Should you rely on retirement to make you happy?

People these days are seeking to retire early by taking VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme). There can be various reasons why one wants to retire early. Someone has just got bugged up with a job, someone may have got tired as the job doesn't interest them anymore, etc. Due to some of these reasons people usually decide to retire early and spend the rest of their life stress-free. However, this decision might come with some regrets.

When you start living in the early retirement phase for the first three to six months one may feel relieved and at peace. However, post that, as one is used to being engaged in a job, they find something missing which leads them to frustration and sometimes depression. So, it is very important to have sorted out a plan for the remaining year. While retiring early you must ask yourself some questions such as why I want to retire early? Do I have provisions made for the rest of the period? Do I have a proper financial plan in place? What I am going to do in retirement and so on. Asking such questions would help you decide if you are really ready for retirement.

There can be some reasons in which taking early retirement is beneficial. Say you wish to start your own business, or say you want to travel and write a blog, or you wish to explore yourself say you wish to pursue a career which may be due to responsibilities you may have given up, etc. So, for such things taking early retirement is beneficial. However, if you only wish to take early retirement to relax or get rid of the current job which is not interesting, then early retirement won’t prove to be beneficial. For such things, rather than taking early retirement, it would be better to plan for a sabbatical and get back to work refreshed.