When you and your mate got together, did you talk about what retirement would someday mean to you? In the dating years and first few years of marriage, retirement is often not on a couple’s radar screen. Busy with building a home and/or a family, couples usually don’t flesh out where and what they want to be doing in their “golden years.” For a huge portion of the American population, the “golden years” are here, but for a lot of people the years ahead are not what they had expected.
Some of the unexpected components:
- weak housing market
- decreased retirement savings
- elimination of pensions
- increased health care costs
Added to these factors is a possible incongruity in values having to do with location for retirement. Do you want to stay in the city and continue to earn income and your mate wants to live in a less populated area and reduce work? Or perhaps it’s vice versa.
First of all, know that it’s in the range of normal for you and your mate to not see your retirement 100% the same way. You’re two different people with two sets of interests, temperaments, and energy levels. The key is to be able to have a conversation where you and your mate feel heard. Once acknowledgement and validation happens for you both, that’s when teamwork and negotiation can begin. Retirement, no matter how it ends up looking for you and your partner, can be some of the most fulfilling years of your life!
To read more about retirement and its challenges and benefits to your relationship, click here.
If you have a retirement story you’d like to share, please make a comment!
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