Shalamar

You won’t miss X until it’s gone

Popular music of the 1980s somehow managed to avoid me. In particular, I don’t recall a group called Shalamar. The title of this article comes from one of their songs. For Shalamar X was “love”, but I want to substitute X by “work”.

I want to highlight 4 things that you may miss from work when you retire: Culture, Language, A Common Cause, Beliefs.

What am I getting at here? Well, I am not talking about anything high falutin’. I only want to make a simple point.

When you leave work it becomes clear that your former co-workers continue to share that culture, language, set of beliefs and a common cause, which you no longer share with them. Why? Because you are now in retired space with its own Culture etc.

Therefore if you talk retirement with your former co-workers they are likely going to discuss it from their point of view. For example, if you ask them for retirement tips they may suggest you find work as a consultant or director. You, on the other hand, might see this as a backward step for yourself.

I admit that I missed Shalamar. If in retirement you miss the aspects of work cited above, then the question is: how can you replace them?

To discuss your potential replacement strategy, please email me on jon@64plus.com.au

Retirement: You won’t know what it is like until you get there.