“Retirement”….feels like you have been hit by recession
It’s difficult to put myself in the place of a person who is approaching retirement from his corporate lifestyle, but coming to think of it…..it must be feeling like a no-where-to-go cerebral attack. Imagine that daily routine that a working executive follows of waking up in the morning, getting ready for work, working hard those 8-9hrs, and then pack-up from office to go straight home or maybe pursue an evening hobby……and then suddenly you wake up on the 1st day after your 60th birthday and you realize that you have nowhere to go. Uff……must be real hard to digest!60th birthday can be agonizing
One of my colleagues celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday and he also retires this month from the company. When I asked him how it feels to celebrate his 60th birthday- a day when people not only wish you a Happy Birthday but also wish you a Happy Retirement. He said, that it feels like the whole world has come-down-upon-him…..seems gloomy, especially because he has served the same company for a long spell of over 34yrs and that leaving the company after such a long spell would be real difficult.
Now let me exaggerate……34yrs.......like, how do people work so long in one company??? I can’t even imagine!!
It’s even worse when you are a leader material in your organization. And being a Leader, people emulate you, listen to your views and take your instructions too seriously, work for you, and even more when your signature works like you can buy a fortune 500 company….then it surely must be feeling gloomy, until you actually start getting use to the sedentary lifestyle you are forced to make peace with.
Planning for retirement
I believe that in order to face retirement and cruise through it smoothly, you need to prepare for it well in advance – both mentally and physically. There are many companies following this practice, which put employees in a “Retirement Simulation” environment and let them have a feel about life after retirement, while they are working. Isn’t this a fantastic way of getting ready for withdrawal…..Indeed it is!
So, “Don't simply retire from something; have something to retire to.”
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Before I sign out, as I always say take very good care of yourself and God Bless!
Stick around, because life is beautiful!
Comments
You talk about retire from work... Well at least that is a day you prepare for, and some maybe look forward to all their working years.
On the other hand, when people get sacked just because the company wants to save a few bucks, that must be hard. Especially if you feel you really have offered something for that company. Usually you have not prepared for situations like that.
In my department they are bound to save similar to $10 mill, and will do so by, among other things, sacking people with high wages. So that puts many seniors in the target group. Getting unemployed at the age of 50+ is serious.
This is a process that has lasted a year now, but even so, it was surprising to know that this was the way they wanted to do it. So maybe I get a very long summer holiday this year. :-)