THE RIGHT TIME

Are you waiting for the perfect moment to retire?

Let me assure you that, like getting married and starting a family, there is no such thing. You pretty much need to take a leap of faith and cross your fingers all the way down.

Despite your best efforts to get all your ducks in a row, you will still be plagued with a lingering fear that you have overlooked a task - probably the most critical one for a successful retirement.

So you go over your to-do list: register with the pension board (check), sign up for retirement seminars (check), review your health, assets and liabilities (check), formulate the best plan of action with your financial planner (check), meet regularly with your HR adviser to sign an endless parade of forms (check, check, and check).

Mercifully, once the die is cast and the retirement process is set in motion, it will gather steam and pick up speed like a locomotive - with you, still feeling like a helpless captive, riding on it.

So go ahead. Drop that last box of personal effects in your trunk, slide behind the steering wheel, glide out of the parking lot with a great sense of calm, and brush off all nagging last minute questions.

Yes, you did the right thing. No, there is no point in waiting another one, two, or five years. Buckle up, baby, because you are in for a great ride.

FRIENDSHIP

It's true that we do not choose our relatives or colleagues. 

Without sounding overly harsh, workmates are just friends of convenience.

Day in/day out, perhaps more than once a day, we sit down for coffee with those that we would not normally associate with.

We attend corporate events with them, we go for lunch with them, we even support their children's fundraising drives. But, if we are totally honest, we share very few common interests and would not voluntarily pick them as potential candidates in the friendship department.

There are exceptions, of course.

If we are lucky, some work relationships actually blossom into something more. We begin to care for each other beyond the "hey, how was your weekend?" niceties we extend to those we bump into in the corridor, at the water cooler, or in the cafeteria lineup.

Once you retire, though, you will learn quickly - and with jarring clarity - that very few of your colleagues are interested in keeping the love alive. Perhaps, the basis of your association has always been shallow. Perhaps it takes too much energy. Perhaps it's just not convenient. 

In the first year or so after retirement, you will manage to maintain a tentative connection to your workmates. You will exchange messages, meet for beer, and gab on the phone. But the frequency will thin out to a trickle and, all too soon, the tenuous link will be severed. Don't take it to heart. It's nothing personal. It's just time marching onward.

If you have developed genuine friendships at work, please remember to constantly nurture it while you are still working, and even more so after you leave. The more effort you invest in it, the better and stronger it will grow. And each time you come face to face, post work, you will rekindle that "old feeling" and both feel blessed for having taken such an active role in keeping the good vibes alive.

Believe me, it will be so worthwhile.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you from forging new relationships once you've retired. But the opportunities will be infrequent and the success rate very much a hit-or-miss.

I will share my own adventures in this regard in future posts. I hope you will find them useful and entertaining. So, stay tuned.

RETIREMENT OR REJUVENATION?

I think we need to rename our post-work life. 

Up until recently, retirement has been associated with limited income, loneliness, boredom, and a precipitous decline in health.

Too doom-and-gloomy for me. What about you?

How about replacing it with a word that better reflects how new retirees live and the options they enjoy that simply were not available to past generations.

What positive characteristics does this demographic bring to the post-work landscape?

Health: They are younger and embrace a more active and healthy lifestyle.

Passions: They have multiple interests that have been nurtured and developed in tandem with their career life.

Wealth: They have devoted time and effort in building assets for the sole purpose of collecting a comfortable income once they've withdrawn from work.

Social Network: They harnessed available channels and social networks to establish and foster friendships - outside and beyond those built within the corporate walls. 

Once you have considered the above factors, I think the word rejuvenation would more closely describe the new post-work lifestyle that this new breed of retirees can expect and enjoy.

Can you think of a better word? I would love to hear from you.

Time

In retirement, as you can imagine, time takes on a whole new meaning.

Because most of it is now behind us, we realize just how precious it is.

We may rush to re-invent ourselves, or launch a second career, or focus on checking items in our bucket list - all the while realizing that the tide is inexorably carrying us forward.

In the early days of retirement, you will go through an existential crisis. Your chest will fill with a vague sense of panic. You will worry. You'll sigh. A lot.

I know I did.

But guess what? Things will get better.

As you gradually grow accustomed to life without work, you'll learn to regard time as a friend. You will save it, stretch it, and never, ever, thoughtlessly waste it.

Yup, retirement is a great time to learn effective time management!