Retirement creeps up on one far to fast, whither it be forced or voluntary. Reaching the age of 60 was a daunting thought when young, the idea of reaching that age seem so unrealistic. When younger, those of that age seemed beyond rescue, now, the brain screams, “I'm still young!”

Retirement age, in some businesses, lowered over the years, and seen as an answer to the rising unemployment throughout the world. Retire and enjoy the rest of your life, bull, watched those forced to retire from their careers at this early age, they slowly crumble. The elation felt on retirement, “now I can do what I want!” turns into frustrations of epic proportions. The retired, discover working in the garden and cleaning the vehicle, are not enough to fulfil the demands of an active mind and body.

After 40 years of rising every morning, donning the kit and proceeding to work for 8 or 9 hours, then returning home and following an organised routine, the changes experienced are difficult to accept. Discovering that there is time to follow that hobby, that was a want so many years ago. “What was that hobby again?” you now discover you have forgotten why it was so appealing at the time. What does one do instead? Go dig in the garden, maybe the mind will remember the appeal of that particular hobby, no, wash the car, that might jog the memory bank. No help there, watch TV and forget about the hobby until tomorrow.

This is when the discovery, after 3 months of gardening, you cannot remember your retirement ambitions of years gone by, gratification obtained working in the garden and cleaning the car are beginning to wane. Boredom sets in, and TV no longer has any appeal, and the days get longer and longer, time slows down, and the routine that you now follow is totally unacceptable to the still active mind and body. The realisation that the usage of the mind and body, in the such a way they had become accustomed, no longer exists.

Mean time back at work, your replacement, a younger person, who may have a higher theoretical education than you. After all, progress, high education, faster learning, computers and all the other paraphernalia available today, that had not been discovered in the earlier years of your career. These were new toys for you, the computer and the rest of the items, grew and developed whilst you got used to using them. What was this called? Oh yes, experience, described in the dictionary as, and I quote, “The accumulation of knowledge or skills, that results from a direct participation in events or activities”, this knowledge and these skills have been lost to the company that retired you. Errors made years ago, not nearly as costly as today, the experience gained from “hard knocks” that became the backbone of many a procedure followed today.

Are you missed at the place of employment? Of course you are! The new, less experience replacement has implemented changes, like the dog, marked his territory. Are the changes an improvement? Not always, and the halls reverberate with the words “it worked so well in the past, why have we changed?” spoken normally by the very manager that forced the retirement.

With Governments raising the retirement age, so that they can avoid paying pensions, and business lowering retirement age to meet the demands of the Government to lower unemployment, the poor people of this generation must suffer the consequences.

Am I affected by this, I hear you ask, read my profile. Do I know people so affected? Yes, many of my friends, unless in their own business, are now at home, at a loss in deciding what the future holds for them. Inflation, affecting us all, is a real concern, will their pension packages keep up? Can they afford to live at the same standard to which they have become accustomed? Are the children in a sufficiently wealthy to support them if things “go pear shaped, and the bottom falls out”? Daunting questions, I'm sure, none of us want to have to answer. Will it happen to us? Unfortunately, none dodge the march of time, and at some stage the answers will be forthcoming, the only hope is to prepare for it well in advance. Begin now to practice the hobby, and forget the weariness experienced to meet the demands of today’s pressurised working conditions. Make time to prepare for retirement. Good luck!