Early retirement is not as rosy as you think

By Rehema Mtingwa

Scientists advise us that there is no ideal age to retire. You should find meaning in your work instead.

Early retirement is not such a bad idea, but only if it is affordable. Today, people who begin this process feel confident that they can live out the rest of their lives comfortably. Still being young enough to enjoy what is earned sounds good reason enough for someone to want to advance into retirement.

The official retirement age in Tanzania is 60 years old as required by Law. With this fact, many of us have three to four three decades of intense work life, depending on the starting age.

I have fond memories of my father who retired at a very early age of 49 years. At that time, I was still in primary school so I did not know much difference then about retirement and employment as long as there was food on the table and our school fees were paid.

A year or so after he retired, he suffered an illness and had to be hospitalized for some time; and from then on, life was never the same.

My father was smart, attentive, and had an infectious laugh. In his heydays, he worked in various demanding positions in the government and worked his way to the top of the corporate ladder. Yes, the work-induced stress contributed to his health greatly. I am not sure how our brains or bodies are wired so that we start having health problems once we stop working.

A lot of us are in a rush to make money so we can retire early — I included. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that ambition, it’s important to consider the opportunity cost that comes with early retirement. By retiring early, could you be giving up more than you expected to?

According to neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, there’s no ideal age to retire: “Don’t retire. Don’t stop being engaged with meaningful work. Look forward. Reminiscing doesn’t promote health.”

The trouble is a lot of us keep ourselves “busy” with unproductive tasks at work or trivial pursuits. Today, a large part of our society exists in a state of “busy” that’s not only unhealthy, it’s also unproductive.

There are times when I’ve felt frustrated for failing to achieve my goals despite my hard work.

And the issue wasn’t that I wasn’t working hard enough. It was that I wasn’t working on the right things. There needs to be enough balance in our daily lives to compensate for the unavoidable work events that can often aggravate our minds

Sometimes, early retirement is seasonal or maybe, trendy; when people retire in big numbers. Most of us are either forced into it or base on the myths surrounding early retirement and “freedom”.

Reality has it that achieving early retirement is difficult for a lot of people, so we feel incredibly grateful to have financial independence and freedom from work. The employment perks one gets from their employment cease immediately once they retire.

But if you are considering it, you’ve probably heard a bunch of downsides that made you second-guess early retirement. Is everything about retirement all that bad? Not really.

Personally, when I was still working, I had all the common problems: Plantar fasciitis (inflammation of the fibrous tissue), a weakened immune system (due to immense work stress), chronic lower back pain (from sitting all day), no time with my family ... and that’s just the half of it.

All those issues miraculously went away once I retired. Instead of spending hours sitting in a chair and having lunch at my desk, I’m eating fresh home cooked meals, exercising more, free to go wherever and meditating longer. This is a big plus!

However, I still had the problem of letting go for a while. After I left my job, I was constantly communicating with my ex-colleagues, visiting them at times. Surely, they needed my expertise and relationship, I thought. Truth is, they don’t.

I also learnt that we spend the majority of our lives working, which makes it hard to find an identity beyond our professions. When we are now older and weaker, we try to assimilate into the society, but hey, it is not easy. But it is possible if you keep examining your strengths, values and hopes and dreams for the future.

Finally our goal is to have purpose and live a long and healthy life so we can watch our children grow up to be responsible, happy, independent and loved adults.