Wally retires

Twenty years ago I had a meeting with a book publisher.

It turned out to be one of the luckiest days of my professional life.

Not because they gave me a book deal, or good advice …

“You write in one sentence paragraphs … it’s just horrible” the publisher said, screwing up his nose. 

(Still do!)

No, it was because he hated my writing so much that they paired me with his best editor, Wally, in the hope he could polish a turd.

We clicked – Wally (unlike the publisher) got my style straightaway – and we’ve been working together ever since.

Life comes at you fast. Back then, Wally was roughly the age I am now, living the dad taxi life. This year he officially retired … and now I’m in the driver’s seat, doing the school pick-ups.

In the lead up to his retirement we’ve spent quite a bit of time simplifying his portfolio, lowering his fees, and ensuring he has three years of living expenses at hand to ride out any Trump slumps.

However, we’ve devoted even more time to avoiding what I think is the biggest mistake retirees make … and it has nothing to do with money.

Most people spend years making sure they’ve got enough superannuation to never work another day in their life. Yet they don’t spend a single day planning what they’re actually going to do.

I remember my old mate, former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer, telling me before he retired: “I’ve spent the last 12 months preparing for my retirement.”

“Surely you’d be on a good pollie pension”, I joked.

He gave me that classic Tim stare. “I’m not talking about finances, Scott. You need to treat your retirement like it’s a full-time job.”

At the time, I thought he was being cute.

But Tim was never cute. He was wise. And he was dead right.

I’ve had thousands of conversations with retirees, and I can tell you the happiest ones are not those with the biggest SMSF balance – they’re the ones with purpose and a plan:

Monday morning, 9am. What’s in your diary? 

Someone once said that when blokes retire they default to the ‘3Gs’: golf, gardening and grandchildren. The problem is that none of these are full-time pursuits. (And, as the owner of four energetic grandkids, I can confirm they’re best enjoyed casually, not part time.)

Tim had it right: treat retirement like a job – just one with unlimited holidays and no annoying colleagues (well, apart from your co-CEO spouse). 

This week Wally returned from his first official tour of duty as a retiree: four weeks in Venice, eating gelato with the rest of the Aussie boomers.

“I read this book called The Barefoot Investor on the plane”, he told me.

“Go on”, I said.

“And apparently one of the riskiest things a retiree can do is to completely turn off the income tap”, he said. “Besides, your columns still need a bit of polish”, he said.

Tread Your Own Path!

P.S. SCAM ALERT

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