I received quite a few responses to my previous post, “The Retirement Dilemma,” not all of them sent to the Comments section of my blog. Some arrived by email, empathizing with my problem and urging me either to just do it, or to do it gradually. One friend offered the term “advancement,” instead of “retirement,” which has a much more positive ring to it, and provided a list of activities she would like to do when she "advances." Someone else wondered how she ever had time to work now that she has retired.
One thing I forgot to mention in the list of possible “advancement” activities is dabbling in the arts, probably because I’m so uncreative myself. What about painting, music, dance, someone reminded me. Indeed, some retirees take up painting and not only love it but actually prove to be quite talented, even, on occasion, exhibiting their work to the public. Tap dancing and ballroom dancing are certainly ways to keep you young and fit, while many enjoy joining a choir or studying music appreciation.
And now for the decision I came to. I know I said I had almost decided to retire within the next half year. Ideally, I would like to phase it out by reducing my full-time position to part-time, but this has proved impossible for technical reasons. Therefore – and some might call me a chicken − I’ve decided to carry on for another academic year.
Retirement is not something to be taken lightly, on a whim, although my whim was quite long-standing. And one has to weigh the pros and cons very seriously. I already do many of the activities that I would do on retirement - swimming, walking, writing, reading, blogging, maintaining this site, playing Scrabble, etc. One thing I am planning to change, however, is the amount of holiday I take. I have accumulated quite a lot of it and plan to travel more during the next working year and take more days off for recreation. I guess that is a sort of phasing out. And in the process, I will have accrued a little more in my pension fund.
No doubt there will be ups and downs, but the end is in sight, just a little further down the road than I had originally anticipated.
One thing I forgot to mention in the list of possible “advancement” activities is dabbling in the arts, probably because I’m so uncreative myself. What about painting, music, dance, someone reminded me. Indeed, some retirees take up painting and not only love it but actually prove to be quite talented, even, on occasion, exhibiting their work to the public. Tap dancing and ballroom dancing are certainly ways to keep you young and fit, while many enjoy joining a choir or studying music appreciation.
And now for the decision I came to. I know I said I had almost decided to retire within the next half year. Ideally, I would like to phase it out by reducing my full-time position to part-time, but this has proved impossible for technical reasons. Therefore – and some might call me a chicken − I’ve decided to carry on for another academic year.
Retirement is not something to be taken lightly, on a whim, although my whim was quite long-standing. And one has to weigh the pros and cons very seriously. I already do many of the activities that I would do on retirement - swimming, walking, writing, reading, blogging, maintaining this site, playing Scrabble, etc. One thing I am planning to change, however, is the amount of holiday I take. I have accumulated quite a lot of it and plan to travel more during the next working year and take more days off for recreation. I guess that is a sort of phasing out. And in the process, I will have accrued a little more in my pension fund.
No doubt there will be ups and downs, but the end is in sight, just a little further down the road than I had originally anticipated.
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