How Will You Do Retirement?
By Karen and Erica
Retirement is not just the end of your career. It is the beginning of something new.
We were chatting the other day with a man who stopped working on Wall Street when he was 50, and moved to Asia to invest for himself. Now 75, he returned to the U.S. to do something different. This man referred to himself as retired since the age of 50.
Hmmm. We agree he pivoted from one job to another, but we would not call him retired. Except in the sense that he pivoted. Which is exactly how we see retirement—as a pivot point.
In the twenty-first century we can expect to live into our nineties, especially we women. We are healthier, mentally and physically, than ever. If we retire in our early sixties, by choice or otherwise, are we really going to sit peacefully in rocking chairs for several decades?
For many of us, the answer is no. For us, retirement from a long career is simply another point of reference. Where are we now? No longer climbing the career ladder, and free from child raising, we have time, and an enviable foundation of experience. Maybe we want to help those in the job we once had. Maybe we want to use our experience for something totally novel. Whatever it may be, we are on the move. We won’t start at the beginning, either, even if we do start something new. Working for decades has given us a powerful base for whatever we choose to do. If we are lucky enough to be financially secure, we are ready to soar.
If you have just retired, you may feel as if you have reached the end of the world you knew and loved, and are in a strange and cold place where you have yet to find your footing. That’s completely to be expected. Or, you may feel blessed relief from quotidian workplace bonds. Either way, take some time to relax and have fun and catch up on the sleep and streaming that you missed for the last decades.
Then when you are restored, think about what is next. If having no commitments whatsoever makes you happy, great. If not, after you have been retired for a while you will start to visualize how you want to do retirement. Luckily for you, there are few real role models, even now. What an opportunity! You can create anything you want.
Soon enough, you will realize that retirement is not the last stop of your journey. It is a pivot point to something that could be entirely of your own devising. We’ll bet that’s never happened before. Congratulations!
I was able to retire after 33 years in banking last fall when I turned 55. I used that term when telling people about my decision to quit to focus on a new career in fiction writing. Layoffs were prevalent at my old company and it was important to me that I left such a long career on my terms. But now so many people comment on how I must be loving retirement, even though I’m working harder than ever (but on something I love for the first time ever). They seem confused when I explain how I’m spending my time. The population at large has a long way to go before embracing the notion of a pivot vs. "playing" for decades after a retirement. If I could do it over, I wouldn’t use the term retirement. It is making it more difficult for people around me to take my new career seriously. But that is the only thing I’d change-loving the pivot! Kimberly Diede
Retired since October 2021 still enjoying free time! everyday is a new adventure, have not yet found my next purpose in life but it may just be enjoying down time ❤️
I left my nursing career in 2020 at age 68. I have never liked the word retire so thank you for “pivot.” It was quite scary, especially since my spouse had died, and I was also now the man of the house.
I just finished the manuscript for my first children’s book. It will be my second book. My first was about grief and now with that and my FB page, I help others who are grieving. I also started a writing group.
I volunteer at a therapeutic horse farm which allows me to continue helping people. I knew nothing about horses when I started and now I do! I just went on a two hour trail ride in Rocky Mountain National Park!
I seek new adventures like sky diving, zip lining, parasailing, and more.
I help my son with his rental units, and my granddaughter helps with that.
Each summer, I have my three granddaughters one day a week, this year it is wonderful Wednesdays. Together we create and challenge ourselves.
So far this year, I have been to Costa Rica, Quebec, and Colorado.
This year, I enrolled in college to finally complete my bachelor’s degree which I started many years ago.
I have room in my life to meet someone but that will happen when and if it is meant to be.
This is what I have done since pivoting from my chosen profession! I am living my life with intention.
Thanks for the stories, friends—you are inspiring. And we agree, the words relating to “retire” are unsuited to what we are all doing, so they need to change.