Legacy in retirement

What is a legacy?

Legacy is a concept with two senses. The better understood sense is that of a financial bequest, perhaps an inheritance, from one generation to the next. But legacy also has a second, related meaning.

That second meaning comes about because each of us leaves a trace in the world, and some of that may be by accident, but if it is by design then that is a specific sort of legacy that we can ponder.

Suppose you are already retired, then your work legacy is effectively sealed in a box, a box that when opened may release fair and foul odours, but there is not a whole lot of useful work you can do on that particular legacy.

However, now that you are retired you can think about your legacy (as a trace in the world) in at least two ways.

Legacy number 1

First you can ponder the ways in which you can help other people. This may come through charity work, through devotion to family or perhaps through friendship. You now have the time and space to work on this, if you choose.

Legacy number 2

The second legacy is related to the first but subtly different, it’s the things you achieved for yourself – perhaps selfishly, perhaps altruistically – but which define the way in which people will remember you: she was a good golfer, he was a fine cook; he enjoyed classical music, she was always friendly to the neighbours.

So a trace in the world, as legacy, could be your charitable works, dedication to family and friends, or, the things you created or did for yourself: art, craft, sport etc.; but - put simply - it’s what you will be remembered for, that is, what you leave behind.

But how this pans out depends on how other people perceive you, a concept we wrestle with our whole lives, and which Robert Burns the Scottish poet summarised in the hope:

“Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”    (*)

In your professional life you may have worked in a role that everyone understood, such as bus driver or doctor.

No matter, that is in the past. Now in retirement do you feel that other people understand what you are about? Perhaps you don’t know yourself!

There is an answer. Find your meaning/purpose in retired life. Legacy could form a very important part of that meaning.

(*) From the poem: To A Louse, On Seeing One on a Lady's Bonnet at Church.