Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

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AlanD
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Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by AlanD »

Good morning all. I would like to address all the 'Baby Boomers' and 'Young at heart' among you, on a subject that affects us all in our lives. And no, it does not involve little blue pills.

There is an aspect of professional life that I would like to explore, but which I have never seen discussed; that of preparation for end of working life and entry into retirement.

I enjoy my career, it is probably the best job that I have ever had. Yet retirement is now only months away and I am not sure how I am going to deal with it? I am not speaking of pension or money and do not need financial advice.

I am a professional engineer and a member of the IET. Without an employer to pay for it, my membership will probably be allowed to lapse, so also my Union membership. Will I have need for them when I am no longer working?

Thanks to Covid, I have been working at home for 18 months now and devoid of face to face contact with my peers in the office; Teams is a poor substitute. This has shown me that knocking around the house all day and being under The Wife's feet brings it's tensions. I had considered delaying retirement, just to continue working and give me that 'sense of direction' ; but as The Wife correctly points out, our health is not guaranteed and I need to slow down so that we can enjoy our time together.

But how do I prepare for change? Sitting on committees, taking up golf or standing behind the counter of a charity shop are not for me. I have done school mentoring, Cubs and amateur dramatics. I have my interests, I am an avid Model Railway enthusiast and live where there are no shortage of beautiful places to explore on my bike, but I cannot do that all of the time. The thought of endless box sets sounds like slow death. We will not be having any more pets.

A few years back, I attended a 1-day course at work on retirement. All it covered was pension options and money. Very important, but not what I wanted to hear.
Recently, I went along to a men's social gathering from a neighbouring church, my own church is too small for such things. Good to meet others, but I didn't feel that it fitted well with where I am.
Similarly, I visited a 'Men in Shed' group. Thanks to Covid, there were only 2 members braving it, so there was little to go on.
Being on the Autistic Spectrum, I have Aspergers, I don't really have friends and find it difficult to connect with others.

So I would be very interested in hearing from others who are about to, or have already taken this step into a new life. How do you cope with it? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Where is your focus? How do you keep body and mind active? Additionally, I think that it is too easy to be defined in terms of what we do, this is a trait that I have particularly seen by men in groups; when meeting someone "what do you do" is one of the first questions as we seek to define each other in terms of our professions. Do you feel that your identity is affected by this change? What has stopped your partner from killing you?

I would appreciate your thoughts, serious or humorous, but always helpful. Thank you
Jdsk
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Jdsk »

One big question upfront... do you want to walk away from engineering, or still have some involvement? My wife stopped what she had done for all of her working life, and the next week was fully occupied with completely new things. I wasn't ready for that and wound down, but stayed involved with the bits that I chose.

Subscriptions obviously depend on that: have you already explored retirement/income-linked reductions, and whether you can return to full membership if you ever want to?

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Jdsk »

You've ruled out some of these already, but there's a list that's a bit like that for wedding attire, only without the something blue...

Something for your body
Something for your mind
Something that you've never done before
Something for other people

Jonathan
thirdcrank
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by thirdcrank »

I would say seize the moment. If you have any goals, don't wait till you get a round tuit.

I was able to retire at fifty-two, when Mrs thirdcrank was still working to keep me in the manner to which I was accustomed so I didn't need to get another job. She insisted that I should learn to cook, which I did after a fashion and she pushed me into becoming a volunteer advisor at Citizens Advice, which included a thorough training course on subjects such as housing, employment, benefits and consumer protection. I'd always been interested in adult literacy and quite by chance discovered that a charity which was then called Volunteer Reading Help was recruiting locally to help with reading in schools.

More to the point for a cycling forum, I was able to do a lot of cycling. In my sixtieth year - ie aged 59, I began to get chest pains riding up steep hills. Not steep hills like they have in Cornwall, but the pimples that pass for hills in the Dales. So Carpe diem Do as you like and enjoy it, but don't put anything off to a tomorrow which may never come
Vorpal
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Vorpal »

Most of my retired colleagues have remained members of their professional societies, including IET on the basis of membership fee reductions (50%?).

As for what to do... I'd have no problem with filling my time, were I to retire. I always have so many things I want to do & don't have time for, like small project around the house, playing music, learning something new, visiting stuff or travelling to places that I haven't seen, reading books, etc.

I guess I might run out of things like that eventually, or have few enough that I struggled to fill my days, and then I would probably volunteer somewhere. Become a Cycling Without Age pilot, or something?
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
rotavator
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by rotavator »

I would say that you need to get out of the house and do new things and meet new people as well as carrying on with the things that you enjoy. Also many well healed retired people take a lot more holidays now that they have plenty of free time, may be buy a camper van or mobile home if that appeals.

Check out your local U3A and see what they have on offer. Try out different groups to see how you "gel". If you don't get on with them or find them boring, don't go again, you will have lost little or no money. If you enjoy admin, you could get on the commitee or set up a group for your own hobby if they do not already have one. My local U3As have a wide range on offer, from Ancient Greek to needlework to Tai Chi.

