Ensure a smoother transition by retiring in stages easing off your workload over a year or more. This allows adjustment to working less and avoids ‘jumping off the cliff edge’ which as attractive as it may seem seldom is as easy as it might appear and only about one in three actually view ‘retirement’ as the point at which they immediately stop working. Over half of workers globally envision continuing some form of paid work in retirement with many seeing it as an active stage of life where they aspire to stay socially connected, involved in their communities and continue to work in some capacity.
The Financial Lives Survey 2017 found that 10% of adults aged 65 and over in the UK are still in work and of these 40% are self‑employed and for 30% are working part-time before winding down to full retirement. 73% of people will keep working because they are worried about their income and the size of their savings pots with 2% suggesting they still have financially dependent children at age 65. In the UK, 29% of people in Aegon’s study said they expect to retire at age 70 or older, while 2% say they will never retire.
In ‘The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity’ Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott suggest that in the future our children will have multiple careers requiring multiple stints of training and due to the increased working lifetime more ‘gap’ months/years etc. Some ‘grey gappers’, the over 55s who take extended leave from work for overseas trips etc. seem to have pre-empted this and have a break from the TOIL of work and dip into the TOYL ahead of time!
Instead of suddenly stopping work at the retirement age many embark on a planned period of partial retirement, gradually reducing work commitments over a period of years whilst drawing down all or some of their pension which these days have a great deal more flexibility than in yesteryear.
Employers might not advertise the fact that they offer reduced hours or phased retirement, so if this appeals you should ask! Your employer may not have a formal phased retirement program, however you may be able to negotiate an informal option where both employee and employer benefit. Actually, many employers suggest these programs help with worker retention, knowledge transfer and workforce planning with new workers hired at a lower cost.
Encore careers
Reducing one’s hours and commitment to ones established career/job is one option, but another is to have an ‘encore career’. Whereas 15% of people plan to continue working in the same field past retirement age, 11% will keep working but in another industry with 10% of people Aegon surveyed globally said they plan to start a business. 10% said reaching retirement age would make no difference at all to the way they work.
Hobby jobs
A hobby job is one that is less demanding, and which focuses on existing skills and interests with more flexible and less demanding hours etc. These might include dog walking, an online/eBay business, tutoring or in my late Father-in-Law’s case becoming a clock-maker/repairer when he lost his job.
Of course some will not have the luxury of being able to plan in this manner as they are either financially in need of a full-time income or lose their job through redundancy etc. However even this may have a silver lining if it opens up possibilities that would not otherwise have been seen or looked for! If you have a real passion it is far more likely you would be successful pursuing this in business – You might not make a fortune but you’ll be happier and those around you may well believe in you more than might otherwise be the case!
It's the Time Of Your Life 