About to Retire? Re-Engage Instead
By Isabelle St-Jean, RSW, PCC
Note to readers: Isabelle St-Jean will be leading a breakout PD session at CPABC’s 2016 Pacific Summit (May 11-13).
During her seminar, “What’s Next: 10 Success Factors to Best Manage Retirement” (May 12), St-Jean will help
participants plan for a balanced, meaningful, and purposeful retirement by providing a comprehensive framework,
relevant information, and reflection and planning exercises. In this article, she explores the concept of “re-engagement.”
Isabelle St-Jean is a registered
social worker, professional
certified coach, certified
retirement coach, and the
author of Living Forward, Giving
Back: A Practical Guide to
Fulfillment in Midlife and
Beyond. She leads retirement
seminars for professional
communities across Canada
and provides one-on-one
coaching to help pre-retiring
professionals successfully
navigate the transition to
retirement.
W
hile leading seminars for pre-retiring members of the accounting community over the past few years, I have
observed diverse approaches, levels of readiness, and attitudes towards this major work/life transition we
still call “retirement.” Those in public practice (approximately 20% of CPABC members) often prefer to
retire gradually, but accountants in industry or the public sector rarely have this option. Some pre-retiring accountants
are eager to explore their lives beyond the workplace by delving into new activities and projects, whereas others worry
that their current lack of personal interests or hobbies outside of work could leave them adrift in retirement. Similarly,
some accountants are excited about specific post-retirement plans they’ve made with their spouses, while others are
uncomfortable about the prospect of spending more time with their significant others, and don’t know how to even
broach the subject.
Indeed, there are few opportunities to gain a comprehensive understanding of the stages, lifestyle, and transitional issues
of retirement. Lacking this opportunity, most people don’t really know how to begin designing a wellness-oriented lifestyle
that can also make their hearts sing—the kind of lifestyle I describe as “re-engagement.” As opposed to merely retiring,
re-engaging means finding a new or renewed purpose that can be added to a balance of leisure, wellness, social activities,
and more, and it’s a concept that truly resonates with the boomer generation.
Finding a new rhythm… and a new purpose
A gradual easing into retirement typically lends more ease and flow into the process of “re-engaging.” When a gradual
transition isn’t possible, however, preparing and planning become even more important processes to help avoid the
disorienting feeling that can result from suddenly having to make good use of about 40 to 50 hours of unstructured time
each week.
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30 CPABC in Focus • May/June 2016