Defining Happiness in Retirement

The last time I was on the podcast, we talked about the unbounded freedom retirement offers, and the process of retiring, the day you retire, and retirement as part of a larger retirement journey. As you embark on your retirement journey, leaving your career behind and entering a brand new world filled with freedom and opportunity, it is a safe bet to assume your ultimate goal is to find happiness…

Happiness is what psychologists define as a ‘subjective state.’ That is, what makes you happy and how you feel when you are happy is undeniably and solely up to the individual experiencing and pursuing it.

But there are a few ways to define and describe happiness. And understanding is one of the foundational elements to success. Let’s take a quick peek down the rabbit hole of happiness to help you find what you are looking for in life… and in retirement. 

Sigmund Freud once wrote:

The question of the purpose of human life has been raised countless times; it has never yet received a satisfactory answer and perhaps does not admit one… We will, therefore, turn to the less ambitious question of what men show by their behavior to the purpose and intention of their lives. What do they demand of life and wish to achieve in it? The answer to this can hardly be in doubt. They strive after happiness; they want to become happy and to remain so.

Feeling an emotion, such as happiness, is a subjective state. Philosophers and psychologists have grappled with defining subjective states for centuries. By their very nature, subjective states are exclusively defined by the individual experiencing them. That is, subjective states are irreducible.

There are three ways to define an irreducible state.

3 Ways to Define an Irreducible State

1. We can reference a textbook definition:
   -Happiness is a state of well-being or contentment.
2. We can frame the experience:
   -Feeling happy is a bit more positive than feeling pleasant, but a bit less positive than euphoria… or
3. We can reference an event that elicits such a feeling:
   -Happiness is the first sip of hot coffee on a cool fall day.

If you have ever been tasked with describing a subjective state to someone who has never experienced it, you probably ended up in a subjective state of infuriating frustration. If you haven’t been assigned such a ridiculous task but would like to explore this concept for yourself, try describing the color red to someone who is color blind. An endless supply of definitions, similar (but slightly different) colors, and stop signs will not bring your friend any closer to understanding the experience of seeing the color.

Defining and Describing Irreducible States

Defining and describing these irreducible, subjective states is difficult because they are a “you know what I mean” experience. You just have to experience them to understand them. So, how will you define how happy you are in retirement? After all, when I say happy, you know what I mean… right?

Philosophers and psychologists generally agree that there are two unique categories to define happiness. You can experience hedonic or eudaemonic happiness.

Hedonic happiness is an ephemeral state of happiness. A cold ice cream cone on a summer’s day, a hot cup of coffee in the fall, or pulling a chair up to a fireplace after a winter’s walk. Hedonic happiness is a high-frequency, quickly fleeting state of emotional happiness.

Eudaemonic happiness, however, is a much deeper sense of moral happiness often attributed to living a life aligned with personal values. A strong faith, an enduring relationship with a family member or friend, or living in alignment with a greater purpose are common ways to elicit eudaemonic happiness.

Eleanor Roosevelt eloquently spoke of the eudaemonic state of happiness when she said, “Happiness is not a goal… it’s a by-product of a life well-lived.”

While some psychological research suggests that happiness can be achieved through purely hedonic or purely eudaemonic pursuits, most psychologists conclude that both forms of happiness are essential to maximizing personal well-being. Both eudaemonic and hedonic happiness can be derived from ten life domains, each providing varying amounts of either category of happiness.

Happiness in Retirement

To define your happiness in retirement, you can use the diagram provided at the start of this article. You can assign a score from one to ten for each life domain based on your hedonic and eudaemonic happiness level. To delineate each type, you might consider using a different color for each type of happiness, as long as you aren’t color blind…

With unprecedented authority over your time in retirement, you have tremendous control over your happiness. To increase your happiness even slightly, contemplate the following questions:

How do you define happiness?

Have you found a balance between hedonic and eudaemonic pursuits?

Which life domains are the most important?

In what life domains do you feel fulfilled?

What life domains would you like to develop further?

This article is educational only and is not intended to be investment, legal, or tax advice or recommendations, whether direct or incidental. Again, this is not investment advice. Consult your financial, tax, and legal professionals for specific advice related to your specific situation. Never take investment advice from someone who doesn’t know you and your specific situation. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the people expressing them. Any performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be directly invested in.