For many retired people today, the key to a comfortable retired life is an oxymoron- it won’t be comfortable unless you keep hustling. The career path you choose to follow after retirement might be vastly different from what you pursued in the preceding 40 years of your life. Today, a whole host of careers exist that are especially suitable for retirement age.
Founder and President of Lansky Career Consultants, Judi Lansky, claims that people today would rather not sit idly on their porch all through retirement age. Many retirees are looking for an “encore” career now, not because they run short on retirement savings, but because they want to add new meaning to their life.
Deposit Photos | An uneventful retired life is not for everyone
If you’re close to retirement age — and are eager to enter the next chapter of life with an all-new second career — the following advice is for you.
1. What do you really want?
Before venturing into your second career, there are a couple of requirements that you might have. You need to find a career that:
1. Offers the salary and benefits you require, plus the flexibility and hours you desire
2. Enables you to be around people you like
3. Involves tasks that do not burn you out physically and emotionally
So, the question is, how do you start figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life? Many retirees have claimed that thinking about a retirement job takes them back to high school or college days when they were trying to determine who they are and what they want to be. If you think about it, treating your second career the same way is not such a bad idea.
2. Be more realistic
Just as it was difficult to enter the workforce back when you graduated, starting a second career poses its challenges. Among the biggest is the effort and time you’d have to put into finding a suitable job. The reality remains, you can’t work 40-50 hours every week now. You might even want some free days to spend with the grandkids, so part-time jobs might be your only option.
Furthermore, some careers demand the acquisition of skills that you don’t already possess. You might even have to take classes or training courses to learn these skills. Hence, before committing to anything, self-reflect for a moment and decide exactly what you want from your second career.
Deposit Photos | Watching your grandkids grow up is a joy in itself
3. Learn before you commit
The grass might always be greener on the other side, but it’s still important to do your homework before jumping into a whole new field. More often than not, those who enter a new field realize that the career they opted for wasn’t what they had imagined. Speak to professionals in your newly-desired field to see if you really like it. You can even look into shadowing someone for a while to get a more thorough understanding.
Deposit Photos | Learning a new skill may pose to be quite a challenge
Bottom Line
Pursuing a second career might be rewarding in terms of mental and physical stimulation, but if you think there won’t be any challenges, think again.