Before the pandemic, employees commonly had to beg their bosses to work remotely on occasion. But in the wake of the pandemic, remote work has become commonplace.
For many people, that's a great thing. Working remotely no doubt makes it possible for some employees to save money on transportation and child-care costs and strike a better work-life balance.
But remote work isn't the right setup for everyone. And for many people, it's an isolating experience that isn't ideal.
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If you've realized you're not a fan of remote work, consider asking your manager to return to an in-office setup. If your company hasn't reopened, you may want to find a job that makes an office available to you.
If your experience with remote work hasn't been a positive one, you may not end up enjoying retirement as much as expected. So it could pay to make some adjustments to your long-term plans.
Don't set yourself up to be unhappy
For many people, office life is an outlet for socialization. So some people who transition to remote work find that they miss being able to see and talk to people in person.
If you're someone who's not enjoying remote work, then you may not end up loving retirement all that much. The reason? Many people find retirement to be isolating.
After all, you're no longer reporting to a job every day, and your social interactions may be limited -- especially if you retire in an area where you don't have a lot of friends and family or at a younger age than most of your peers. If you're not a fan of remote work, you may want to make some changes to your retirement plans so you don't end up feeling cut off and miserable once your career wraps up.
For one thing, if early retirement has been on your radar, rethink it. It may be hard enough leaving your job, so why force yourself to do it sooner than you have to?
Plan to stay employed a few extra years to enjoy the companionship of your colleagues. And as an added bonus, you might manage to boost your retirement savings by extending your career.
Next, make sure you have a specific plan for staying busy as a retiree. Don't just tell yourself you're going to see friends or volunteer. Line up a volunteer role before leaving your job, and put some weekly meetup dates on the calendar with friends so you have those appointments set.
Finally, make sure your financial situation will be such that you'll have the leeway to go out and do things. If you're low on savings and won't be getting a lot of money from Social Security, you may need to downsize your home to free up more money for socializing.
You may want to continue working
It's important to stay connected to other people during retirement. In addition to the above, you may also want to plan on holding down some sort of job once your primary career wraps up. Working even a few hours a week as a retiree could do a lot for your well-being.
While working remotely is not the same thing as being retired, the feelings of isolation that remote work can produce may be similar to those commonly felt by retirees. If working remotely is a change you already regret, consider it a wake-up call to be more vigilant in the course of planning for your retirement.
