Retirement Planning & Experiences

[Freq Flier 2013]

Interesting AFR article about retirement.

A psychologist on how to know you’re ready for retirement

I’ve spent the past 17 years researching the psychology of retirement and here are nine things to ponder as you plan for the next stage.

www.afr.com

Does talk about doctors finding their work as part of their life and difficult to retire.
—
This idea of dedication to career can start as soon as a person steps into training or their first role. I once worked with a medical student reviewing videos of doctors transitioning into retirement. He confessed he had done very little socially, sporting or extracurricular since he started his medical training.
Would you expect him to pick up the badminton bat or guitar again at 70? When you’ve been the expert in the room for the last 45 years it might be harder than expected to play the role of a newbie

 

[Pushka]

Interesting AFR article about retirement.

A psychologist on how to know you’re ready for retirement

I’ve spent the past 17 years researching the psychology of retirement and here are nine things to ponder as you plan for the next stage.

www.afr.com

Does talk about doctors finding their work as part of their life and difficult to retire.
—
This idea of dedication to career can start as soon as a person steps into training or their first role. I once worked with a medical student reviewing videos of doctors transitioning into retirement. He confessed he had done very little socially, sporting or extracurricular since he started his medical training.
Would you expect him to pick up the badminton bat or guitar again at 70? When you’ve been the expert in the room for the last 45 years it might be harder than expected to play the role of a newbie

Even climbing a wall didn't allow me to see it.

With a psychologist in the direct family he's also at retirement stage. But he hasn't because he's found he's just as relevant now as in his early years. He does also have many non professional outlets.

 

[MARTINE]

Interesting AFR article about retirement.

A psychologist on how to know you’re ready for retirement

I’ve spent the past 17 years researching the psychology of retirement and here are nine things to ponder as you plan for the next stage.

www.afr.com

Does talk about doctors finding their work as part of their life and difficult to retire.
—
This idea of dedication to career can start as soon as a person steps into training or their first role. I once worked with a medical student reviewing videos of doctors transitioning into retirement. He confessed he had done very little socially, sporting or extracurricular since he started his medical training.
Would you expect him to pick up the badminton bat or guitar again at 70? When you’ve been the expert in the room for the last 45 years it might be harder than expected to play the role of a newbie

Happy me and husband both doctors transitioned VERY EASILY - but we both worked part time in last twenty years pre retirement

 

[cove]

We have just over 9 months to go for retirement. We are off all boards and committees now as someone else can have their go. We went to the test cricket yesterday and with TransPerth buses not running we used a driver limo to get us to Optus Stadium.

 

[drron]

Well I certainly wasn't ready for retirement the first time. Always had a plan to retire at 60 and go travelling. I actually retired a month before my 60th birthday.
Three weeks later I got an email that Mt.Isa was wanting a Physician to start working in 3 days and to stay over Christmas and New Year. 2 days later I was on a plane to Mt.Isa, Actually spent my 60th birthday there.

I had many outside interests. But working as a locum for the next 16 years meaning lots of time for travel as well as working. for the last 2 years over Covid I worked at Launceston General. Basically 3 months on and 4-6 weeks off. After the first 3 months they decided to put me down as the Ward physician on a ward and got locums to replace me. That was so satisfying as I got to know the staff well.
A month before I finally retired I told everyone my decision. My registrar knew me well as she had been on my team as a Med student, Intern, resident and twice as a registrar. She said I would find it hard as I obviously loved my job.
And at times I have missed it greatly but it was the right time as I knew my brain was slowing down and I didn't want to be remembered as that silly old fellow who should have retired. And there are a few of those.

 

[Bindibuys]

I retired 2.5 years ago, have not looked back, and not even thought about getting another job.

We did our sums and hubby was going to retire last year, (I was having too good of a time) but the day after we decided, his work announced that they were leaving Australia and that everyone would get retrenched.

Exit date given was April 2025, with over 10 years with them, plus was offered a bonus to sign on to stay until the end, it was a no-brainer to work another 18 months for the payout. (OK - so we purchased the new car early )

Hence our 3 month holiday next year is named "the R&R" retired and retrenched.

 

[tgh]

From a negative net worth at 30, I beavered my way to retire at 55.
I then executed a plan to play horse and have few adventures.
Late in life I am very fit and active but find the inevitable future somewhat depressing

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Slow retirement is the way to go. You get to slow down at your own pace, working thing out a long the way.
Cold turkey is not good and I’ve seen a lot of people get depressed doing it that way. Work can be peoples identity and they find it hard to step back.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 12:32 PM

From a negative net worth at 30, I beavered my way to retire at 55.
I then executed a plan to play horse and have few adventures.
Late in life I am very fit and active but find the inevitable future somewhat depressing

I’ve seen my grandparents deteriorate with age and now my parents health declining. Agree depressing that when people have more time to travel and enjoy life, they don’t often have the health to go with it.

 

[Cossie]

Walked into work one day in Dec 2010, my colleagues (a very loose term) p!ssed me off one last time, so I walked out and decided to retire. I had intended to work until I was 60, but only made it to 55 and 8 months. Best decision I ever made.
It was the worst place I had ever worked, think very big gov dept!
I was in the data centre, everything that anyone ever thought that was bad about the public service, it was here and more so.
No regrets.....

