Retirement Meets Maslow

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist and creator of the famous  “hierarchy of needs,” theory which states that people are motivated by increasingly higher levels of needs. The idea is that once a person’s basic needs (such as food and shelter) are met, they move on to greater needs such as significance, belonging, and contribution.  

In reality not all people are motivated to move on to a higher level. Once they find a level that satisfies their strongest needs they will end up just staying there for the duration.  

Introducing The Hierarchy of Retirement Needs 

Just for fun, I’ve taken Maslow’s theory and applied it to the world of retirement with the hope that it might help explain why retirees may feel compelled to do the things they do. 

The new model is outlined below; 

Level 1 - Strugglers 

On the bottom level we find the “strugglers”. These may be people who work past the traditional retirement age because they lack basic economic security.  

In order to just survive, many strugglers may be forced to work in low paid positions and will likely need to work as long as they possibly can because they have no other options.

Level 2 – Financial Independence 

People who have achieved some degree of financial independence are found at the second level. They have the freedom to either fully retire and relax or continue working at something that is meaningful to them. With their financial independence, their work choices could be either be paid or volunteered.   

Level 3 - Relaxers

Relaxers are comfort oriented retirees whose basic psychological needs for belonging, and relationships have been satisfied. They hate change and will avoid challenges and taking risks because doing that makes them feel uncomfortable.  

They are people whose likely biggest goal in life was to retire one day. Now that they have achieved that they plan on just taking it easy - coasting through the rest of their lives life without the intention of necessarily growing any further.   

Relaxers are happy and content to live a simple and predictable life. They enjoy spending time with their friends and family, playing games or doing activities they enjoy.       

Level 5 – Growers 

Growers are people who have a constant need for personal growth and are driven to continually strive to reach their full potential. They feel a strong need, to achieve everything they can achieve, of being everything they can be. As Maslow put it, “what a man can be, he must be.”  

A grower is driven by curiosity - they like trying to do things they haven’t tried before. They like to test themselves and push their limits to see what they are capable of accomplishing.  

People who are growth minded get bored easily. To flourish they need to maintain a strong sense of self, purpose and identity. They have a strong need to feel valued and relevant.   

Growers are never really content unless they are growing, learning and experiencing new things. Babysitting the grand kids and golfing every day isn’t likely enough for them.  

Being labeled as “retired” bothers growers a lot because they don't see themselves as having withdrawn or removed themselves from either work or the world.  

Level 6 – Givers  

Givers have a “beyond themselves” mindset. They feel a strong need to give back and help others who are struggling.  

They look for a cause, a need, or a problem to be solved – something that they’re passionate about. This becomes their mission in life.  

Happiness for givers is volunteering for a cause they believe in. It could be something as simple as volunteering at the local food bank or as sophisticated as starting up their own non-profit organization

Some parting thoughts about Maslow, the retirement hierarchy, and happiness 

While economic security is important it in itself does not automatically make a retiree happy. A retiree will be unhappy without it but also can be miserable with it. 

Most people are unaware that near the end of his life, Maslow was in the process of amending his famous model to include a higher level of psychological development – even higher than self-actualization – which he called “self-transcendence.”  

Self-transcenders (the people we refer to as givers) are driven to give back and help others and if they can’t find a way of doing that they are not going to be very happy.    

Wes Moss’s research on the habits of happy retirees interestingly aligns with Maslow’s thoughts on self-transcenders. In his book “What The Happiest Retirees Know” Moss writes that volunteering is at the top of the list of the most popular pursuits enjoyed by the happiest retirees.  

Something to think about when you are designing your retirement lifestyle. 

Bottom line: There is no one size fits all retirement. Each retiree needs to find their own way through the levels until they find the right fit for them - a place where they can satisfy their strongest needs, be happy and can live their best life.  

If you are interested in designing your best retirement life - be sure to check out our free download books: Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose? and Longevity Lifestyle by Design.