HOW TO COPE WHEN YOUR HUBBY retires

For 40 years, you have successfully managed the household. Then your husband retires and starts cramping your style. Ingrid Pyne reports on the perils of Retired Husband Syndrome.

FOR 37 YEARS, Elaine Mackay-Coghill ran her home unimpeded. She did the shopping, paid the bills, scheduled the family’s social life, prepared its meals. Then her husband retired suddenly, upsetting the apple cart – or in this case, the apple trolley. “Suddenly, there was Don going through the supermarket trolley wanting to know why I had bought so many apples when there were already three in the fridge,” Elaine, 74, recalls. “My independence was completely eroded.” The Mackay-Coghills are not the first couple to discover that there can be significant bumps on the road to retirement bliss. We may fantasise that retirement will enable us to spend quality time with our partner, free from the stresses of children and careers, but the reality is often starkly different. Experts warn that…

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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2015

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