advice to retire on

Betty, 56

I never had any plans to retire until at least age 60. My job challenges and fulfils me, and both my husband and I enjoy the lifestyle working affords us.

But last year my daughter Rebecca had a mental breakdown.

One of her little boys has autism and though she loves him dearly, looking after him day-in day-out is really tough on her.

I still didn’t want to retire but my daughter and my grandchildren needed me. So I went to talk to a financial adviser about my options.

His approach was really different, more holistic than any adviser I’d ever heard of before. In the first meeting we talked a lot about my family and my values. He even gave me a set of values cards to really narrow down what was important to me. Of course my daughter came first but financial security and meaningful activity were also really high on the list.

So my adviser suggested I ‘transition to retirement’. Basically I’ve cut down my work hours while topping up my income from a retirement income stream. This means without losing any income, I can take care of my grandson one day a week and start planning what I’ll do when I actually retire fulltime.
 
Of course I am chipping away at my retirement savings gradually but not compared to what I’d be if I’d had to retire. And with the business plan I’ve got on the go who knows if I’ll ever really retire.