Is it time to
retire
retirement...?
You work hard, then you stop.
For most people, this is the “old-fashioned” approach to retirement they’ve been encouraged to pursue for as long as they can remember.
And while some follow this approach perhaps falsely believing that “the 3 Gs” (grandkids, gardening, and golf) will provide them all the fulfilment and meaning they need in post-work life…
And while others follow it dreading what feels like their own personal D-Day coming ever nearer…
Given the grim rates of clinical depression for recent retirees (chances of suffering from it go up to 40% in retirement) and studies that have shown it can take a terrifyingly long time for a person to reorient themselves in retirement (up to 15 years), it’s clear that our “work hard, then stop” approach isn’t working.
The problem of the word ‘retirement’ itself…
Airlines retire airplanes when they are no longer safe to fly. Ships are retired before going to the scrap heap. Retirement is a term we use to show that something has been taken out of use, done with, or finished.
No wonder that so many people become depressed as the term becomes one that is applied to their own life. Is this really the word we want to use to guide our future?
But while society has yet to come up with a new term to replace retirement, I do believe there’s a better way.
Because while the question of “what the heck am I going to do now?” is one that each of us will have to answer at some point, retirement should be something we all aspire and look forward to. Not something that fills us with dread or a sense of purposelessness.
And that’s where I’m here to help.
About Mike
Throughout my 30-odd-year career as a financial advisor, I assumed, incorrectly, that my colleagues also began planning for clients by first exploring and focusing on what type of lives their clients wanted to live in retirement. And only then moving toward money-focused elements like how much to save and how to grow what they’d saved.
Because in my mind, money is only a tool. And you can’t successfully plan your finances if you don’t yet know what those finances are meant to support.
That’s why the approach I adopted with my clients was to help them dream, set goals for the future, and then let their finances take shape over time. Eventually, this “Redefining Retirement” process that I was taking my financial planning clients through expanded into something much bigger, causing me to leave financial planning and focus solely on retirement coaching to help others have a fulfilling life beyond the traditional workplace.
Since then, I’ve written two books on this signature process, run corporate workshops sharing the method around the UK, and helped thousands of personal clients redefine and reimagine what retirement means to them. And since I’m a retirement coach who certainly does give the appearance of being near retirement age myself…how have I redefined retirement for myself?
How you can join the movement and rewire your retirement
If you’d like some support in ditching the notion of “retirement” and seeing the day you leave your career as an opportunity for change, there are a few ways I can help. Such as getting one of the two books I’ve written on the topic (Don’t Retire, Rejuvenate and The R Word: Time to Retire Retirement), joining the waitlist for my Retirement Defined program, or reaching out for 1:1 coaching.
Here are a few of the ways I can help you start redefining your retirement.
The Retirement Redefined Live Coaching Program
My upcoming course & live coaching program for individuals and couples seeking a fulfilling, purposeful retirement of their own definition.
The Retirement Redefined Corporate Workshops
My corporate keynote, given live with supporting materials, for companies wanting to better support their employees and help them make the most of their later years.
Get the bookDon't retire,Rejuvenate
Don’t Retire, Rejuvenate explains why we should rethink retirement and how we can develop a more fulfilling, enjoyable, and balanced future for ourselves by Author and financial planning expert Michael Middleton.
