Retirement can provide opportunities for growth and enrichment in areas that the individual has never had time to pursue. Determine what stands in the way of reaching these goals, and decide what areas need to be changed or improved in order to get there. The issues to anticipate and analyze include changes in such areas as time structure, identity and self-worth, and relationships. Relationships with both family and friends change with retirement in several ways. Adult offspring rely on parents less as they establish an independent life.
Older adults approaching retirement begin to rely on adult offspring more.
Friendships also change as people age, particularly after they retire. Friendships established at work will fade and dissolve if based on work only. In order to maintain friendships after retirement, individuals should cultivate their outside interests and make new friends, or perhaps pursue outside interests with work friends so that there is a basis for friendship other than the workplace. Retirement provides opportunities for new relationships, and for personal and spiritual growth. But it can also be a painful time plagued with problems, particularly for a person who is unprepared to deal with this life-change.