Retirement – the last mile?

When people reach the age of retirement, oftentimes they think about their nest egg or what they can live on for the next decade or so. Imagine working for 50 years, then not knowing what to do for the next 10 or 20 years of life?

I just had a reunion with college friends who are now thinking of how to retire. Actually, they have to plan early – in their 30s or 40s – and not when they already are in their sunset years. But hindsight is always 20/20. And all we can do is provide simple solutions to complex situations like retirement.

The first question is: do you have a hobby? Because one can live longer not knowing what to do with their extra time on Earth. If you are years ahead of retirement, then plan on getting into a hobby or learning a craft. It can be scrapbooking, wood carving or even playing the piano.

Then, we can think about lifestyle and how to maintain what we enjoy doing, what we enjoy eating and practically being able to do what we love to do until our final years. I love travel and while still strong, I need to be able to withstand colder climes, harder climbs and physical demands or travel destinations. I luckily recently found my way to Batanes, Balesin and the Camino walk.

Do we have enough savings to last us through a few decades more? It is an easy task for those who have always been exposed to financial portfolios and stock investments since they were much younger. But for those who just know cash and cash alone, it could be a problem. One thing we have to remember: cash will always diminish in value. Real estate has a better fighting chance of appreciating in value, unless it is a bad location you invested in.

Social circles. It is important to maintain a small group of friends who you can lunch with. It is also important to have periodic meet-ups with family members you have not seen for a long time. Even for loners and introverts, it is good to maintain a few close friends you can regularly see and break bread with.

Open your mind and widen horizons. Though seniors are known to be stubborn, we need to be open to learning new things and reflecting on new ways to solve old problems. Mindfulness and open mindedness is important if we would like new solutions to old challenges.

Some seniors never run out of things to do or get involved in. Some just let each day pass by without any accomplishment, even as simple as learning to send an email or even learning how to sing with karaoke. Some try to learn piano or painting.

There are senior centers of amusement like Sunshine Place in Makati where they offer lessons for seniors in painting, piano and dancing. But what if there is nothing like that in your community? You can start one or gather friends whose hobbies are similar to yours.

On the professional front, think of your career and what you have spent over 30 years of your life in. That makes you an expert, having spent over 10,000 hours on a specialty. It could be social sciences, finance, marketing or human resources. Or you could have been an entrepreneur most of your life, like me. You do not know what you know that other people will find as a treasure to learn from. Do not underestimate your experience.

I often encourage soon-to-be retirees, or those approaching retirement, to learn a relatively new field which is governance. The Institute of Corporate Directors (www.icd.ph) holds classes like the Professional Directors Program (PDP) and I took mine over 18 years ago when independent directors were just a handful. Today, there are over 500 fellows or graduates of the program. We also have the advantage of being women, as women directors are in demand these days. That is because corporate scorecards look for diversity in corporate boards and the first diversity driver is having gender balance or having a mix of genders on their boards. Furthermore, other than just looking for women, corporate board headhunters also look for experts in different fields – marketing, sustainability, digital finance and technology. So there is a place for experts, experienced seniors and people who have been immersed in different fields to serve on boards as independent directors. Now, that is a cool high-return part-time job for retirees, as boards usually only meet quarterly, so the assignment does not demand much time. It just needs your brain and experience and knowledge in basic governance.

For those wanting to make use of their expertise and experience to do good, you can also serve on non-profits or advisory councils. For the last three years, we have been members of the TESDA Women’s Center Advisory Council (CAC) and it is a gratifying experience while serving the public and making things better with our collective knowledge and experience. Now, TESDA is forming the National Language Skills Center Advisory Council, a copy of the Women’s Center group. It may be a non-profit, but the results of what we do at the advisory level is palpable throughout the system of TVET, a specialized field for technical and vocational education and training.

Be open to serve in other boards – it could be your homeowners association, it could be your sports club or a huge non-profit like an NGO with an endowment fund. But use your retirement to make other people’s lives better, to make other organizations sustainable and to keep yourself mentally and spiritually alert.

Keep learning, keep moving and you may find a lot of options for making use of retirement time and even get paid for it.

Happy retirement!