Couples who are nearing their retirement (Third Age, Second Act, Re-fire-ment, Encore, etc.) need to prepare psychologically as well as financially for this new stage. The change in their relationship in this uncharted territory can be similar to when they first married.
The degree of togetherness cannot be assumed. Looking at the goals of the couple in addition to the individuals’ goals need to be communicated with openness and honesty. In fact, it is often the case that each partner has their own idea of how the next stage in life will be played out and that picture of the future can be very different from the other’s view. One might want to spend time traveling the world and the other might want to start a new business. One might want to spend more time with the grandchildren as a family and the other might want to go back to school and earn a degree. One might want to spend time volunteering and pursue a hobby while the other wants to buy a home on a golf course and spend their days without a schedule.
Deciding who will be responsible for the day to day tending of the home may change. The family ’social chairman’ might change.
Deciding how the couple wants their life to look after years raising children and working in the workforce may take some serious discussion. There are many opportunities to explore to make the rest of their married life together meaningful and fulfilling. Unfortunately, there are those who see that they don’t like their life the way it is and rather than changing it within the marriage, they opt to get out of the marriage.
I will talk about how to have the serious discussions in future posts.
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
You must be logged in to post a comment.
