An 87-year-old retiree, who worked in Australia as a forestry agent, acknowledges that he was wrong when, at 55 years old, applied for early retirement. “It was the worst mistake of my life,” he explains in an interview published by ‘Plein e Vie‘. He thought that stopping working before reaching retirement age would provide him with a period of rest and disconnection from work life.
Once he applied for early retirement from the French Social Security, Frank realized that he was used to a very orderly life: his working day, work schedules… which he now misses. “I feel like I lack rhythm and motivation,” he said.
He decided to pursue his hobbies, such as gardening and golf. He also joined a gym. “I got a new routine, but these activities never replaced my work,” he said. It is not the first time that someone accustomed to working, when beginning their retirement, feels that something is missing. Similar cases have been seen in Spain, such as the journalist Olga Vizawhich combines a job with a pension, in what is known as active retirement.
His granddaughter thinks about retiring but gradually
The experience that her grandfather told was taken by her granddaughter as a reference. She is a writer and is already thinking about what will happen when the time comes to retire. “I am clear that I will not leave work suddenly and that I will leave gradually because I am doing something that I love.” And, as she reflects in the interview, “my job is not a means of living, but something that I am in love with.”
“My grandfather regrets having asked for early retirement, because he thought he was going to enjoy a peaceful retirement.”
The OECD warns that early retirement can cause depression
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns that early retirement when there has not been adequate emotional and social preparation, can end in isolation, depression or loss of self-esteem.
The WHO, for its part, promotes active aging models, so that other options such as partial or flexible retirement are promoted for those people who want to continue working linked to their profession.
In the end, for Frank “retiring should not be about disconnecting from the world, but rather reinventing a way to contribute to it.”