The 6 Phases of Retirement According to Robert Atchley

This researcher created a categorization of the phases that retired people go through.

The gerontologist Robert Atchley proposed a model of retirement consisting of six phasesThe phases of retirement are pre-retirement, retirement, disenchantment, reorientation, stability and termination. In this article we will describe what each of these stages consists of.

Although not everyone follows exactly the same path during this period of life, Atchley's model is a useful approximation of the process that most people go through when they reach an advanced age and manage to retire.

Coping with retirement

In today's societies, adulthood is mainly focused on work activity, so that it comes to occupy most of the time during the most productive decades of life.

It is not surprising, therefore, that when it comes time to retire, many people need to go through a complex process of adaptation to their new circumstances. Properly acclimatizing to the end of one's working life requires an active disposition to change and the management of leisure time.

Thus, retirement is a key life event, at least in the current context. The general state of health, both physical and psychological, and the financial status of each individual have a major influence on the specific experiences that occur in retirement.

Although there are those who do not encounter difficulties during this period of life and manages to enjoy the leisure time long postponed, others choose to continue behaving as they did before or face a set of stages that must be overcome in order to adapt.

Stages of retirement

In the model he created in 1975, Robert Atchley described retirement as a process composed of a series of phases. composed of a series of phases. However, this is an approximate proposal, since not everyone goes through all the stages or in the same order.

1. Pre-retirement or pre-retirement

During the last months or years before retirement, the person prepares for this event, both psychologically and practically; for example, it is common to carry out financial planning for the coming years.

At this stage, expectations are generated around the retirement experience. about the retirement experience. These can be either very negative or idealized; in any case, they will have to be compared with reality later on.

The pre-retirement stage consists of two sub-phases: the active preparation for the end of the work activity and the waiting that occurs once the preparations have been made. This second sub-phase is usually characterized by a decrease in working hours.

2. Retirement

Atchley defined three distinct attitudes or behavioral patterns towards retirement: "honeymoon," "continued activity," and "rest.". Of course, more than one of these positions can be combined in the same person.

We speak of a honeymoon when retirement is conceived as an indefinite vacation. In these cases, the person tries to fulfill all the tasks that had been left pending; among these, travel is very popular in the years immediately after retirement.

The attitude known as "continuous activity" consists of replacing replacing the work routine with a different onewhich generally includes leisure activities in addition to other daily activities. Finally, Atchley categorizes patterns characterized by a reduction in the level of activity as rest; this is especially frequent in people who have worked a lot.

3. Disenchantment and depression

After the initial phase of retirement, feelings of sadness, uncertainty and depression often appear. feelings of sadness, uncertainty, and disappointmentparticularly if expectations regarding retirement were very optimistic. This is a natural phase in the process of adaptation, although it does not always occur (in fact, the appearance of depression is more frequent in other previous vital stages).

4. Reorientation

The reorientation phase can be defined as a progression of the disenchantment stage; after the idealized expectations of retirement are frustrated after idealized expectations about retirement are frustrated, the person reevaluates his or her situation in a more realistic way.

From this point on, new productive or leisure activities begin to be explored or others that had been abandoned are resumed. More satisfying routines also begin to be established.

5. Stability or routine

In this period the person adapts definitively to retirement through the adoption of a routine lifestyle. Those who have reached the stage of stability are aware of the behavioral patterns that they find most pleasant and that allow them to cope with the changes and difficulties that arise.

6. Completion

Atchley called the last phase of retirement "completion". When the person reaches this period, the vital role he/she has developed is annulled by the inability to fend for him/herself. inability to fend for him/herselfbecoming dependent on others. Some people simply return to work; when this happens Atchley also speaks of the end of retirement.

In many cases this takes place progressively, with the appearance of increasingly important health problems. At other times the change occurs more suddenly, either because of an accident that abruptly worsens the physical or mental state or because of the arrival of death.