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By Vincent Malunga | 13 May 2022
After lengthy careers in our chosen fields, a time comes when the question of the big “R” for retirement starts looming more and more in our minds. When it comes to that, people mostly think about the readiness of the retirement nest in financial terms, and whether it will be sufficient to live on as comfortably as while working. That is very important no doubt and everyone should factor that in seriously when making the decision on whether and when to retire.
Some countries and employers have mandatory retirement ages, such that this is essentially decided for one. However, as people are living healthier and longer, these retirement ages are becoming obsolete. Increasingly, the individual is taking ownership of that decision. More and more people in fact, are starting new careers or businesses after retirement as a way of defeating mandatory retirement ages.
Aside from the financial considerations, a decision to retire has a time dimension to it to consider. After years or decades of waking up at 5 am and returning home as late as 7 pm or later, it is a chock to the system to wake up one day and you have nowhere to go while not on holiday! Whether one needs the income or not does not matter. Much of our sense of self-importance, usefulness and worth is dependent on the value we add to society through the deployment of our skills to productive outcomes. When this is taken away, we lose a big part of who we are.
The above has been associated with post-retirement depression, dysfunctional behaviour and negative impact on our human relationships. Alcohol, drug and other abuse can follow, as can partner abuse to serious detriment for all concerned.
It is important thus to view retirement as a step and timebound process or exercise rather than an event. It requires planning just as a career requires planning, with some milestones built in if necessary. At the very minimum, one needs to know what one will be doing and how one will be spending time while in retirement. It may indeed be travelling the world, going fishing, doing chosen volunteer work or change of career to something lighter. The key is to plan it all before the time comes.
Even when it comes to retirement, balance is important. Once cannot go fishing every single day for a further 10 or 20 further years of one’s remaining life. Even for something as exciting as travel, one cannot be on the road 24/7. It would be preferable to plan on a number of things that will split the usage of one’s time. Only by doing so, will the transition from full time employment to retirement prove seamlessly pleasant.
You should definitely, plan on doing things that bring more enjoyment and less stress in general. Replicating the career you are retiring from does not make much sense. You no longer need to prove yourself to anybody after all.
Our advice is do not bungee jump into retirement, rather slide gently onto the water slide of retirement and enjoy the scenic views as the water takes you with it into the crystal blue waters of the splash pool of retirement. If you are retired, we hope you are enjoying your retirement. If you are about to retire or are considering it, we hope you found this article useful.
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This article is also published in the GFI Newsletter on LinkedIn
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