Retired. Now what?

Retirement Life

It's funny. You work all those years trying to achieve financial independence so that you can retire, but most people don't have the faintest idea what they will do once they do retire. Given that I had started thinking about it a few years prior to my exit from Company A, I had been doing some reading about how to retire.

I'm going to get the quote incorrect, but I read an article that suggested that one needs to "master the art of being irrelevant". Huh? What most people struggle most with retirement is the sudden transition to... nothingness. For most of us, the latter part of our careers represented the most value, highest status that we can or could achieve. To go from that to being no one, is too hard for many to adjust to, and quite often many end up going back to work, simply to fill that need for being... needed. So this article I read, talked about transitioning, during your working career, to a less relevant individual. I can't say that everyone can do this the same way, but I started doing everything I could, to no longer being "the man".

You see, I was often the man you would go to in order to solve the problem. The guy to bring to the presentation to make the executive pitch. The presenter that the marketing team wanted to take on the roadshow to talk about the new products. The problem solver that got us out of that issue with the customer, and secured the next purchase order. The leader to bring the team together, even though things were going to hell in a handbasket (what does that even mean?).

So instead of being "the man", I started teaching others to be... well, me. Rather than just give the presentation, I'd say, "I'll give the pitch this time, but I expect you to watch me, and then be able to do the same the next time.". Even if I knew that resolving the current challenge would take less time, I'd push the individual(s) to learn how to work it out, so that the next time, it could be done without me. It's a hard thing to do - we've built our professional careers around self-importance and promotion; indeed, how else would one get ahead, if you're not going to boast about your accomplishments? But as one co-worker once told me, when you're leaving a company, it's not about you anymore.

Did it work? I would say that without a doubt, yes. Sure, there is a transition period where you feel a bit abandoned... from hero to zero, as we used to say. And as much as you'd like to think that you will stay in touch with "the old work gang", it doesn't happen. Sure, you go for a few lunches here and a few beers there, but they don't really want you around anymore - you're the free-wheeling retired guy, and they resent you for it. Similarly, they still have the drudgery of the day-to-day work, and let's face it, you don't want to be dragged down by that anymore. So after a few months, you're on your own... get used to it.

Next: The first phase of retirement