How to find purpose after you retire from your career

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For many retirees, the key is giving themselves a reason to get up in the morning.

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Like many things the baby boomers have ushered in during their lifetimes, the rules of retirement—if ever there were any—have changed. Today’s retirees consider this milestone as the first day of the rest of their lives, which could be another 30 years, and are toying with post-retirement jobs or volunteer situations that may or may not be tied to their careers.

Consider the case of Barbara. A registered nurse, she worked at a handful of hospital and health care center jobs throughout her 41-year career, caring for patients, administering medications and/or treatments, collaborating with doctors, and monitoring her patients’ health and recovery.

When she retired, she was looking forward to time to focus on hobbies, create more memories with family and friends, and, as the saying goes, “smell the roses.”

What Barbara didn’t bank on was boredom.

It wasn’t so much that there was nothing to do; it was the lack of a daily routine and the challenge of thinking through often complex and tough situations, not to mention the dearth of daily communication with coworkers that left her feeling intellectually and emotionally stifled.

After what might be considered a “gap year” post-career, Barbara landed a position she had eyeballed while raising her four children: a school nurse. At 65 years old, it was an opportunity for her to take those decades of practical nursing knowledge and experience—including as a mother—and put them to work in a totally different environment, while also earning income in retirement. And it was a win for her employer, who rarely found a nurse with her depth of experience to deal with the sniffles, tummy aches, and other student maladies.

Barbara was falling in line with a growing number of retirees who are looking for a second act after they retire. Whether it’s a second career like Barbara’s, a side hustle, or a volunteer gig, retirement doesn’t have to mean you stop working. Plus, as Barbara demonstrates, a second act can help you fill up the retirement kitty for when you decide all-play-and-no-work is the way to go.

“Recognizing the options and opportunities before them, today’s retirees are becoming more purposeful and ambitious,” according to a 2022 study by Age Wave and Edward Jones. “They are reengaging with life—not retreating—often in new and imaginative ways. Half say they are actually ‘reinventing themselves’ in their retirement.”

Some 72% of all retirees say this is the time they’re able to jump into hopes and dreams they couldn’t reach while working and raising a family. “It appears that going forward, retirement activities will increasingly include work, be it part-time, cycling between work and leisure, or even working full-time after retiring,” the report stated.

The jury is still out on whether retirement is better or worse for your physical, cognitive, and emotional health. On one hand, numerous studies show working could help keep you mentally and socially fit, and reduce the sedentary behavior that’s often tied to health issues. On the other, retirement gives you more time to sleep and can be far less stressful than the full-time rat race.

That’s led some researchers to laud the virtues of “bridge employment,” which could be a part-time job, self-employment, a temporary job, or even volunteering, according to the American Psychological Association.

How do you go about finding a post-career retirement job or volunteer gig?

Make a plan. This starts with thinking about how you might want to make the transition while you’re still working full-time.

If you hope to boost income in retirement, think about how you can segue your experience into other areas. Can you offer consulting services? How about teaching what you’ve learned to those hoping to get into your field?

Search for programs such as the Inspired Leadership Initiative fellowship at the University of Notre Dame. It claims to help you “embark on a process of discovering, discerning, and designing” who you want to be in the post-retirement stage.

Get an adult internship. It might not be as easy for retirees as it is for college kids, but internships can help you transition from a lifelong career to a new one.

To find an internship, make contacts with former associates or companies you’ve worked with. Look to your alma mater through the career services office or join the alumni club to connect with other graduates. It also doesn’t hurt to cold-call the human resources department at a company where you might want to work.

Start a business. It’s a thing, according to the United States Census Bureau, which found 51% of all business owners to be over the age of 55. The opportunities are vast—boutique shops; food and beverage; bed and breakfast inns; franchise operations; consulting; tutoring; babysitting or daycare services; adult sitting and daycare services; pet services, such as training, walking, grooming, or sitting; gardening; or even working as a concierge.

Volunteer. If you think you’d like to spend much of your new-found time volunteering, try it out first. Pick a group or cause you believe in and look for opportunities. Most cities and local communities have volunteer sites you can turn to. And there’s often an abundance of opportunities at your local churches, schools, libraries, homeless shelters, animal shelters, and retirement homes.

Many folks consider retirement as a new chapter, and look to trek down paths that will enrich their lives, and the lives of others, in ways they may not have considered while working and raising a family.

Whether it’s full-time, part-time, volunteer-time, or a hybrid of these, your retirement side hustle/second act can be financially—and emotionally—rewarding. Want to turn off the alarm clock? Great. But giving yourself a reason to get up in the morning can keep you feeling young.