we have enough money?”
When asked what recommendations the couple would have for others entering this stage? They both agreed having your finances in order was a top priority. Once they were able to address that question, the next concern became health insurance. It was a critical component that they wanted to get right. “Even as Healthcare professionals, there were so many nuances, wording and verbiage that was foreign to us”, says Lorraine. “Both of us have longevity in our families, our parents have lived into their 90’s.”
Dean adds, “We spent a lot of time looking at social security and different insurance companies trying to get things straight. I think it would be really hard trying to do it on your own. If you’ve been working and your employer provided health insurance, you probably didn’t have to put much thought into it until now. Now, you may be buying four different types of insurance policies to simply cover what you had before.”
They both agreed, talking to your friends who have already taken the leap is a big resource for information.
Another tip: It really helps if you can be open with your spouse about expectations. Lorraine explained, “I think success in retirement boils down to two things, your finances and your relationship with your partner. For those couples who don’t have an open relationship and can’t talk about how they may feel about this new stage of their lives, it can become very difficult. For Dean and I, we have both been on the same side of the street going into this, which hopefully will continue to work for us.”
So what does the future look like?
“We want to do more road trips; because time has always been a constraint, we always opted to fly”, says Lorraine.
“The possibilities are endless now”, adds Dean. “The thing we are really looking forward to most is that there is no exact date we need to return. Here’s our chance; no one cares what we are doing or when we come back… let’s just enjoy it."
Lorraine was quick to add, “Our activities have always been focused on the weekends, but now I feel like it’s 24/7, we can do something for fun. We’re like two free spirits.”