Book blends humour and insight about life after work

June 22, 2023

For those of us in the workforce, retirement is something you tend not to think about until it is looming around the corner — and even then, most of us have no idea what to expect.

Kate Freeman’s The Little Instruction Book for Retirement is designed exactly for that audience, and delivers a nice preview of life after work with pithy little quotes and cute illustrations from Ian Baker.

Retirement, the book explains, means “it’s time to celebrate the end of an era — and the start of a whole new one.”

It will be a different reality, the book adds, making the “transition from working life to retirement,” so you may want to hold “a `morning meeting’ every day to brief the household on the day’s events.” (Not really — the illustration shows an older guy with a clipboard announcing the day’s events to his pet goldfish.)

There’s really no need to be tied to an agenda in the same way you were at work because, the book explains, “days of the week now have no bearing on your life whatsoever — every day is the weekend!”

In fact, the book advises, “you must now make household chores take at least three times longer than when you were holding down a full-time job, just to fill some time.”

Well, maybe not quite. But there’s time to do more, and time to do less.

“While there’s no longer any need to dress smartly every day, you should probably still get dressed, at least sometimes,” the book advises, with a drawing showing a happy retiree pushing a shopping cart while wearing PJ bottoms and slippers.

The book suggests that if you miss work colleagues, or work itself, consider volunteering to “become a pillar of your local community.” There will be lots of work-like meetings, the book promises.

You will get more time with your partner, the book adds. “After years of seeing each other only briefly, you can now finally get to know your partners, as you have plenty of unbroken time to spend together.”

Retirement is a good time to take up new things. You can get a new pet, can take up “all the hobbies,” binge watch all the Netflix shows you never had time to see, or tackle home improvements. Or, the book advises, just play.

“When you grew up, you put away childish things. Frankly, it’s way past time to get them out again,” the book tells us.

This is a fun book, and Save with SPP can attest to some of the instructions outlined here. It’s true that every day feels like it’s the weekend, and you lose track of statutory holidays because you’re essentially always on holiday. You will miss colleagues, so the book is correct in urging you to try new things and join new groups. It’s well worth a read.

Life after work requires income, because one change that is a bit rough to get used to going from a steady paycheque every couple of weeks to once-a-month pensions. If you don’t have a pension plan at work, and are saving on your own for retirement, consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan.

It’s open to any Canadian with registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) room. You can contribute any amount (up to your available RRSP room) to SPP each year, and also can transfer in any amount from your other RRSPs to consolidate and build your retirement nest egg. SPP will grow your savings using low-cost professional management in a pooled fund — and when it’s time to tick off things on your bucket list, SPP has multiple ways to help turn your savings into an income stream. Check out SPP today!

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Kate Freeman, Registered Retirement Savings Plan, RRSP, The Little Instruction Book for Retirement

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