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TRANSFORM RETIREMENT TO RENAISSANCE
Most of the focus in retirement planning is on financial planning and that is obviously important but it is not sufficient. It is also necessary to start planning more broadly
Once upon a time there were three stages of life – childhood, adult life and old age, with old age starting at retirement. Things have become more complex, for example the development of adolescence as a distinct phase, and it is now clear that there is no single phase called retirement or ‘old age’ in life. Life after retirement has multiple stages as described in the book on, “The 100 Year Life”. Furthermore, the retirement age has been, and always will be, chosen for economic reasons, not because it marks any significant change physically, mentally or biologically (Bismarck set up the first pension stage at the age of seventy because that was the expectation of life at that time and he therefore thought he would not have to pay out much and he introduced pensions primarily to ‘smash socialism’ rather than to help older people !).
For many people retirement comes as liberation from a job they no longer found particularly stimulating, often sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, preceded and followed by an hours commute, again mostly sitting for them Retirement is Renaissance, rebirth, the time to start something they had been planning for years which could be transforming a garden, or travel to see family, or to start a new business to give but three examples.
For other people retirement comes as a major blow, particularly if they were doing a job they loved and had created, in a university research lab for example, in in one part of a big business where they had created a successful initiative. For them retirement is mor like bereavement than renaissance and they develop what has been called Retirement Regret Syndrome first described by the authors of a very important book called the Retirement Trap by Greg Boyer and Dennis Reed
If you are apprehensive about retirement or know someone who is, or know someone who is obviously finding it very difficult then recommend this book and the learning programme produced by the Silver Blueprint
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
Individual action depends on where you are with respect to retirement
TRANSFORM RETIREMENT TO RENAISSANCE
Most of the focus in retirement planning is on financial planning and that is obviously important but it is not sufficient. It is also necessary to start planning more broadly
Once upon a time there were three stages of life – childhood, adult life and old age, with old age starting at retirement. Things have become more complex, for example the development of adolescence as a distinct phase, and it is now clear that there is no single phase called retirement or ‘old age’ in life. Life after retirement has multiple stages as described in the book on, “The 100 Year Life”. Furthermore, the retirement age has been, and always will be, chosen for economic reasons, not because it marks any significant change physically, mentally or biologically (Bismarck set up the first pension stage at the age of seventy because that was the expectation of life at that time and he therefore thought he would not have to pay out much and he introduced pensions primarily to ‘smash socialism’ rather than to help older people !).
For many people retirement comes as liberation from a job they no longer found particularly stimulating, often sitting at a desk for eight hours a day, preceded and followed by an hours commute, again mostly sitting for them Retirement is Renaissance, rebirth, the time to start something they had been planning for years which could be transforming a garden, or travel to see family, or to start a new business to give but three examples.
For other people retirement comes as a major blow, particularly if they were doing a job they loved and had created, in a university research lab for example, in in one part of a big business where they had created a successful initiative. For them retirement is mor like bereavement than renaissance and they develop what has been called Retirement Regret Syndrome first described by the authors of a very important book called the Retirement Trap by Greg Boyer and Dennis Reed
If you are apprehensive about retirement or know someone who is, or know someone who is obviously finding it very difficult then recommend this book and the learning programme produced by the Silver Blueprint
Points for Reflection after listening and reading; if you are working through these podcasts with a group ask people to turn to their neighbour and discuss these points or allocate them to a Zoom room if you are online
Individual action depends on where you are with respect to retirement
- If you have not yet retired, what is worrying you most about retirement and what are you looking doing most?
- If you have retired what problems are causing you stress?
- If you have retired what advice would you give to someone in a job like yours about how to find retirement fulfilling?