Angellica Bell: Welcome to Rewirement with me, Angelica Bell, brought to you
Angellica Bell: by Legal and General. If you're looking for inspiration, tips
Angellica Bell: and empowering ideas for your someday, this series is your one-
Angellica Bell: stop shop to make it happen. I'm bringing you real
Angellica Bell: people's retirement stories so that whatever it is you have
Angellica Bell: in mind or whatever your timeline, you can take action
Angellica Bell: today for a brilliant colorful tomorrow. As you near retirement,
Angellica Bell: you're probably looking forward to meeting some new goals and
Angellica Bell: challenges, the things you didn't have time, money, or freedom
Angellica Bell: for in working life. So how do you make sure
Angellica Bell: you plan well and set the right goals for the
Angellica Bell: right time? Our bodies are always changing and as we
Angellica Bell: get older we need to adapt, make allowances and get
Angellica Bell: a little savvy. The more you make it individual to
Angellica Bell: you, the better it's going to be. Retirement is also
Angellica Bell: a mental shift, especially if we've had a very structured
Angellica Bell: or busy job and family life. So managing our minds
Angellica Bell: with the right tools is also a powerful move. Today
Angellica Bell: we're going to be chatting about how you can take
Angellica Bell: great care of your mind and body and stay in
Angellica Bell: shape to achieve everything you want. I'll be joined by Legal
Angellica Bell: and General's Emma Byron, and Age- Well writer and health
Angellica Bell: coach, Susan Saunders, to find out more. First up though,
Angellica Bell: let's meet two people who've taken to their retirement lifestyle
Angellica Bell: with different attitudes. Jill is a former teacher who lives
Angellica Bell: with her husband and their sprocker spaniel in Leicester. She
Angellica Bell: and her hubby are both keen runners and spend their
Angellica Bell: free time doing community projects. She started by telling us
Angellica Bell: about her switch to retirement.
Jill: I taught for 35 years. I've actually taught in the same
Jill: school for 35 years although I had a variety of roles. And I
Jill: had a string of outstanding Ofsted inspections and I thought, "
Jill: Well, I can only go down from that really." So
Jill: I decided at the age of 57 that I would go.
Jill: And it was very, very traumatic. The thought of it
Jill: was just awful because that was to be my life. I've never
Jill: known anything different. But I started to put plans in
Jill: place before I actually retired. For the last year I
Jill: went down to four days, and then I retired in the
Jill: summer of 2011. And it was fine while all the
Jill: youngsters were on holiday but when everybody went back to
Jill: school, I thought I'd made an absolutely horrible mistake.
Angellica Bell: But Jill's momentary panic didn't last long. Her husband was
Angellica Bell: still working so she enrolled in a German course and
Angellica Bell: took off to Austria for a few months, making friends
Angellica Bell: along the way. She thinks that cutting down her day
Angellica Bell: slowly made the biggest difference in her move to retirement.
Jill: I think it's a mental thing. I mean, I'm sure
Jill: I did five days worth of work in four days.
Jill: It was just having a little bit of freedom and
Jill: it gave me time to reflect on what the possibilities
Jill: were for the future. I felt quite strongly that if
Jill: I'd have gone from five days to nothing, it would
Jill: have been a bigger shock to my system really. To
Jill: me, retirement is a time of opportunity. It's a time
Jill: to pursue things that you've not been able to pursue.
Jill: And I think I am so lucky in that I'm
Jill: very healthy and, of course, a retired teacher, we have
Jill: enough money to do what we want to do. So
Jill: we count ourselves very lucky, and we're not going to waste
Jill: that time. We're going to just live it to the
Jill: full really. I gave myself a structure when I came
Jill: out of teaching, because I knew that it would be
Jill: very easy to waste time. So the rule was, " This
Jill: is my time and I'm jolly well going to be
Jill: up at half past six, get dressed, get the hair
Jill: done and that sort of thing, get out." But I
Jill: worked on the principle that I wanted to do active
Jill: stuff, but I also wanted to do stuff for my
Jill: brain and I wanted to do some voluntary work, because
Jill: I felt that I've been so lucky, it was important
Jill: to give back. So I had a structure where I
Jill: had fixed points on certain days that I always did certain
Jill: things, but then I maybe had another day when I
Jill: was completely free to do anything or another afternoon when
Jill: I was free to do anything.
Angellica Bell: When she returned from Austria, the opportunities flooded in. Jill
Angellica Bell: was invited to help out at the local church. She
Angellica Bell: continued her German lessons and signed up for evening classes
Angellica Bell: in French. She soon realized that her diary had filled
Angellica Bell: itself right up.
Jill: I worked at an old people's lunch club on a
Jill: Thursday. I refused to do anything before 10 o'clock in
Jill: the morning because I wanted to be out running with
Jill: the dog. And suddenly I realized I actually didn't have time
Jill: to go to work. We have three days in the
Jill: summer where we provide activities and we'd go on a
Jill: trip and things like that. So I think I've probably
Jill: got a wider circle of friends now than I ever
Jill: had when I was teaching. I'm very different people.
Angellica Bell: Jill had always turned to running and the outdoors as
Angellica Bell: a relief from the pressures of teaching. But in retirement,
Angellica Bell: it's become an even more vital hobby for her health
Angellica Bell: and happiness.
