Choosing to become an emergency first responder is not a decision that many people take lightly. They know that they will be embarking upon a career where danger is just around the corner and where they are going to experience many things that they had hoped they would never see. However, it does afford them a life full of excitement and an adrenaline rush is part and parcel of doing this very worthwhile job. Many people choose to be first responders because they really want to make a difference in this life and they want to give something back to their community. As a firefighter, you spend your whole working life running into burning buildings while people are running out, climbing up ladders to great heights and using a high-pressure fire hose to douse the flames. Fast forward 40 years after you signed up for this position, and now you’re at a point where your fire department is telling you that they don’t need you anymore.

This is a hard pill to swallow for many firefighters and when retirement comes upon them, they ask themselves this question ‘what do firefighters do after retirement’ and they generally don’t have the answers. They are heading into the unknown and it can be a very scary time indeed if you are not properly prepared for it. Luckily for you, the First Responder Retirement Academy is there to help and they can offer you the following services.

– Financial help – This isn’t to say that they were going to give you money, but they will provide you with assistance so that you can properly handle your finances. They understand that as a firefighter, many of your life decisions have been always made for you by your bosses and this is the way that you liked it. Life was so simple and you never really had to think about anything, but now that retirement is upon you, you have many important decisions to make about your financial security and you’re probably going to need some assistance with that.

– Assistance with anxiety & stress – When you retire, you have a lot of free time to use up and for many firefighters this is a very difficult part of their life. It was very seldom that they had any free time in their working lives and now that they have so much, they find it difficult to figure out what they’re going to do for the next 20 years or so. Too much time on their hands can lead to negative thoughts and reflections on the difficult situations that they have had to deal with in the past. This can cause their mental health to suffer and so they need some help to get them through to the other side.

It is important to remember that as an ex-fire fighter, there is assistance there if you need it and you are going to be dealing with people who have had the same career as you.