A recent ‘future retiree survey’ out of Ontario shows that over 35 per cent of more than 1400 respondents have either decided to retire or are considering it – and more than half of them plan to work either full time or part time in ‘retirement’. As we reshape the meaning of the word retirement, the first step is discarding the notion that retiring means never working another single moment in your life. Full stop.
There are as many reasons for a person to retire as there are for them to continue working! Reaching an age where an intensive full time career becomes unsustainable is a good reason to consider stepping back, or maybe enough financial goals have been met that a person can regain control over the number of hours and days they devote to their work. Maybe they want more flexibility or maybe they can actually make more money on their own. Maybe they just want a change. After all, they say a change is as good as a holiday!
Unlike the days when our parents retired and were given a gold watch to watch the time pass, many people retire with the intension of working – some even intending to still continue working full time. Not to judge the people who do stop working completely in retirement – I know many who have and they are enjoying their time to no end. Many of us, though, can’t afford to stop working completely, or we still have goals we want to achieve, or we don’t yet have a more compelling plan for how to spend our days.
I’ve written a lot about my interest in continuing to work, and I’m happy to be finishing a short contract with the place I’ve spent my career as I transition to something part time. I must say, though, it sometimes feels strange coming into the office now, because I’m already starting to see things so differently, from a greater and greater distance.
Like, they have under-the-desk-peddlers in the office now. If you’re coordinated enough, you can place one at your feet, adjust your whole seating arrangement, guide and balance the position of your body so you can peddle it while still maintaining your daily work obligations. It’s just like riding a bike, as they say! Work on your projects and meet your deadlines, all while getting in your 10,000 steps. No wonder everyone is stressed, trying to achieve that much.
Remember the good old days when we smoked at our desks? I’m kidding, of course, but I did begin my career when there were actual ashtrays on our desks – there was room for them, as computers were still a long way from being invented! There was also usually a bottle of something or other in the bottom desk drawer, or at the very least there were frequent ‘liquid lunches’.
Not that I’m advocating to go back to those dark ages – it wouldn’t work anyway. Everyone I know in the office is adamantly focused on their health and wellness. They pack leafy greens for their lunch, they stop work once a week to gather for a ten-minute mindfulness session, they churn away on their desk peddlers. And as I watch, I think about how very long I’ve been at this work thing and that there may come a day when I no longer speak the same language.
Sandy Bexon is stepping into retirement after over 35 years as a communications professional, reporter and writer. She lives in Red Deer.
