The retiring kind
Few people make the transition from work to leisure successfully
IN CHATTING with a client the other day – a man in his early 60s, an expert in his field as a go-to troubleshooter in an international multi-million dollar business and dedicated to his work – I asked him what he thought about retirement.
It had come up in our conversation and he acknowledged that it was a real option for him now.
His response was direct and honest.
“It’s bloody scary,” he said and went on to describe how he got up every morning with purpose and intention.
He relishes the challenges with people and technically that demonstrate his skill. He is a man who has lived a life committed to doing his job as well as it could be done.
He identifies strongly with his role and the respect that he has earned.
Soon, at a time of his choosing, he will separate from all of that and then what?
What are your plans for when you “retire”?
If you have a well-organised strategy to transition from the role you are in now to the next stage of your life, and have a freedom of choice as reward for all of those years spent working, well done.
Few people are in that position.
Even though they may have funds invested, and property and super set up, the plan is not developed.
If you have a plan then that makes you one of a small percentage who will carry retirement out successfully.
When I asked him about his plan, he had a good idea of what he wanted to do but nothing was concrete.
It was as if, because the event itself was still not “real”, he would get to it closer to the time.
There are a couple of things to consider if you are in a similar situation.
When you finish this part of your life everything changes. Everything.
Your identity changes if you have become so involved in who you are at work that you have lost sight of who you are without it. You have to consider how long you think you are going to be around and how sensibly you have set up your investments and super, and balance this against the regular income that allows you to buy things, fix things, renovate, travel and upgrade.
What is going to be worth getting out of bed for in the morning?
What will make the change not a “retirement” but an evolution as you take on the next stage of your life?
He is a man who has lived a life committed to doing his job as well as it could be done.