Retiring Early or Later Than Peers: What it Means

Retiring early sounds like a dream. You’ve worked hard your entire life and, if it makes financial sense for you, you may want to jump at the chance to stop working and head into retirement as soon as possible. For a lot of people, this is exactly what they want, and it works out perfectly. However, there are some challenges that you’ll want to consider before you take the plunge.

The first is financial. The earlier you retire, the longer you have to go without receiving a regular income from your job. This not only means saving more while you’re employed, but it also means living more of your life on a retirement budget. This can be a challenge, and not just because of the dollars and cents involved.

It’s hard to live off a retirement budget when your friends and relatives aren’t in the same position. This is one of the aspects of retiring at a different age than your peers that you’ll want to consider.

The Challenges of Retiring Early

While it’s not always true, in many cases, you need to watch your budget carefully when you’re retired. This may not be as true for those who are working full-time.

If you retire before many of your friends, you may have to turn down attending the weekly happy hour, for instance, because it doesn’t fit into your budget. Living on a retirement budget for long could mean you’ll miss out on social events and other activities with your friends.

This can also happen just due to your lifestyle being different. If all your peers are going out to eat after work at a place nearby, for instance, it may not make logistical sense for you to do the same. You’re not leaving work at the same time and the same place as them, so it might be hard to meet up. They may not even think of inviting you. That’s probably not because they don’t want to see you, but it could just be that they planned it during work. If you’re not there, you’re not a part of those talks.

Living a different social life is another challenge. People form bonds in their workplace. They talk about work challenges and shared experiences, but often these conversations also include other aspects of their lives as well. If you’re no longer in the workplace, you won’t be in those conversations. 

Plus, remember that people like to discuss what happened in their day. Once you’re out of the workforce, your day becomes very different from someone who is still working. This can make socializing difficult or uncomfortable.

Losing the comradery of work and workplace bonding can be tough.

The changing structure of your lifestyle may also cause challenges. When you retire, a lot of people (often wrongly) believe that you have “all the time in the world.” This means they may expect you to be available whenever they need you. If you say that you’re busy or can’t see them, they may take offense. In their eyes, it looks like you’re not making them a priority. In reality, it’s often that they don’t understand the lifestyle you live. Unfortunately, this can cause bitterness or resentment from both sides which can, sadly, damage friendships.

The difficult reality is that some people may resent you for retiring early. They may not be feeling this on purpose, and they may not want to feel this way, but it unfortunately happens often. This can be tough to deal with. 

Retiring Later Than Your Peers

It isn’t just retiring early that can make personal relationships difficult. Entering retirement after your friends, family members, and coworkers can also be tough.

The first is that you may feel like you’ve fallen behind, even if you’re working longer by choice. It’s natural to see others your age spending their days golfing, traveling, or relaxing while you’re heading into work each day, and have that bring up feelings. You may feel like you’re missing out or might start to regret your choice to keep working. If you’re working longer because you can’t financially afford to retire yet, these feelings may be intensified.

Again, lifestyle differences can also cause problems. If your friends are making plans to hang out in the middle of the day because they’re not working and can do that, you’ll miss out if you’re unavailable due to work.

Dealing with these Challenges

Whether you’re retiring early or working longer than your peers, there are things you can do to better cope with the challenges.

The first is to make time for the friendships that matter to you. You probably won’t be able to attend every gathering due to conflicting schedules, but you can probably go to some. This can help keep your relationships strong.

Open and honest communication also helps. Tell your friends or relatives how you’re feeling and the challenges you’re facing and invite them to do the same. Having honest conversations can really help.