Over the past two days we’ve explored how Australians are approaching retirement in very different ways — from retiring earlier than expected to planning for a lifetime of travel. Today we finish the series with Charlie’s story, showing that one of the biggest retirement adjustments isn’t always financial. Sometimes it’s discovering who you are when work is no longer the centre of your life.

CHARLIE’S STORY

A tale as old as time, Charlie’s first job was as a teen at his local Macca’s.

Close to 40 years later, he is still in touch with his fast food friends, trading financial tips like it was yesterday.

Except this time, they’re not saving for their first car – they’re figuring out finances for retirement.

Charlie traded the fryers at Macca’s for a 26-year career in a high-pressure national account management role within the materials handling and logistics industry.

But after COVID burnout, Charlie decided it was time to look at life’s next chapter. Now 54, Charlie is officially in semi-retirement.

Charlie admits that there is certainly a daunting aspect of retirement. Charlie would say that he is one of almost 50% of pre-retirees who ASIC found to be anxious about retirement finances and the prospect of running out of money.

“I’ve been working since I was a teenager, so there is security that comes with a regular paycheck,”

“When I decided to move into retirement, one of the biggest things was acknowledging that the money I had would become a finite resource. When you start to think ‘Oh, where is my next paycheck going to come from?’ or ‘How long will my savings last?’ it certainly puts things into perspective.”

Charlie transitioned from financial anxiety into confidence by actively researching his options through online webinars, financial books, information sessions and particularly finance podcasts – which he still listens to.

His first step was to dedicate his time to tracking every expense for four weeks and used the Moneysmart Budget Planner to figure out his exact living costs before resigning from his full-time role.

But for Charlie, the financial transition of retirement is just one part of it.

“I’ve always had good friends from work. Take my mates from when I was a teenager working at McDonalds for example. But I knew that people drop off after leaving corporate jobs, and it was going to be a drastic change in how often I see people when I stop working.”

To build his social circle outside of his professional network, Charlie joined a hard rock metal choir that perform a few times every year.

“I never thought I’d be singing in a choir – let alone a rock metal one – but having a completely new avenue for making friends and outlet for creativity has been a really important part of my retirement.”

As for his next hobby, Charlie says he has his sights set on focusing on fitness, travel and maybe even taking up snowboarding again – something he hasn’t done since he was a teenager. Though this time it might be in Japan, something his teenage self with Macca’s savings could only dream of.

Australians can access Moneysmart’s retirement tools and resources

Also check out Part 1 Retirement Stories – Peter and Maree: Making Retirement Dreams Happen – and Part 2 Retirement Stories – Ray: Life’s Too Short To Miss Out On Retirement 

This article was provided by the team at Moneysmart.