Retirement -- A Guide for Beginners ;-)

Six months ago -- I did it. After nearly 40 years of paid employment -- I decided to move to the next chapter. And now I reflect ... six months later -- was it the right move?

Unquestionably YES.

In talking to people lately, someone said that they thought I "did it right" and I should write something up for others thinking of retirement .... so I decided to take an hour or so and write up my "secret" .... ha ha

First off -- I do not have the magic formula (I do not think there is one) - but whatever I did is working for me. 

Let me go back a few years. In 2015, I left IBM for a smaller company and I figured the new company was my last career stop. It was a real great company with a strong culture. But I never stay put ;-). I went to an very early stage startup in 2016. Employee number 11 I think.

In early 2017, my wife decided to divorce me. Two months later, I was laid off. Trying to sell a radically new software platform is an ungodly task. The circumstances around the layoff "event" is a long rather humorous story but to be saved for another time. The key challenge for me after being laid off ..... what do I do .... the first time I had been let go from a company -- being out of work at 60 was a shock. 

My layoff continued for about 6 months. After countless interviews, I began to seriously consider retirement. Though it would mean 5 years of paying for health insurance - I met with my financial advisor and we determined that I could retire if I wanted but ... I felt really uncomfortable -- Was it the right time? Did I have enough "stuff" to do to make for a non-boring retirement? No - I didn't. Golf, sleeping, and guitar were not enough.

After some job hits (and a lot of misses), I found a technical sales job at a reduced salary -- it was something to keep me busy and to pay bills. The work was interesting but my heart never felt completely in it. In May 2019, I got an email from a friend who wanted to know if I was looking for a new job. Pegasystems was starting an Enterprise Architecture (EA) practice and he thought I would be a good fit. I pursued the new job - the hiring process was grueling. But it was a good match and I was hired to help build an EA framework for Pega. It was a great job and I love the company -- but after about a year, I decided it was time to retire.

What changed in 3 years that made retirement a viable option in 2020? A number of things .... a granddaughter, a new wife, and a new home ... but the clincher was I knew I could retire without being bored.

For the three years preceding my retirement - I began to contemplate what I wanted to do in retirement. I grouped it into three areas: Society, Family, and Self. And I started to create an action plan.

For the Society area -- I knew I need to give back. I have had an amazing life and it was clearly time to pay back to the "world". I had thought about this for many years but without conclusion. Should I do grief counseling based on my experiences with my late daughter Alexa? Should I work in a Food Bank? Should I get active on the environment? Where could I be useful ...

First, I applied for a school board position with the Academy of Arts and Knowledge in Fort Collins. It was a good fit -- and I have been on the board for 3 years. It has been inspiring to see the changes and the results are seeing with the kids (even in the wake of COVID). I know we are having a positive impact on about 200 kids -- and that is very cool.

But that was not enough ... I also joined the Citizen Climate Lobby (CCL) in May 2018. CCL is a volunteer advocacy organization focused on climate change solutions including carbon pricing. CCL supporters are organized in more than 600 local chapters across the United States. I attended some training and a few calls but did not really get active until I retired in November. Now I am one of the chapter co-leaders in Ft Collins with about 400 members in the chapter. My efforts focus on organizational development, lobbying with Congress, and media work. Based on CCL’s work, we will likely see Congress finally pass a climate bill this year with carbon pricing as a main focus of the legislation. And that is also really cool!

Finally, given my high technology career background, I became a SAGE Advisor. The Social and Advisory Group for Entrepreneurs (SAGE) is a program designed to provide early stage startups with advisory and mentoring assistance working in parallel with the Colorado universities and high tech community. Through SAGE, I have been involved in many activities including coaching new entrepreneurs -- I should note I am only moderately active with this group due to my other commitments.

As the second retirement pillar, family was a key focus for me. Regrettably, I focused too much on my career over the last 20 years and my family life suffered. I had an amazing career traveling around the world and helping clients build innovative solutions across all major industries. As a note – in any given day, it is likely that you have used one or more applications that I helped to shape in my career. But the price of my career was that I missed so many important events as my kids grew up …. and I can never get that time back.

But I did learn an important lesson - though you can never recover those moments that you lost -- you cannot dwell on them endlessly either. In retirement, I have committed to not let time waste away. Being in the present is my most important goal in life. And that is focused on spending time with Kris, the light of my life. My wonderful daughter Liz and my precious granddaughter Alex are key to this chapter in my life. Spending quality time with my family is job one -- whether it is going on a vacation in the tropics, playing tennis or racquetball with my wife, having lunch with my three ladies, or simply spending a quiet night at home with my amazing wife. Oh -- and I want to take little Alex to DisneyWorld ;-)

And the last pillar of my retirement plan is self. I continue to be the lifelong learner. I am currently taking online classes in Spanish, creative writing, guitar, and climate change. And I have other classes I want to take as well ... in painting, drawing, or who knows ....

I continue to read books with a passion -- I am currently reading 8 different books and have another 20 books on my Kindle that I have yet to read.  My guitar continues to improve (slowly) but Kris says she likes it. And finally - there is nothing like sleeping in until 7. But the best part of retirement is realizing that my life is not predicted on a job .... it is so liberating.

Friends ask me why I am not doing any IT consulting. Though I may do some freelance work in the future – I am not sure at this point. Frankly, I do not have the time these days. And, at the same time, I believe that the climate change work is the most important work I have done my entire life.

In closing, come observations.  Life is a set of stages -- we are born and as we grow, we learn the ropes of life and endure the triumphs and struggles of life. At some point - with luck and good health - we reach the crossroads to the next key chapter of our life - retirement.  Though I am not sure I have the retirement thing completely solved -- I am enjoying retired life immensely. My approach may not be right for everyone -- but it seems to be working out for me.  Live a great life -- that is the key to happiness.