Say hello to a more satisfying retirement

Most Australians have a good 45 years to think about retirement once they enter the workforce.

It’s a long time to dream, but retirement coach Robyn Nutt, founder of Ready to Thrive, says many people reach retirement without knowing what it will really look like for them beyond the farewell drinks.

“That’s what people don’t realise: that there are stages of retirement,” Robyn says.

“We all seem to think that retirement is this endless beautiful beach that just goes on forever, and we forget that there are rocky outcrops and there are creeks that cut through, and you’ve got to wade over them.

“You go from that euphoric ‘I finally got rid of that annoying workmate’ to that disillusionment that ‘well, the days are long. What am I going to do? I’m bored’ or ‘I’m lonely’.”

Robyn says that just as people make financial plans for retirement, they should also plan how to live with purpose, connection and satisfaction in the work-free years.

She says such retirement planning can be done at any time but ideally before people retire.

“I could see anybody at any stage and help them, but I think that the people who would benefit most are the people who are ready to transition to retirement, or those people who have done the lap of Australia and they’ve gone, ‘Oh, okay. Well, what now?’,” she says.

“People do a second lap of Australia, or people go back to work full-time. People go back to what they know because it’s easy, on autopilot.”

While some retirees think keeping busy is the key to retirement, Robyn says there is more to it, having tread that path herself.

She transitioned to retirement early after a career in teaching, initially in primary and later in adult education, where she designed education and study skills programs for TAFE and universities.

“While you’re working, everybody thinks it’s easy because we look at retirement in a dream-like state. It’s in the distance and all the edges are blurry and it looks so perfect,” Robyn says.

“But when you reach retirement, it’s like the magnified view. All the gaps and all the unplanned events are so obvious. It was the same for me.

“I didn’t have that one big dream that most people have: to do a lap of Australia or to downsize.

“But I love learning, so I threw myself into lots of different courses.

“I was just so busy, but busy didn’t really give me the sense of purpose that I was expecting.”

After talking to others, Robyn realised that her skills could be re-purposed to help retirees figure out their retirement.

She does not offer financial advice but coaches retirees and prospective retirees to think about their values and sense of purpose, and how the skills, strategies and qualities that they have used in the past can benefit them in retirement.

It is an honest look at their lives that some find too confronting to do on their own, and can be awkward or not as effective with friends.

“People think they’ve sorted things but haven’t really when you start to question them because we always  like to live in our own comfort zone,” she says.

“We ask ourselves easy questions, we do the easy things first, and sometimes, when you’re in a change or transition, it’s a good time to move out of that comfort zone. You need to be asked different questions.”

One of Robyn’s clients had dropped back to working part-time when he sought her help to figure out his transition to full retirement.

“He knew he had enough money but he didn’t really know what he was going to do with this extra time. He was a bit worried about boredom and loneliness,” she says.

“When I got feedback from him recently, he said, ‘You helped me look at my whole life and really gave me a direction’.

“He decided that after working for so long, he needed to tap back into family and fitness stuff.

“I help people explore those possibilities, then help them plan to be a success, and what they’re going to do if things go wrong.

“What I’m really doing is building a bit of resilience and giving people some strategies to help themselves, but I’m  a resource that they can always tap  back into.”

Robyn’s tips for retirement: 

1. Spend time understanding what’s important to you and where you want to spend your time, energy and money. Work out your values, what you want in life. “It’s actually recognising slices of your life which are potentially important to you.”
2. Try new things. “When you’re at a transition, that’s a great time to make a change because you’re changing anyway.”
3. Check in with yourself, often. “I actually schedule a meeting with myself every week, every Friday morning, just to check how I’m going. I have questions I ask myself. What have I won on this week? What have I learned this week? What will I do less of next week?”
4. Do not hide in your comfort zone. “Staying in your comfort zone feels good, but it’s not good for you. It’s almost the equivalent of eating hot chips every day. It feels good, but it’s not good for you.
5. Sort out your finances.
6. Establish positive daily routines for your mental and physical health. “I’m a real advocate for making small positive changes over a long period  of time.”
7. Focus on what you can control. “All those things that we worry about that we can’t control, that’s what we worry about most of the time. It’s such a waste of time.”
8. Dream big – bigger than you can ever imagine. “Big dreams are achievable with small, manageable steps.”