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Retirement Won't Make You Happy

May 18, 2011 9:01 am by paulag01 in Career
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Who hasn't worked in an office and said (or heard) these words: "At least when I can finally retire then I will be happy." Besides the fact that saying this is wishing your very precious life away, it is a total myth. Retirement won't make you any happier than you are right now. It simply won't.



Hedonic well-being is the fleeting type of happiness you feel when you get upgraded to first class or the Giant’s win the World Series. It’s the euphoria you experience driving home after your last day of work en route to the first day of the rest or your life: retirement. That’s not the happiness to which I refer when I speak of happiness. In fact, the constant pursuit of hedonic well-being is part of the reason that people aren’t happier, and by happy I mean eudaimonic, I mean if that really is a word.





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Happiness in Retirement

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kbojar
kbojar 5 pts

Retirement may not have made me "happy" but it sure made me happier.

I’ve had a second unpaid career as a political activist and my job was getting in the way of my activism. See See http://www.the-next-stage.com/2010/07/real-reason-... ( http://www.the-next-stage.com/2010/07/real-reason-... )

And it’s not just that I’m doing more political work; I’m enjoying it more. In my final working years, I was missing more and more meetings. In my last year on the job, just about the only meetings I went to were those I had to chair.

So now instead of falling asleep during meetings I’m actually enjoying them—especially the social dimension.. My job was getting in the way of my activist projects.

There is also some evidence that political engagement leads to “happiness. See “Does political activism make us happy?” at http://www.the-next-stage.com/2010/03/one-of-my-fa... ( http://www.the-next-stage.com/2010/03/one-of-my-fa... )

I didn’t become a political activist to become happy, and I’m not sure if I would call myself “happy”—-whatever that means—-but I feel engaged and part of the world and hope to keep this up as long as I can.

p>Karen Bojar blogs about retirement life, feminist activism,  grassroots politics and gardening at http://www.the-next-stage.com/

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