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I am of an age where I have begun to think about retirement. A (very) recent surgery has put renewed impetus behind this, but I don't have a clear frame of reference for the main considerations to factor in when planning for retirement.
ReplyDeleteI was interested to read Steve's 2021 post about "Time Management and Retirement", but I'm wondering if anyone can also please share some pointers based on experience, or perhaps link to some resources.
Any help and input will be appreciated :-)
I’m well into my mid-60s but still working. I know too many people, especially men, who have suddenly quit (or been forced to) without a retirement strategy and regretted it. Overeating, excessive drinking, little exercise, no hobbies or close friends and a diet of daytime television and maybe largely dependant on a state pension is not recommended.
ReplyDeleteAs a Filofax (or other brand) user, we know that effective planning and organising in life is crucial, especially at times of major change. I recommend starting with a readable and helpful book, such as “Retirement - the Psychology of Reinvention” by Kenneth Shultz and using your organiser to “plan and enjoy the retirement you’ve earned”
Thanks Tim - that makes sense. Any other suggestions welcome!
ReplyDeleteSend me a personal message (via my website) if I can help further.
ReplyDeleteIllness forced me to give up full time work 10 years ago, after doing a half and half of contract work during that time I retired from that about about a year ago. I now work about 50 days a year doing NED work. I am now 52.
ReplyDeleteAs it was forced upon me I felt bereaved for quite some time and anxious about the future. Now I’m not but it took some time to adjust, ie years not months. So being mentally ready to retire with no regrets is important for a smooth transition.
My husband is retired and we enjoy each other’s company so we get out for coffee/ the pub often. I have a lot of hobbies too.
My advice, for what it’s worth, is to use your planner to write down how you feel about retiring. I did mine as a swot analysis to be unemotional about my emotions.
List out the things you do now that you enjoy, hobbies, pastimes etc that you can do more of, that is easier to achieve.
And then the one thing, two at a push, thing you’ve always wanted to do and didn’t have time, from experience that one is harder to get going.
Who do you want to tell, and who do you want to include in your post retirement social plans? Plan that out.
Also think about printing off a diary from this site and spend some time plotting out what your weeks could look like, when you want to get up, how much time at home, how much time elsewhere. Will you be bored?
Detail out all your finances so that you are prepared, no unpleasant surprises that upset your plans later.
Use a planner to research potential part time roles if you want to something small.
My planner has been at the heart of being happy and productive. It really doesn’t have to be daytime TV funeral plan adverts on repeat!!
Hi, Gerard, I retired last Friday! The state of my personal nation is that I'm marginally under-funded, so my retirement will be an exercise in frugality. I did a retirement seminar at work about 8 months before my retirement and my takeaway was that you need to do that seminar 10 years before the earliest date you would consider retiring! The approach was to think about the life you want to lead in retirement and see how you can get the funds to live it. That will, effectively, tell you when you will be able to retire. All my life I have taken the other approach - I would work until my state retirement age and then work out how to live on the income I've gleaned. For me, retirement means you go from a state of being (relatively) cash-rich, time-poor to time-rich, cash-poor.
ReplyDeleteI have always had a very clear idea of what I want my retirement to look like - devoting time to my writing which has been swept aside by the practicalities of being a working person, having time to knit and take up a little light dressmaking. Small amounts of travel, but no plans for luxury cruises or marathon journeys to see the seven wonders of the world. Add to that a need to gently improve my fitness and the relentless round of doctor's appointments (even if you're healthy it seems you hit 65 and they have to see you every three or four weeks to jab you with something or other) and there's not really so much scope for vegetating on the settee or getting bored.
One great thing for me is getting my senior citizens' bus card - free bus travel! I have great plans for pottering off to the coast and the Norfolk Broads as the whim takes me.
If you have the funds to retire (in whatever format you personally choose) but think the time might hang heavy on your hands, you could always look into volunteer work. Most hospitals rely on a stalwart brigade of volunteers and I'm sure there are many places crying out for help from people who still have something to give, but don't want a formal job.
My final point to make is that it is perfectly possible to keep on working, perhaps moving to a part-time role, and I was certainly being urged to do that in my final year. But my personal belief is that we should move on when we can because there are young people with fresh ideas who should be shaping the future, not people like me who secretly want things to go back to the way they were in the past.