Written by Ben Yardley, Learning Coordinator
For Civil Service College’s final webinar of 2024, we asked experts Caroline Waters and Helen Chipchase advise how to make sure that your retirement is active, fulfilling, and secure!
Caroline Waters and Helen Chipchase are HR and personal development professionals with extensive experience in the public sector. As Associate Trainers for Civil Service College, they co-deliver the Planning for Retirement programme, which helps participants to develop a personalised framework for planning their retirement.
To watch the full webinar, scroll to YouTube video at bottom of page
Making your retirement work for you
Putting ourselves may not always come naturally, especially after a career in public service. But when planning your retirement, it is essential; Caroline compares it to putting your own oxygen mask on first during an emergency.
Retirement planning is an opportunity to stop and reflect on what you want.
The framework centres around three components of happiness:
- The simple life: fulfilment and being happy in ourselves
- The good life: connecting with others, challenging ourselves, having new experiences
- The meaningful life: our achievements and legacy, what we want to leave behind
Managing your “life pie”
Similarly, your budgeting for retirement can take the same three-part structure. Separate your money into three “pots”: one pot for normal monthly expenses (the simple life), one pot for lifestyle and enjoyment (the good life) and one pot as a fallback, emergency fund (the meaningful life).
Whatever your plans are, Caroline Waters cautions that, “openness and transparency at this stage is critical”. Many people look forward to retirement as an opportunity to spend more time with the people they care about- but forget to discuss in detail with their partner or their family what this would actually look like in practice! It's important to keep in mind that the people around you may well have their own idea of what your life after retirement might look like, and its important to talk openly with them early to avoid any nasty surprises later.
Retiring with a glide path, not a sharp stop
The transition from working to not working can be difficult for everyone. But there are things that you can do to mitigate this.
For example, retirement can be more difficult if experienced as a “hard stop”, or a very sudden transition from working to not working. Instead, it can be useful to plan ahead for a “glide path”, in which you slowly wind down and take on fewer responsibilities while still remaining active.
Caroline notes that expenditure typically peaks at 72, though this can grow if you have to pay for your own elder care. A well-planned retirement will account for all three forms of happiness, provide financial stability and help you to spend more time doing what you choose.
