Following up on a comment on my 12 months to go post, I read some articles about Retired Husband Syndrome and couples adjusting when the husband stops working.
Retired Husband Syndrome is mostly associated with Japan where traditional marital divisions and habits caused stress (on both partners) when the stereotypical Japanese career salary man stopped working. More generally, there can be issues as both partners need to adjust when one of them goes from spending most of the day out of the house to spending most of the day at home.
This causes me no concern at all. To address what appear to be the major causes of domestic problems when a full time bread winner
1. Mental and preparation and communication: we have been discussing and planning for early retirement for several years - mentally we are both ready for it. We also talk a lot
2. Keeping the husband busy: I have planned many things to keep me occupied (physically and mentally) post retirement. I'm starting to work on one of them already (writing a novel). I won't be pestering Mrs Traineeinvestor all day out of boredom
3. Domestic contributions: I do more cooking than Mrs Traineeinvestor and am actually looking forward to doing more in that area. While I am less engaged with the children than my wife (due to working hours), both of us are looking forward to me doing more in that area next year (whether the children are looking forward to it is another matter)
4. Keeping the wife busy: Mrs Traineeinvestor is still working part time and has many interests of her own both in the home and out of the home
5. Sense of purpose: I do not expect to feel like I have lost any sense of purpose when I retire. I'll still be providing for the family and I will still have goals to achieve
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