Happily Ever After in Retirement: 5 Tips to Keep Your Marriage Strong
Most people envision retirement as more time to be with family, pursue new hobbies or travel. But for some couples, it can also mean spending day after day in close proximity to a spouse or partner as they grapple with the reality of the new normal.
Retirement can disrupt daily routines and ruffle feathers. In fact, one in 100 married Americans aged 50 and over get divorced each year.
Even happily paired couples have their challenges. But it’s better to face them head-on before minor annoyances turn into major struggles. Planning ahead can help keep the drama at bay — and save your relationship from becoming a statistic. Here are some ideas to keep your marriage strong:
Set expectations. Talk to your partner about how you envision your post-retirement lives. Waiting until after retirement to open the communication channels can make spouses resentful of one another if their lifestyle plans don’t align.
Renew your sense of purpose. Retirement is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family, but you also need to schedule time for solo activities that you enjoy. Consider volunteer work, a hobby or a part-time job to give yourself a fresh sense of purpose.
Maintain some separate friendships. Individual friendships can help you retain your own identity. Don’t feel obligated to invite your partner to every football game or book club meeting if it’s not something they’re typically interested in. The time you spend away from one another will give you something to talk about when you regroup at the end of the day.
Eliminate ambiguity. What individual activities do you and your spouse hope to pursue? Keep a master calendar so there are no surprises when someone has plans. When it comes to running the household, lay the groundwork for what’s expected of each person — whether that’s taking over some chores or running more errands now that you both have extra free time.
Establish your own space. Couples need individual space. Set aside a room or other area where you can go to pursue your hobby without stepping on any toes. The alone time will also make you less likely to get on each other’s nerves.
Bottom line, if plans aren’t working out as expected, don’t hesitate to go back to the drawing board. Couples should openly discuss their challenges — without judgement — then move forward with a new gameplan and fresh start.
Settling down with financial peace of mind
Every couple can expect to hit a few bumps in the road during retirement. But don’t let your cash flow be one of them. Find out how a reverse mortgage works to leverage your home equity, so you can access the funds you need to fully enjoy your retirement — and your marriage. Call Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC (RMF) at (888) 277-1567 to learn more.
This content is sponsored by RMF, one of the nation’s leading reverse mortgage lenders. We are dedicated to helping older Americans live the retirement lifestyles that they imagined and deserve, in the comfort of their own homes. As a result of our commitment to providing an extraordinary and positive customer experience, we have earned a 98% customer satisfaction rating; a 5-star / Excellent score on Trustpilot; 4.5 out of 5 stars on LendingTree; and an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Call (888) 277-1567 to speak with one of our experienced reverse mortgage specialists to learn about our retirement financing products and solutions.