 

[prozac]

Had the 60 goal. A workplace accident age 42 put paid to that and meant a career change. I held on in my original career for another 4 yrs but constant demands on health and then finally being sacked for being crook ( they were bullies) meant going back to school to re-qualify and from about 50 work for myself for a few years. When I hit 60 more health problems meant I was no longer reliable and it's been like that for 9 yrs. Plan is to get healthy, fit and do all the stuff I was going to do at 60. I am still ambitious so I have refinanced assets, negotiated advantageous industrial lease agreements and created new earning opportunities (film and TV locations). I am in a pretty reasonable financial position now. I reckon I can turn my hand to almost anything.

 

[Quickstatus]

My retirement plan is to do it slowly.

Initially I will retire from Mondays....then Fridays...
I will also retire from 3pm onwards

 

[JohnM]

I retired from my 35y+ career job in 2006, just before turning 57. It was a couple of years earlier than my initial plan, but I decided to decline a request to transfer to Canberra and the finance manager had used my success in obtaining grants to try to screw just that bit too much in the next cycle, which ended in rejection, as I had predicted.

A mate of mine, whom I had some collaborative work with in his big international company, had left there a couple of years previously to start his own business and it was growing nicely. So I jumped to that on the proviso of six weeks annual leave, so as to continue and expand my annual DONEx experiences.

As we recruited more young people and they started stepping up, I dropped back to 4, then 3, days/week.

At the outset, I told my mate that my continuation was open-ended, subject to health.

So, following a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2011, I dropped back to working casually. As it turned out, the monitoring 'active surveillance' regime showed that the low-grade/small focus PCa didn't require treatment until the grade changed in 2018 and out it came.

Meanwhile, my DONEx's had grown in duration to be more around the 12-16 week mark, with various additional point-to-point trips using points redemptions mostly for EK F & J and QR J flights.

So, very much a phasing into retirement, which I think is key. The last bit of casual work was as recently as 2021, so in my early 70s.

Covid was not so challenging in WA. I bought a 4WD early in the piece and did a huge amount of travelling within the large land area open to us, so I can't complain too much about that, albeit having to cancel a big DONEx planned for 2020.

 

[QF WP]

I'm only 57 but starting to think more about retirement given it's generally expected to be within 8-10 years. After my 40 years in my industry is 10 December this year, it'll be good to start to take more time away from home and start travelling more.

Doing the (what we think will be) final family holiday in January 2025 (skiing in Japan), now that my daughter has finished school. She's off to Uni and will be looking to spread her wings (which we encourage particularly as she has access to Australian, English and Irish passports).

Don't think I'll have a problem retiring - but hard to know until it happens. Father and mother both "worked" until age 75 so they could continue to contribute to super - that doesn't interest me.

 

[Brissy1]

I stopped at 52, admit a bit bored now.

Anyone here actually still working! Last one please turn off the lights.

 

[Pushka]

I stopped at 52, admit a bit bored now.

Anyone here actually still working! Last one please turn off the lights.

That would be someone on AFF in Canberra and someone in our house.

 

[Quickstatus]

Last one please turn off the lights.

The way Gen "whatever" works you may need more than one person to turn out the lights or it's may not be turned off at all as they all want to WFH

 

[Major]

I retired at age 63 when a developer offered me a lot of money for my (Timber yard) land. We started travelling and I found AFF and travelled more for less.
Bucket list basically ticked off
80 next birthday

 

[Lynda2475]

There are many on AFF still of working age not planning on retiring anytime soon, just not many on this thread.

 

[prozac]

There are many on AFF still of working age not planning on retiring anytime soon, just not many on this thread.

My mind is as active as and I would like to use it more. I was a director of a company with assets overseas but that came to an end some yrs back. Would do it again if the right non-exec position came along.

 

[love_the_life]

I have had several stints at retirement - started in 2006 when MrLtL was particularly unwell and wanted to spend time with him while I could. As it turned out a change to an old medication worked wonders and he is still here. Did a bit of uni lecturing then decided a year in the APS might be the goer. That became 7 years. Then 4 years proper retirement. I had coffee with a friend who said the way to go was to get a 'little contract' for 3 - 6 months, APS 5 or so where no stress. Money for jam (actually money to travel without touching anything else). Sounded promising, so off I went to a recruitment agency and picked up a 6 in Health. A 6 months contract which I wasn't keen on really as seemed a bit long.....that was 5 years ago. They are happy for me to take whatever time off I want. They are happy for me to stay with the agency and for the psst few years I do 4 days a week 2 in the office which is 15 mins away by car and 2 WFH. The team is fantastic and incredibly supportive when my mother passed away in the COVID lockdown (sent gin) and with lots of backwards and forwards with MrLtL's heart issues. Contract runs till 30 June so will see what happens then. I have a mantra - if it's not fun, it's time to go. So far it is still 'fun' but if it goes sour, I only need to give 1 hour's notice.
Just for reference I am the oldest in our section at 72. And yes it is money for jam - no sleepless nights or AS's ringing at the weekend etc. Money is used for 'frivolity' and travel.