Why I'm planning for bodywork as part of aging well—not just treating pain when it shows up.
I'm turning 49 this week, which has me thinking more seriously about retirement.
Not just “Will I have enough money?” but “What do I actually want my retirement to look like?”
My financial advisor, Sara Glakas with Blackbarn Financial, and I have talked about retirement with my husband, and somehow the subject of having enough money for massage in retirement comes up pretty regularly. It's become one of those things I say often enough that we all laugh about it.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was actually serious.
If I know bodywork is something I value and want to continue as I age, why wouldn't I plan for it?
So I asked ChatGPT to help me run the numbers.
I've estimated that I'll fully retire around age 56, and I've decided that my retirement budget should include two bodywork sessions a month.
Yes, I am literally putting massage in my retirement plan. 😂
This isn't just about having a massage because I hurt.
As a massage therapist, I know firsthand how useful bodywork can be for pain management. But that's not the only reason I want it to be part of my life as I get older.
I want bodywork for pain management when something hurts, maintenance and mobility as my body changes, and injury recovery when I need some extra help. I want it for stress relief and, honestly, because massage feels good.
And then there's touch.
That becomes more important to me the more I think about aging. We don't always talk about how much our access to physical touch can change as we get older. Relationships change. Our bodies change. People we love may no longer be here.
I might outlive my husband.
I don't know what that chapter of my life will look like. But I do know that human touch is something I want to continue having in my life.
And because I'm a massage therapist, I have a pretty good idea that I'm not going to suddenly stop believing in bodywork when I retire. 😉
What if we planned for our bodies the way we plan for our finances?
We spend years planning for retirement financially. We think about investments, savings, Social Security, insurance, housing and healthcare.
But what about the body we're going to retire in?
When I think about my own retirement, I think about what I want to be able to do with that time. I want to travel, stay active, enjoy music, spend time with the people I love, and keep doing the things that make me feel like myself.
I don't just want enough money to retire. I want a body that can participate in the retirement I've worked so hard to create.
That doesn't mean I expect to avoid pain or injury as I get older. I know better than that. Bodies change. Things happen. Sometimes we need medical care, sometimes we need physical therapy, and sometimes we need a massage therapist.
But I do think there's value in developing a relationship with your body before something goes wrong.
Learning what tension feels like. Paying attention when something starts changing. Maintaining mobility. Knowing what helps you recover. Getting help when something isn't resolving on its own.
We don't have to wait until our bodies are screaming for attention before we start listening to them.
And there's another piece of this that I think is especially important for women.
We are often very good at taking care of everyone else. We put our kids, our partners, our parents, our work and our responsibilities first. Sometimes we get so accustomed to doing that that taking care of ourselves starts to feel like something we have to justify.
But taking care of yourself isn't something you have to earn after you've taken care of everyone else.
That's really what my retirement massage budget represents to me. It's not about assuming I'll need to be "fixed" twice a month for the rest of my life.
It's about deciding now that taking care of my body is part of how I want to age.
So, yes. I'm budgeting for massage.
I don't know exactly what a massage will cost when I'm 56. I don't know exactly what my body will need, and I certainly don't know what the next few decades will bring.
But I do know that bodywork is something I value enough to plan for.
So my retirement plan now has a line item for it.
The massage pension. 😂
And maybe that's the bigger lesson I'm taking from this:
Retirement planning isn't just about having enough money to stop working. It's about having enough resources—and enough intention—to keep living the life you want after you stop working.
For me, that includes bodywork.
What would be on your retirement wellness budget?
And yes, I really did use ChatGPT to help me calculate what my future massage budget might look like. My financial advisor handles the actual financial planning. ChatGPT handles the math—and lets me entertain myself with the idea of a “massage pension.”
by Katie Pudhorodsky, LMT and online educator at HelpHeadPain.com
Katie has been a licensed massage therapist for 24 years.