There are also lots of other clubs in which retired folk are well represented, like the Ramblers, dancing, bowling and croquet. You may think that you are still too young and fit "to hang around with that lot" but give them a try, you never know, you might enjoy it. Generally you can have 2-3 taster sessions for free to see if you like the activity and get on with the different characters. You will probably come across a few people that you don't get on with, such is life, but with a bit of nous/cunning/appropriate words you should be able to deal with them or at least avoid them most of the time.
Pendodave
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Pendodave »

I'm not sure if this is an option for you, but for the last 18 months I have been in a job share (week on/week off).
It's the same job, so the same responsibilities, personal interaction, (kind of) sense of a job well done and a small contribution to the world ticking along.
I decided to do this instead of retiring (Was 55 then, 57 now), and I've been delighted with how it's worked out.
There are some factors which might be different for you - I already affected a complete career change at 40, so didn't feel a need to stop through wanting a new challenge .
Good luck in whatever you choose.
merseymouth
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by merseymouth »

Exact what period constitutes the time frame to define a "Baby Boomer"? Lost on me. MM
thirdcrank
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by thirdcrank »

I appreciate that working from home in lockdown has given you a bit of a taste of things to come, but if it's available to you, have you considered going part-time? That's a way of avoiding a complete break with the social benefits of working.

I enjoyed my career but I can remember the moment when I began to count down. We were in a cramped office with somebody I did not rate highly waffling on about nothing. Sitting in my corner and with nobody able to see over my shoulder to look at the detailed "notes" I was writing on my clipboard, I was working out how may days remained, divided into earlies, lates, nights and rest days. From that moment, ticking each shift became the routine. It didn't affect how I worked, and I kidded most people that I would stay on till 60 when there was no chance I'd stay a moment extra.

The point I'm trying to make is that everybody is different and you have to go for the option that best suits you if it's available.
Jdsk
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Jdsk »

merseymouth wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 1:02pm Exact what period constitutes the time frame to define a "Baby Boomer"?
Born from 1946 to 1964, but of course there's neither exactness nor official definition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers

Jonathan

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rjb
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by rjb »

Thanks to Mrs T, I was able to retire at 50, collect my pension so I was financially ok. I allowed my Chartered Engineer subscription to lapse but took up a lifetime membership of my trade union just in case I developed any future health issues related to my previous employment in the nuclear power electricity generation business. ( I was one of those "button pushers" that the government business secretary referred to when explaining the pingdemitic exceptions. ). I took up some further temporary work for a couple of years, but then started cycling more. Mrs Rjb carried on part time teaching and I found myself doing all the household tasks and ferrying the kids back and forth to uni etc. I never found myself short of something to do.

Best of luck.
After you have been retired a short time you will wonder how you had time to go to work. :wink:
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Tangled Metal »

Has baby boomer / boomer term become an insult and a dog whistle to elements of generation X?
Psamathe
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by Psamathe »

I retired very early in good health. I decided to retire so early as I thought that if I continued as I was at the time, in my care home (hopefully many years away) when I reflect back on my life all I'll be able to say is "I worked" - and that was not acceptable to me. There is too much else to do other than work.

I think what one does with time in retirement will depend massively on circumstances and interests. I have a small workshop, live in a rural area so what I do would be very different from somebody in an apartment in central London. I think of myself as very fortunate as my circumstances allow me to follow things that interest me - but I've never lived in towns/city and doubt I'd cope (even when working).

I find I have more to do than I have time to do it. In my case, my interests (and everybody is different) include astronomy, photography, cycling, walking, kayaking (not so much over last few years), woodwork/wood-turning. Last year I purchased a trailcam and have spent ages stringing together short wildlife videos (they are not very good but I learn and enjoy). And activities overlap as I'm trying wildlife photography and that becomes part of walking, same with photography and astronomy. And also trying night sky time-lapse photography.

I've not done any but people who have find University of the 3rd Age https://www.u3a.org.uk interesting. If you don't have a workshop but enjoy such things, horrible name but look out Man Shed Organisation https://menssheds.org.uk (I know somebody who instructed at one and spoke highly of them).

Charity volunteering.

In terms of learning new stuff, Future Learn https://www.futurelearn.com can run some interesting (and free) short online web based courses. Also try looking at WEA https://www.wea.org.uk (if you are qualifies or know stuff, even consider if you can offer time teaching a course?).

Some people like to settle into a routine but I dislike routine so do most things on the spur of the moment - so maybe following what works for others might not help (or at least be ready to see it isn't working and change).

Ian
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simonineaston
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by simonineaston »

I knew what it would be like - I'd read & listened a lot. But my recent retirement was like running off a cliff. As my work latterly consisted mainly of speaking to customers of long standing, some of whom I'd known for decades, and helping them through stressful procedures, I miss the social element of my work a lot - or to be exact, my brain misses it, whereas the whole person doesn't so much, as I'd rather be cycling, reading, cooking eating, watching cricket etc etc etc. The fact remains that the social side of work can be very much under-appreciated.
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tatanab
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Re: Calling all 'Baby Boomers', A change in life

Post by tatanab »

Now 69 (born in 1952) I stopped work through choice when I was 57. Lived off savings until it became sensible to claim my small pensions.

Immediately on stopping work I undertook volunteer work in retirement homes - I told them I was researching my future :lol: . When I had enough of that I volunteered at a local nature reserve and so exercised muscles that seldom got used otherwise. These days I have stopped doing those things. To fill my need for some sort of mental work I am secretary of a national club. Socially I know where my local riding groups are going, so I can go out to meet them.

Until about 5 years ago I still had all the regulation type documents concerning my work (avionics certification) and only threw them out because I realised they were out of date and all the things I used to know and apply routinely I have long since forgotten. So I have truly cut myself loose from my working days.

Psamathe mentioned U3A, I looked into that and found that anything I was interested was already oversubscribed, which is quite disappointing for me but shows how many people get involved.

Even if I feel I am doing nothing, the days and weeks just fly by.
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