Retire With Something
As appears in June 2026 Issue of The Village Observer
The world of retirement planning is filled with helpful advice where often the guidance for everyday life in retirement is the suggestion that people should “Retire To Something.”
This guidance is a good starting point as it suggests that people should have some sort of plan to replace the things that work has provided for them. However, retirement can be a difficult transition for many as it involves numerous important aspects of life, not just the finances, that can take years to adjust to. And what is ‘retirement’ these days anyway? It’s less about a single planned date where you stop working for good, but more about being busy with interests and possibly some part-time work or projects.
The generic retirement guidance by itself can be problematic as it leads people to believe that they will need to do new and different things after they retire which could set them up to fail. In other words, telling people they should “Retire To Something” gives them permission to postpone developing new routines, habits, and skills.
Time and time again, people say, “When I retire, I am going to eat better… cook healthier… start walking everyday… spend more time with family (or friends)…travel more, …play pickleball (or golf), even start playing music again.” All great aspirations, but unfortunately it doesn’t always magically turn out as planned.
People wrongly assume that the extra time that they have in retirement comes with extra motivation and higher energy levels. They imagine bouncing out of bed in the morning, grabbing some coffee, hitting the gym, preparing a healthy lunch, and then running out to meet some friends or do some good in the world through volunteering. They mentally picture this ideal, easy flowing day, but in reality, they have never done anything like it and so don’t really appreciate what they are in for.
The fact is, retirement doesn’t change you, it can magnify what you already are. So, if you don’t eat healthily, don’t have an exercise schedule, or work instead of spending quality time with friends, none of that is going to change overnight. Furthermore, it’s common for people to grieve the loss of social interaction, routine, or physical activity from work which doesn’t help the process of transition.
Rather than “Retire to Something” we need to “Retire With Something.” This serves as a much stronger message to encourage people to start living the life they want now instead of hoping they can create it all later. The reality is, we are creatures of habit, and as Stephen R. Covey, of “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People” fame, wrote “First we make our habits and then our habits make us.”
Let’s face it, continuing to do what you already do and enjoy, is much easier than starting something completely new. It’s why we need to invest just as much time on pre-planning for the mental, social, physical, and spiritual aspects of retirement as we do for the financial stuff. Running out of any of those aspects are likely to have as big an impact on happiness and confidence in retirement as is the case for running out of money. The truth is, many Australians haven’t adequately planned for their retirement years by the time they reach them, so the time to set your plans for all these considerations is now.