Helping people to retire happy begins with understanding what makes people happy in retirement. Or, better yet, understanding what makes people happy overall. Interestingly, the Wall Street Journal published an article called 'They're the Happiest People in America. We Called Them to Ask Why.' It is from April 21, 2023. The poll that they conducted behind the article identifies a statistical connection to happiness. And it's pretty compelling. The article is worth a full read, it's got a lot of information in it, but I'll boil it down for you right here. The four things that top the charts, in terms of being statistically happy, are:
- Belief in God
- Marriage
- Your age (specifically, as we age we get happier, and the happiest people are over the age of 60)
- Community involvement
And, as a runner up, having a strong connection to one, two, or three people in your life. So taking it beyond the bounds of marriage - best friends, other family members, a mentor, people who are truly important to you in your life, etc. These things are pretty compelling. And the reason I bring it up, even though in some ways I almost hate that this is an important subject, but I can't tell you how many times I've watched people retire poorly. They wake up the first day of retirement, and they have no idea what to do with themselves. They are not passionate about anything, they have lost their purpose in life, they were tied so tightly to what they represented in their work life that once they retire, they don't know what to do. I constantly tell people, if you don't know what your first year of retirement is going to look like, don't retire yet. You need to know what you want to accomplish, what you're excited about doing during that year. And it might be something very simple. It might be something as simple as is spending more time with family or doing some traveling. You need to have a purpose. And if you don't have one, I believe at the core of all this you need to serve - whether you're serving as a volunteer, or whether you're doing a job that you're passionate about, and you're serving that way (by serving people, customers, employees, and everything else). Or maybe, if we're talking about retirement, you're focusing on sliding into more of a part-time position or something that's maybe less demanding. But oftentimes ticking off some of those day to day demands may allow you to focus on the things that you truly are more passionate about.
So it's an interesting article, I encourage you to go check it out. It's not written about retirement. but I guarantee you this article has a strong tie into the work you do as an advisor helping to coach and mentor people through retirement. And again, they're coming up with a statistical connection to happiness. The top four items: belief in God, marriage, your age, and staying involved in the community. There you have it.
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