6 Questions If You’re Within 5 Years of Retirement at ExxonMobil
Do an online search on “health benefits of a cold-water plunge,” and you’ll get over eight million results.
Experts say the shock of a sudden immersion into cold water can result in decreased inflammation, a rush of endorphins, spiked dopamine levels, and improved sleep and mood, among other benefits.
Are you ready to rush out and jump into an icy pond, a freezing shower, or an ice-filled bathtub? With time, you may get used to the initial shock and learn to enjoy such experiences.
Ending a long career at ExxonMobil can seem similar to the shock of cold-water immersion.
One day you’re at work, surrounded by colleagues and friends, working on familiar projects, with a routine you’ve grown accustomed to over the years.
The next day, you crawl out of bed without a routine, unsure how you’ll pass the day, and are faced with more time with your spouse than either of you had planned on.
The contrast can be startling.
Fortunately, most retirements from ExxonMobil don’t come as a big surprise. Most frequently, employees plan for retirement, sometimes years in advance, so they have time to consider what life might be like post-ExxonMobil.
We’ve written elsewhere about specific topics to address as you prepare for retirement (e.g., assessing the adequacy of your savings, updating your estate documents, and ensuring healthcare coverage). Those are “check-off” items that can be accomplished and checked off on a pre-retirement to-do list.
Perhaps even more important but less amenable to “checking off” are the more emotional or subjective issues you’ll likely grapple with as you embrace retirement.
We do not claim that the following list is comprehensive, but we recommend you consider each one as you plan retirement.
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1
Are you comfortable and ready for a new identity?
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For many, your identity is your job or your role in the company. You know how to respond when, upon meeting someone, you’re asked, “What do you do?” You have an image of who you are based on what you do.
In retirement, who you are can be what you did or for whom you worked. Or you can elaborate and explain how you see yourself post-ExxonMobil. Volunteer, grandmother, photographer, or traveler—these are illustrations by which you may describe yourself in retirement that differ from “I’m a retired ExxonMobil executive/engineer/geologist….”
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2
How will you find meaning and purpose in your life?
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As an employee, you know why you get up every morning. You have a family to provide for, work to do, and colleagues to support. Perhaps you take satisfaction in playing a small but essential role in lifting people’s living standards through innovative energy and product solutions.
Once you retire, how will you find meaning and purpose in your life? It may be helping to shape your grandchildren’s lives or as ambitious as campaigning for a public policy position you care deeply about. You can impact the lives of others through volunteer work or charitable giving, by vowing to bring joy to those you encounter every day, or by lending your expertise to a cause that could use it.
We recommend you recognize your ongoing human need to find meaning and purpose and consider how you might find that in retirement.
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3
With whom will you socialize?
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We are meant to live in community. We are social creatures. Some of us are more introspective than others, but we all need interaction with people.
During a working career, colleagues, supervisors, customers, and consultants provide ongoing social interaction opportunities. Once retired, with whom will you interact?
Make plans to join with others in some endeavor. It could be an affinity group of hobbyists or an organization that groups like-minded volunteers to do good in the community. You might take on a Meals on Wheels route and deliver food to older people or shut-ins a few times a week. Civic organizations and religious communities offer additional opportunities. Don’t assume that getting cut off from a paycheck implies personal isolation.
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4
How’s that bucket list developing?
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Within a career at ExxonMobil, there is a limited array of distinct opportunities determined primarily by the skill set necessary to run the company’s business and the talents of each employee. Once retired, the opportunity set opens considerably.
Life satisfaction is impacted in part by achieved goals. Setting objectives for yourself–creating a bucket list of things to be accomplished or places to visit–provides a group of goals, the achievement of which can enhance one’s life. The list doesn’t need to be daunting in its ambition, but striving for specific objectives can reinforce identity, purpose and meaning, and socialization. Make that list, and go for it!
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5
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
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Deciding to retire requires that you get comfortable with the notion that you’ll no longer impact the work of your unit or organization. Your legacy at work will be what it is.
You may be long remembered or discover that as the organization evolves, you become among the many retirees whose contribution to the company may have been necessary at the time but is no longer relevant.
As you face retirement, you’ll have an opportunity to think about the legacy you want to leave behind at your death. What do you want to be remembered for, and by whom?
This goes well beyond the monetary inheritance your heirs may receive. Are there causes you wish to support, stories you need to tell, photos you need to preserve, or relationships you need to heal?
As you start retirement, author and educator Stephen Covey’s encouragement, “Begin with the end in mind,” should guide your actions and agenda.
Preparing for retirement too often is a mathematical exercise focused on investing and budgeting. A more holistic look at the opportunities retirement presents requires that we ask hard questions with open-ended answers.
If you address these five questions honestly and intentionally, you may find retirement, like the cold-water plunge, is invigorating and enjoyable.
Not all financial advisors recognize the importance of the thought exercise you may have just gone through. In choosing an advisor with whom to work, consider the breadth of advice and counsel they’re prepared to offer. Let’s talk!
Meet Doug Garrison
Doug is a Partner based in the Houston office and a member of the firm’s Wealth Management practice. He is responsible for delivering investment...Read more
Meet Doug
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