When will you retire.....???

 It has happened to me both ways - Friends ask me "when will you retire?" and I ask my friends, "when will you retire?"

 

Discussions on the topic of retirement with friends always lead to another related question for which it is very difficult to find an answer - "why do old people continue to work in professional environment / corporate world, as if there is no end in life?"

I have come across many people in my career till date, well past 75 years and still working. Inquisitively, I have discussed with them and got a variety of explanations. I always have awe for them, their energy levels, and for their passion towards work. You try to understand what drives them to work, how they sustain their interest to keep working, but end up getting more questions than answers.

Once I picked up a conversation with a retired senior banker, who post-retirement, had taken up an assignment in the corporate world.

I asked him "Sir, why do you take up an assignment in the corporate world after you have retired happily from the Bank and that too being in a senior position."

 

"What do you do after retirement? There is a vacuum which gets created in my day. With no daily routine, what will I do at home during the day. I cannot stay at home. I had interacted with people during by bank days. Now, I cannot just stop meeting people. When I take up this assignment in corporate world, at least it ensures that you meet people around".

"Sir, what about your children?"

The Banker replied "I have two sons; the elder one is married and settled in USA. The other son is working in Delhi and also married. I have finished my parental commitments".

This reply from the banker, set my thoughts to the next question, which I obviously did not ask - "Why can't this gentleman, who has retired from his Banking career, completed all his personal commitments and is physically active, take up any work for a social cause or just do what he likes most, instead of working in the corporate world. All his requirements which he thought the corporate assignment would provide will also be met when you take up any social work of your liking". 

 

One can understand if a Chairman/ Founder of a large corporate group or a professional business attends office, maybe for limited hours, even when is well past 75 years. This would be primarily because of his passion and attachment to the business which he had built from scratch. This can be seen in most of the first generation entrepreneurs who have built large business groups in India and they never retire completely.

You will also come across, other professionals, who have worked with a company for more than 50 years and because of their passion to continue working, even if they have crossed 75 years, would be engaged in work in the corporate world. This can be seen in corporates which have been promoted by entrepreneurs and these individuals would be associated with the company and close to the Promoters from very early stage.

Let us get into basics - What is retirement? It can be explained to be a time of superannuation, when your company or firm decides that your services are no more required due to you reaching retirement age - it could range between 58 - 65 years.

Another way of looking at retirement is - to say that you have reached a point when you do not look forward to your next month's salary cheque or you have reached a point in life, when all your commitments in life have been completed - it could be family commitments or any other professional commitments. And this point in life could come maybe at 60 years or even earlier or later, depending on various circumstances of an individual.

Let us explore two examples on what can be done post-retirement. One example is about a person with whom I have interacted and the other is a well-known personality, and known to everyone in India and abroad.

Example-1: Mr.Subramanian, a barber by profession, has his saloon in Ram Nagar, Coimbatore. During one of my many interactions with him, the question of retirement came up. His reply has been an eye-opener to me. He mentioned that once his daughters are married, his personal commitments would be complete. He would then go and work at a children orphanage ("Uthavum Karangal") by doing hair cutting to the kids in the orphanage. He also said that the kind of mental satisfaction and peace one would get by working at the orphanage needs to be experienced.

 

Example-2: Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India and popularly known as "People's President" was a great teacher and loved teaching kids and the youth of India. If we track his career, after his official retirement from professional life at DRDO and ISRO, he continued doing, what he liked the most - teaching. And the teaching assignments he undertook were not for any commercial reason or with the motive of earning. It was his pure love for the teaching profession and by doing so; he was actually involved in helping and igniting young Indians. He breathed his last, teaching students at IIM, Shillong. A great man, a great soul.

The above two examples show us the path which may be taken upon retirement. The fundamental factors from the above examples which stand out are -

(i)  The activity you take up after retirement, is no way an extension of your professional life or corporate world where you work for material benefits and personal enrichment.

(ii)  You engage in an activity, which you like the most to do, but without the goal of any professional gain or monetary benefit. You use your professional skills or your professional experience to contribute to the society or share your experience or knowledge for doing social work for the larger benefit of society.

Doing social work or contributing to the society can be in various forms - teaching, working for any social cause, any philanthropic activity, using professional skills to educate the needy or any serve the needy. Even it could be just enjoying your hobby, or any art form - for the benefit of the society or just for your own joy!!

In today's world, there is no end to commercialism and materialism. One friend used to tell me, "You actually go to the next level of incompetency, when you reach the next level in corporate life". Think of it and you realize, how true it is.

The biggest challenge for many of us - "When do you say ‘yes', this is enough. I have achieved and earned what is required for me and my family". There is a very thin line which divides us to decide either way.

Even Bill Gates, a very successful entrepreneur and founder of Microsoft, decided to call it a day at Microsoft and moved on in life. He switched from moving out of the corporate world to do social work and philanthropic activity full time (at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).

We can try and build clarity of mind to fix a time frame, after which we move on from the corporate world or profession to doing social work, or doing what we love to do for the benefit of the society, or just pursuing your hobby.

Maybe we should spare some time thinking about it…..

To conclude, I felt the two quotes of Mahatma Gandhi below are apt here -

 

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

 

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems”
- Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

-  Venkatesh

 

 

Note: This post may not be relevant for many first generation entrepreneurs, more so in the IT space, who have earned billions of Dollars even before they have one strand of grey hair (possibly before they reach age of 35 years!!!!!). But I am sure the concept of retirement will be true to them too….