Invaluable Retirement Lessons From Those Who Learned the Hard Way

In the end, he said the lesson to be learned is very simple: If you want to make better decisions, talk with people who have made the decision you’re considering and see how it worked out for them.

Recognizing that taking action and learning new things were two significant sources of motivation before he retired, Pilzner, at age 78, is now studying for a degree in political science and history.

Jay Holt retired at age 64, hoping to spend more time pursuing his favorite hobby: polo. But two years after retiring, he was injured to the point where he can’t play anymore. Now he regrets not retiring earlier.

As someone once said, retirement is typically marked by three distinct periods: the go-go years, the slow-go years, and, ominously enough, the no-go years. No one knows how long they will be in good health, so timing retirement to be able to maximize the go-go years is difficult. Still, it’s worth considering.

While Dan Roberts and his wife, Robin, didn’t move in retirement, he wishes he had maintained relationships with former colleagues. Their son and his family used to live just two hours away but then moved to New Zealand. Roberts said if he had kept in touch with former co-workers he might have been able to do some contract work, which would have given them the financial freedom to visit their son’s family more often.

“We miss our grandchildren terribly,” Robin said.

What will you do in retirement? When should you retire? And how can you best plan for retirement in a way that will foster connection with the people who matter to you most of all? Again, these are not easy questions to answer. But they’re worth asking. And they’re worthy of lots of time in prayer.