A lot of my friends are looking at retirement. In my job, we must announce months in advance and many of us announce at the beginning of the year so our projects can be picked up by others. Yesterday one colleague approached me to talk about it. She had planned to go another 2 years but some unwelcome changes are on the horizon (which also played a part in my decision) and there is no financial incentive to stay. Another friend who will be 70 loves his job, has great organizational skills and stretches resources to the limit to meet everybody’s needs. It has become obvious he is being edged out by restructuring his job. For my part, I am encouraging him to take on one of my projects if he wants to stay, while also talking about the benefits of retirement if he decides to go.
To those of you who are in the early stages of your worklife it might seem like we should all be “Woohoo-decent money, doing what we want to do, no more 5:30 am alarm, no more work related drudgery” But when you have spent 20–40 years surviving the storms and then building something to be proud of, turning in your keys and walking away gives pause.
We feel the same excitement and trepidation of new graduates, new parents, new homeowners and new employees but 4–5 decades of life experience makes us more aware of the limitations on our horizons