FOR most Filipinos, retirement is something we look forward to. After decades of working, raising a family, paying the bills and meeting deadlines, we see retirement as a reward. No more alarm clocks. No more traffic. No more office politics. Finally, we can sleep late, travel, enjoy hobbies, spend time with our family and do the things we never had time to do.
That was exactly how Miguel imagined his retirement.
At 62, after almost four decades of chasing business goals, Miguel was ready. He had saved enough to feel reasonably comfortable. His children were grown, his house was fully paid and he had been looking forward to retirement for years.
“I can finally enjoy life,” he told his friends.
During the first few months, he did. He played golf during weekdays, watched movies and enjoyed leisurely breakfasts with his wife. They went on trips. He visited friends. For the first time in many years, he had nowhere he needed to be.
It was wonderful. Until it wasn’t.
After a while, the days began to look the same. Monday no longer felt different from Saturday. His golf games became routine. Some of his friends were still working, while his children were busy with their own careers. His wife had her own activities and interests.
One morning, Miguel woke up and realized something uncomfortable. He had plenty of time, but he didn’t know what to do with it.
Miguel was bored. This may sound surprising. After all, isn’t having more free time what we all dream about? But perhaps we have misunderstood retirement.
We often think of work as something that takes time away from us. We forget that work also gives us many things beyond a salary. It gives us purpose, people and structure. It gives us responsibilities, relationships and a sense of achievement. It makes us feel that we are valued.
For 40 years, Miguel knew what he was supposed to do every Monday morning. People depended on him. He had colleagues to talk to, problems to solve and goals to achieve.
Then, suddenly, all of that disappeared.
Miguel had prepared to retire from work. He had not prepared to retire to something.
This is an important lesson in retirement planning.
We spend years asking, “How much money do I need to retire?” That is certainly an important question. We need enough money to pay for food, housing, health care, travel and the many years that may lie ahead.
We have become very good at calculating how much money we need to retire, and surprisingly, poor at imagining what we will retire to.
AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, reported in a US study that 14 percent of retirees felt bored, while 13 percent felt isolated and another 13 percent lacked a sense of purpose. These figures are not representative of Filipino retirees, but they point to a challenge we should not ignore: Financial security alone does not guarantee a fulfilling retirement.
We should also ask: What will I do with my time? Who will I spend it with? What will give me a reason to get up in the morning?
Retirement does not have to mean doing nothing. A fulfilling retirement may require us to become more intentional about how we spend our time.
For some, it may mean mentoring younger people. After decades of experience, retirees have something valuable to give. For others, it may mean volunteering, teaching, joining a church organization or supporting a cause close to their hearts.
For some, retirement may be the opportunity to finally pursue a passion postponed because of work and family responsibilities — painting, writing, traveling or learning something completely new.
And for others, retirement may include working, but on their own terms. Part-time consulting, entrepreneurship or board work can provide both income and purpose, without the demands of a full-time career.
Relationships also matter.
During our working years, we often have hundreds of people around us. Then retirement comes and that circle suddenly becomes smaller. Our children may live in another country. Friends may still be working. Some relationships may have faded simply because schedules no longer align.
For Filipinos, there is an added reality. We naturally look to our children and grandchildren as an important part of our later years. But our children have their own careers, families and responsibilities. They can enrich our retirement, but they cannot be our entire retirement plan.
That is why we should build our social life before retirement, not wait until after we retire.
We also need structure. Freedom sounds wonderful, but too much unstructured time can become difficult. A retirement filled with exercise, family, friends, learning, hobbies, travel, service and rest can feel very different from simply having nothing to do.
This is the irony of retirement, we spend our working lives wishing we had more time, and when we finally get it, we discover that time itself needs to be planned.
Miguel eventually understood this.
He did not need another full-time job. He needed a reason to look forward to Monday.
He began mentoring younger professionals. He volunteered with a church organization. He committed to exercising regularly and made time for his family. He continued playing golf, but it became only one part of his retirement rather than the whole of it.
Slowly, retirement became interesting again.
Miguel’s experience reminds us that retirement planning should not begin and end with money.
Yes, we need to know whether our savings and investments can support us for the rest of our lives. But we also need to prepare for the life we want to live when the paycheck stops.
We should ask ourselves: What am I retiring to?
Because it is possible to have enough money and still have an empty retirement. It is possible to have financial security but no sense of purpose. It is possible to have all the time in the world and still wonder what to do with it.
Retirement should not simply be the end of our working years. It should be the beginning of a new chapter where we have greater freedom to choose how we spend our time, whom we serve and what gives our life meaning.
So, before you retire, don’t just plan your finances. Plan your life.
Because someday, you will retire. And when that day comes, the question may not be, “Do I have enough money?”
It may be an even more important one: “What will I do with all this time?”
