Retiring doesn’t have to mean ending a career you love. It could be time to “retry” a passion you didn’t have time for while building your career.
Rupert Murdoch may have stepped down as co-chairman of Fox Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp, but at age 92, one imagines his work is far from done. Warren Buffett, 93, CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Sheldon Adelson, 87, Las Vegas Sands CEO, Chairman and Treasurer, remained incredibly involved in the company long past his retirement age.
In Ireland, retirement age is around age 65. This is not the same as 66 years old, which is the starting age for receiving the state pension, so depending on the company and its regulations, there is no reason why he should retire at 65 years old. Once you reach this age, you are old enough to have some savings, but also young enough to use your savings to enjoy active activities such as traveling. It really depends on how you feel and what you want to do in the next episode of your life.
Many business owners and CEOs remain active after retirement by serving on corporate or community boards, entering politics, or serving as consultants for the companies they worked for. If you support the company well, there is definitely a chance that you will be considered for a position on the board, which can be a very lucrative position.
As we work hard, raise children, care for elderly family members, and survive illness, grief, loss, and age, we gain many life experiences that become more important as we grow older. There is a possibility. There will always come a time when you can focus on yourself again and look forward to the retirement stage.
Pat Dawson, 70, retired as CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) this year after more than 50 years in the travel industry. He founded his own travel agency, Dawson Travel, in Cork, which remains a successful family business.
he says: “I think the first thing you feel when you retire is how quickly the last five to 10 years have flown by. It feels like 10 minutes ago. Walking, playing sports, connecting with family, going out. It’s important to be interested in a variety of things, and to be interested in what’s happening in the world, both good and bad.”
In preparing for retirement, he says: “You should prepare yourself financially at least 20 years in advance, because the moment your bank transfers stop, you will find your bank balance decreasing. We need to think about how we can replace that income. Of course, we don’t need it as much as we used to, but we still need something in the bank.”
When it comes to making new friends as a retiree, Dawson says: As the years go by, you’ll find that some fall by the wayside, but the good ones stick around. If possible, surround yourself with positive people. There’s nothing worse than listening to negative people. I’m not so busy right now, so I might need to ask more. So make sure it’s worth listening to.
“The most important thing for me and anyone retiring is to take care of your physical and mental health. Join Men’s Sheds and the like. I really feel like — live now, tomorrow. has not arrived yet.”
Maureen Forrest, 77, from Mogiley, East Cork, resigned as honorary director of the Irish Hope Foundation this year. After Forrest witnessed the extreme poverty in Kolkata, he founded the Hope Foundation.
She explained why she started the charity organization: “We cannot ignore the sight of young children alone on the streets suffering from abuse, neglect, violence and hunger, and we felt we had to take action, so we established the Hope Foundation to fund the foundation. We decided to establish a shelter for abused girls.”
That was 23 years ago and although she is now retired, she will still be active in the Hope India movement. Forrest has been involved in all aspects of the organization since its inception and over the past 25 years has watched the organization grow into what it is today. She always considered her work to be a labor of love. So why would she resign now?
Forrest said: “I felt it was time to reduce my active role to some extent in order to spend more time with my family. However, it is not possible for me to withdraw completely, so I have decided to reduce my involvement in the India business.” A special quote from George Bernard Shaw best sums up my thoughts on this: “I consider my life to belong to a community; It is my privilege to do whatever I can for the community while I am here.”
She continues: “Currently, the Foundation operates 60 projects, including 10 residential child care centres, life skills training centres, restaurants and hospitals. I was and still am very much supported by my sister Jenny Brown. Jenny spent most of the year in Kolkata as Hope Overseas Director. I also volunteered and continue to work there for four months a year.”
But now that he has time on his hands, Forrest talks about what retirement means to him. There is still much work to be done. Away from my day-to-day work, I look forward to spending more time with my family, being a part of my grandchildren’s lives, spending time with friends, doing yoga, reading, and walking. ”
Paddy Stapleton, 72, is a retired coach currently living in Kildare. He retired from ESB at the age of 60 after 42 years of service. he says: “I felt this would give me the best chance of the rest of my life. His last five years at ESB were spent as a senior executive coach, training to become a supervisor. It helped me a lot with my coaching.I didn’t want to be a typical pensioner.
“I did a lot of group work on retirement planning at several companies, but my wife Ann developed dementia and passed away in 2019 at the age of 66. There is more to do than travel after retirement. She was the one who encouraged me to do things like play golf. She was right. I am currently coaching one-on-one with a variety of professionals. I also wrote a retirement planning article called “The New You” for Standard Life, a life insurance, pension, and long-term savings company. This included a roadshow where I shared my knowledge with the staff.
“Coaching has allowed me to step away from the burden of being a group manager and work in a space that has real meaning and purpose for me.
“During the coronavirus outbreak, I worked on a voluntary basis with an organization that provides coaching support to HSE staff. “I find that the top three concerns of many people in my workshops are health, isolation, and financial security,” says Stapleton.
“They also feel like they don’t have any meaning or purpose anymore. And when you’re at work, you might have a title, there’s always learning happening around you, new systems, new people, And then there’s the camaraderie. Once that’s gone, you have to be very positive again and do new things. Even if it’s spontaneous and meeting new friends, people make a positive switch. Must be turned on. You cannot go back to your old workplace. When it comes to volunteering, be careful not to be a busy fool. You must be judged by your knowledge. What I said in my retirement planning presentation It’s not just retiring from something, as it is. There’s something to retire from.”
With coaching support and meaningful volunteer work, you can plan for retirement and take real control over what you want to become in your later years.
