Retiring as a couple: factors influencing life in retirement
Retiring as a couple involves major changes that go far beyond individual changes in the transition to retirement. If you want to prepare yourself to succeed in this important passage of your life, discover now the factors to take into account to live well this new stage of your life. Retiring as a couple is much more complex than the simple sum of the individual transitions of the partners. If you are interested in this subject, we advise you to read our article on the transition to retirement. If not, you can continue reading this article.
Factors to consider when retiring as a couple
Many factors such as health status, type of work, financial situation, can influence retiring as a couple.
The traditional gender-role
The results of research on this topic have been somewhat controversial because according to some scientific studies, the traditional gender-roles would have an impact on satisfaction within the couple with a better perception of the relationship in couples where the woman is already retired and the husband continues to work. The level of satisfaction of the couple would remain lower if the woman continues to work in relation to couples in which both partners still have a professional activity. On the other hand, other studies did not highlight these same results.
The work status of partners
The job status of the partners influences the timing of retirement, which means that the better the professional status of one of the partners and the more the other partner decides to retire. Men and women are more motivated to work longer before retiring if they have a job that requires greater intellectual effort or if they are self-employed. This can be explained by the fact that a person who has a job that he likes, will be more motivated to extend his professional activity compared to those for whom the work is not a real source of satisfaction.
The moment chosen for retirement
Studies show that relationships conflicts are greater if one of the two partners continues to work. On the other hand, couples with the same professional status, experience a better quality of their relationship. This means that when this change of life is not synchronous, the conflicts of couple are likely to multiply more and to affect negatively the life of these seniors.
Summarizing when retiring as a couple
Research in psychology and gerontology shows that:
- conflicts are more important at the beginning of retirement and tend to shrink after a few years if the couple is able to adjust adequately to their new life
- the transition to retirement temporarily reduces the quality of marital life for men and women
You have just discovered the importance of understanding and preparing yourself when retiring as a couple in order to create the foundations of a better life. If you want to talk with a retirement coach, write to us now via our contact form.
Are you ready to take action?
Here are the rates for our coaching packages for individual clients: