Welcome back, or simply 'welcome' if this is your first time visiting this blog.
The entries on here used to be about my personal journey as I prepared for various fundraising challenges back in the 2010's, but life is about to take a new twist. Hopefully it's a positive one - retirement - but there is a rollercoaster ahead if you believe what the experts say.
1. Today is Saturday 21st March 2026.
Right now, I'm weary. Weary as hell. I've been self-employed for almost 25 years (after a fairly interesting corporate employment history) and the last two assignments have drained me. One of them was also my crowning glory as a project lead, but it was still draining, and now I'll also be doing work for the third Sunday out of four. I've simply had enough.
I thought I had a few more years of hard slog to go before retirement, but a recent unplanned review brought a pleasant surprise. In fact, on my way to an appointment to the doctors a couple of Fridays' ago, I'd go so far as to say I wanted to both laugh and cry with relief that I might be able to stop work, completely. Of course, once the initial euphoria faded, I had to be sure. After 3 hours of checking, re-checking, splashing water on my face, drinking another coffee and then re-re-checking, it still seemed viable.
Years ago, when I was an employee of various companies, I was lucky enough to get what's known as a final salary pension. Those of you under 40, please open a new tab and Google it (or whatever search engine you prefer), then spit feathers. I've had several offers over the last 10 years to 'buy me out' of them from the pension funds themselves, but final salary pensions are pure gold! Someone I've now spoken to (a qualified financial advisor, not 'Bob' down the bookies) is doing a final check, but it's looking positive, so I've decided to look into the new personal journey that lies ahead.
2. What lies ahead
According to some guy on YouTube, who looked sensible, dressed what M&S is now calling 'sharp casual', and spoke in a soft, educated voice (so bound to be true, right?), I have 4 stages to go through:
Stage 1 - holiday mode. This is when you wake up smiling, listen to the cars of those setting off for work, and then smile even wider. Apparently, it can last up to a year, but then the lack of purpose starts to loom and weekdays and weekends begin to blur. Thankfully, or rather sadly for her, my wife will still be working, so smiling should be limited to a short, sympathetic smile of guilt. Yes, she's a lot younger than me (AI don't lie in this case).
Stage 2 - Loss and lost. A friend of mine once told me he wasn't looking forward to retirement, as he had a dedicated work ethic (as did his father) all his life and viewed retirement as possibly the risk of sitting in a chair to gently rot. Another guy I know has been retired a few years and does a 30-40 mile bike ride every morning before tending to his bees and... I don't know... I must ask him what else he does, beyond applying chamois cream to what must be a tough-as-leather crotch.
Stage 3 - Trial and error. You start to fill your time with things you like, or might like. Maybe this is the time you decide retirement isn't for you and go work part-time in a call centre, a supermarket, or setting up an evening course at the local community college to teach old ladies how to use an iPad.
Stage 4 - Reinvent and revitalise. You've tried things, but maybe customers dialling the call centre drove you to distraction using 'like' as a frequent filler word and your manager told you to stop acting like Miriam Margolyes correcting Will.I.Am (you either understand that reference or you don't). The main thing is you start to refine what success in retirement actually feels like.
Stage 5 - the end. No, not death! I mean you get to the end of your quest and retirement becomes something you embrace.
3. As the narration on Adam West's 'Batman' always used to say...
So, if you want to see how the rollercoaster ride goes, you're in the right place. See you again in a few weeks ('Same time, same, channel, to see if Batman can escape The Penguin's deadly trap') which is also when I hope to confirm retirement AND be entering into my holiday mode.
My thanks to ChatGPT for creating most of the images.
