Image by Blessing Ri on Unsplash
The saddest posts I see are those from depressed, frustrated retirees. Post after post begins, “I don’t know how to fill the time.” People also say, “I don’t have the social contacts I used to have.”
People who know me, especially people who read my book, know I don’t like to think about retirement. I am convinced that retirement is extremely harmful. If you’ve got a job you hate, you need a career change not retirement.
And that’s what retirement is: career change.
Someone can hand you a check that’s large enough so you can stop working, forever. Or if you work, you do so on your own terms. This can happen at almost any age. I had a client who sold his company for $4 million, at age 35. He certainly didn’t have to work ever again.
And then you’ve got a challenge. What are you going to do for the rest of your life?
Lots of people get to work and continue to earn money, even though they don’t have to. There are lots of charities who are happy to take that money if you don’t want to keep it in the family. And they are the lucky ones.
But I keep seeing posts from people who have “too much free time.” These folks are trying to find activities to fill the day. They’re healthy. They just stopped work “because it’s time.” Or because they had to. Or because “not having to work” was a lifetime goal.
What I want to say is, “If you have an age-based retirement, you need to plan. What will you do if you can’t work?”
And then rephrase the question. Imagine you were laid off from your job with enough severance so you don’t have to look for another job. What will you do?
I know one woman who loves to travel. She took early retirement from a large company to get the time and space. She doesn’t mind going on a budget. She’d rather travel often than travel in luxury. So she’s always going somewhere, foreign or domestic. She’ll spend two weeks in Chicago, then four weeks in London. To her, that is very meaningful and she loves it.
A man I know loved making art. He was younger than most retirees when he lost his job, but soon realized he had enough money to stop working. He has been creating art — ceramics and photography — and selling some of it. For him, that’s also meaningful. His partner still works and they still travel.
There are endless variations. Some people go deeply into volunteer work. Some write novels. Some do gardening.
So I would encourage people not to “plan for retirement.” Instead, plan for freedom. What would you do if someone handed you a check that was big enough to keep you going for life? It might come sooner than you expect.
If you go blank and think, “I have no idea,” it’s time to get busy. On your own, or with a coach, it’s time to start planning.
If you’re basing your plans on age, I recommend that you start planning at age 50, 55 or 60. You’ll have the energy to do something new. You have enough time to get payback for your investment in career change. Y You can go back to school for a degree. You can build a studio for your artwork.
Usually, when we talk about changing jobs or careers, someone asks us, “What next?” We are told to leave FOR something, not run FROM something. Yet for some reason retirement is different. People may plan their finances, but they don’t always see themselves as moving TO something.
In some fields, you like what you’re doing and you can go on forever. In others, you’re forced out by a company policy or ageism.
If confronting the future is too terrifying, work with a life coach. Some specialize in retirement. You don’t have to be alone.
But if you don’t have something to take with you, and you don’t have an answer to the “What next” question, you’re in for some very empty years ahead. If you have people in your life, you’ll drive them completely crazy while you figure it out.
