Redefining Retirement

For decades, retirement was painted as a simple finish line, the day you walk away from your job, shake a few hands, collect your benefits, and begin the rest of your life. But the truth is far more complicated. People are living longer, identities are intertwined with careers, and many reach retirement age not with excitement, but with uncertainty. What used to be a clear path now feels like stepping into the unknown or the twilight zone. The question is no longer when can I stop working, but who will I be when the work ends? Retirement is not an ending. It's a transition, one that many are emotionally unprepared for when dealing with the realities of it all.

The old model of retirement was simple once upon a time. If we are lucky, we work 30+ years, then we retire, and rest. Today, the blueprint doesn't fit our lives anymore. Almost everyone switches careers, return to school, or work remotely or part-time. People want meaning, not just to rest. During my many years of working in the field of marketing and public relations, I never wanted to spend more than 5 years in a corporation or organisation with toxic leaders, micromanagers, or incompetent staff members.

The anxiety that most people deal with when considering retirement is real. We plan the numbers, but not the human experience. Few people speak about the emotional weight of retirement, but they have many fears:

• Fear of losing identity

• Fear of losing community or relevance

• Fear of boredom

• Fear of financial instability

• Fear of becoming “no one” after being “someone”

  
  

Several years ago, I started to think about retirement for the first time in my life and it was rather frightening. I started to worry if I would have enough money to survive and live independently with too much stress. There is an old saying, "Good things come to those who wait" is a proverb meaning patience is rewarded. It suggests that waiting calmly and persevering leads to better outcomes, success, or opportunities, rather than rushing things. A wonderful colleague surprised me by asking me to facilitate a training for people in their fifties who may be considering retirement and what it may look like. The training was called, Life Reimagined: Discovering Your New Life Possibilities, hosted by AARP. The training was created from a spectacular book with the same name by Richard J. Leider and Alan M. Webber. For several years I travelled all over the United States helping others to prepare for their future and take them through various activities and ideas of choice.

For many, retirement is not the end of your usefulness, it’s the beginning of your freedom to live your life to the fullest. This stage of life is not a decline. It's an expansion.

Retirement should be:

• A chance to redefine purpose

• Time to explore parts of yourself that work overshadowed

• Space to create, volunteer, learn, or travel

• A moment to invest in health, relationships, joy, and meaning

In 2020, I decided to retire and enjoy my life, so I moved abroad for a change. Entering retirement is not an easy process when you are accustomed to working all the time. It gave me an opportunity to take a closer look at my life and to really consider who I am now as a retired individual. Once I relocated, I worked as a communication freelancer and enjoyed every moment. It gave me the opportunity to share my expertise with others while teaching them how to do a great job for organisations. This brought me joy and happiness seeing them all achieve their goals successfully. In 2023, I told myself that it was time to freely retire in order to do all the things that I have always wanted to do that would bring me pleasure. Lessons in life taught me that retirement doesn't come with instructions, you must create your own plan. Remember, "Failing to Plan is a Plan to Fail."

It took lots of thinking over many hours to decide what should be included in my retirement plan. These are some of the items on my list that I am pursuing:

• Volunteering with various organisations

• Helping organisations to develop media campaigns and community engagement activities to better reach their priority audience(s).

• Traveling and visiting friends all over the world

• Learning how to use and spend money wisely, instead of shopping for items not needed

• Writing a children's book

• Writing a murder mystery

• Learning a foreign language

• Enjoying and preparing delicious food from shared recipes

• Spending time learning more about my field of work

• Living simply, intentionally, and being grateful

• Relaxing in the sunshine while enjoying a lovely cocktails with true friends

• Enjoying laughter which is good for the soul

Retirement is an invitation to design a life rooted in purpose, not productivity. It's not a disappearance act. It's reappearing as a fuller version of yourself. Not an ending, but a renewal of a better self that we each get to design.