Retirement is a major life shift and it can be a time of great excitement and opportunity. However, it can also be a time of stress and anxiety. The changes in retirement can bring on real mental health challenges, such as:

Loss of identity and purpose: Work can provide you with a sense of identity and purpose. When you retire, you might lose this sense of identity and purpose, which can lead to feelings of depression and anxiety.

Social isolation: Many retirees lose touch with their colleagues and friends when they retire. This can lead to social isolation, which can increase the risk of depression and anxiety.

Financial worries: Many retirees worry about their financial situation as their income and benefits change and/or decrease. This too can lead to added stress and anxiety.

Health problems: Some retirees have health problems that come along with older age, which can lead to reduced mobility or even to pain or discomfort. This can make it difficult to enjoy retirement to its fullest and derail plans for travel or adventure.

But fear not! Adopting a phased approach to retirement can help with potential mental health challenges faced by retirees in a number of ways. In many ways it addresses the issues above by making retirement seem “real.”

A staged or phased move towards full retirement gives people more time to adjust to their new lifestyle. When people retire suddenly, they may feel overwhelmed by all the changes in their life. Easing into retirement can give them more time to adjust to their new schedule, routines, and social life.

It can also help you to maintain a sense of identity and purpose. When people retire gradually, they can continue to work part-time or volunteer in a field that they are passionate about…and yet free up additional time to explore other options to pursue their purpose.

Maybe most importantly, a phased retirement can help you stay connected with your social network. When you retire gradually, you can continue to see colleagues and friends on a regular basis and start to experience and address what absences from the ritual of the working life will be like. This enables you to better manage the transition when friends and family are not all retiring at the same time as you.

And finally, it can minimize some of the financial worries in a similar way. A phased approach can continue to provide extra income for a time while reducing your total income to allow you to become comfortable with a changing budget.