Why I’m never retiring

With so much talk about cancel culture, let’s focus instead on retiring a controversial word that seems to many a little outdated - ‘retirement’ itself.

There are so many misconceptions about the term, not least that there’s somehow an ‘official age’. But I’d like to replace it with a more useful concept.

Given the FiftyUp Club’s mission to reinvent the future of older Australians, how about ‘rewiring’ instead of ‘retiring?’

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It began with a friendly argument about if you can be ‘semi-retired’ - anymore than one (non-gender specific term) can be ‘half-pregnant’.

I argued ‘no’ as you are either in the world of paid work - however many hours that might be - or you are absent from the workforce. But others may be happier with halfway measures.

It’s academic because I really wonder if the term retirement has much meaning anymore.

That’s not to say we don’t have the perfect right to pack up work and live off savings and/or the pension.

But more people seem to want to stay at work longer, either through desire or financial need and make somewhat different transitions to later life than, say, their parents.

Remember, retirement is not a fixed age, and it’s often when you become eligible for the age pension, not when you should willingly stand down or be sacked.

Even as this retirement age creeps upwards, it will be 67 in Australia from mid-2023 (see more here). It only reflects the longer and more productive later lives many can enjoy.

The very word retirement comes from 16th century French and literally means to withdraw to a place of safety or seclusion. Not quite my idea to describe the last quarter of life...

So how about rewiring instead of retiring? What does that mean?

According to the Americans who, of course, lead in this area and have written books about this mind shift, the actions might include:

• Lifelong learning and discovering new ways to make a living.
• Mentoring younger people and learning from them in return
• Scale back and slow down for sure but don’t give up
• Worry less about money. Don’t retire, just aspire!

Rewiring can take some time and planning, but it beats many of the passive stereotypes of retiring. As someone once said: “Retirement can be a rocking chair or a launchpad.”

What are you going to choose? Are you happy with the present-day model of retirement of giving up work for good, or do you prefer the options of a more active, engaged period after formal employment?

Any information contained in this communication is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.