Jill: It's my life. I'm being honest. It's my life. I love it. I love the fact
Jill: that I can eat anything I want. I don't have
Jill: to worry what goes in my mouth. It's a friendship
Jill: group with a running club and particularly with my other
Jill: friend. But I think the problem is that because I
Jill: do what I do, I don't fit in with people
Jill: of my age. And I find that quite difficult sometimes.
Jill: People 65, well, 67 now, are not necessarily into running, skiing
Jill: and cycling and swimming. So I really value the friendships
Jill: I've got with the running people. So running's incredibly important to me,
Jill: really is. Now, I'm a lot more leisurely about it. I
Jill: have a running friend who I run with. She's also retired
Jill: and we run four times a week. We go out
Jill: very early in the mornings and we run across the
Jill: fields. And if we want to stop and look at something,
Jill: we stop and look at something. But we also do
Jill: the odd race, part run, 10 Ks, half marathons, that
Jill: sort of thing. But he's not serious like it used to
Jill: be. I used to be looking at my watch and thinking, "
Jill: Can I knock 10 seconds off here?" I really don't
Jill: care now. We just love to be outside. We've got
Jill: a big garden. Obviously we've got a dog. It's the
Jill: sort of dog that if you don't give it at
Jill: least seven miles a day, it'll tear the house up.
Jill: So we're out with the dog. It doesn't matter what
Jill: the weather's doing, we're out. In the summer I'm never
Jill: in the house. I've always got my shorts on and I'm
Jill: not sitting. It's really, really important. And we're lucky where
Jill: we live because we've got really nice countryside.
Angellica Bell: In fact, after years of longing for a dog, Jill
Angellica Bell: spent her leaving gift from the school on a sprocker
Angellica Bell: spaniel puppy. Her criteria: a dog that could run. Jill
Angellica Bell: and her husband switched their holiday schedule so they could
Angellica Bell: spend the summer traveling in the UK with their pooch.
Angellica Bell: They now take their holidays in the winter months, that's
Angellica Bell: because, age 58, they tried out skiing or running on
Angellica Bell: skis as they put it. And it now lets them
Angellica Bell: see the world in a different way.
Jill: Of course, the moment the skis went on, we were absolutely hooked.
Jill: Loved every minute of it. We are ski bums now,
Jill: basically. We go three times a year and we just
Jill: ski. It's great. And we go to Scandinavia so we can
Jill: downhill and we can cross country ski as well.
Angellica Bell: So what's Jill's advice for anyone looking for a healthy
Angellica Bell: balance in retirement?
Jill: First of all, look after yourself, keep your weight down,
Jill: eat healthily, don't drink too much, have everything you want, but
Jill: just be sensible about it. I would say to people,
Jill: have a variety of activities. So you might have something
Jill: physical, something that you use your brain, something social. And
Jill: also, as I said to you before, have fixed points
Jill: in the week where you have to get up and
Jill: you have to do things and then other points in
Jill: the week where you can, basically, please yourself. I think
Jill: that probably would be the best advice. But the important
Jill: thing is your health, isn't it? If you look after
Jill: yourself, everything else is possible. What I found has been
Jill: so good with retirement is that I've mixed with such a wide
Jill: range of people that I didn't do when I was at
Jill: work. I mix with the dog walkers, there's the church people,
Jill: there's the old people. I mentor some of the youngsters
Jill: at the church who are doing GCSEs and stuff like
Jill: that. There's a whole range of people that I probably
Jill: never would have mixed with before. So that's really important.
Jill: It broadens your horizons. And even if it doesn't work out, having a
Jill: plan is important. And I think, as well, giving back. We are so
Jill: lucky to have what we have that it's important to
Jill: give back to society. My husband does community driving. I
Jill: work with the old people. It's fulfilling for us, but
Jill: it's also giving back to society, which I think's really,
Jill: really important because we've had, and we have, such fantastic lives.
Angellica Bell: Jill is such a powerhouse and a fun person to
Angellica Bell: listen to. Her energy is so contagious and it definitely
Angellica Bell: made me want to lace up my running shoes and
Angellica Bell: get going. I love how she had to pick a
Angellica Bell: dog that could keep up with her in retirement. Right.
Angellica Bell: Let's hear from Peter now. He's also a big runner.
Angellica Bell: After a diverse career in engineering and then journalism he
Angellica Bell: now enjoys sharing his skills for the good of his
Angellica Bell: community. He's also an artist and all round inquiring mind.
Angellica Bell: He was really honest with me about just what a
Angellica Bell: big role the mind plays in keeping healthy after the
Angellica Bell: day job ends. Peter, it's lovely to talk to you
Angellica Bell: today. I'm really interested to know about your career and
Angellica Bell: your experience of retiring because I know you've had a
Angellica Bell: great life, haven't you?
Peter: Yeah. And I've had that interesting life, basically. So I quit
Peter: becoming a civil engineer and started working as a journalist,
Peter: throwing away all my previous education and just taking a
Peter: punt at something totally new. For, well, more than 20
Peter: years, basically, I got made redundant and I and another
Peter: journalist set up a news website, sold the company and
Peter: two years later retired.
Angellica Bell: So obviously you're not one to shy away from risk
Angellica Bell: because you seem to have had lots of different turns and twists in your life?
Peter: That's what life has taught me, that you should grab
Peter: opportunities when they arise. And if you've got your heart
Peter: in it, it'll all work out okay, basically.
Angellica Bell: Hm. So you've had a fulfilled working life and obviously
Angellica Bell: you managed to sell off your company, which ... Did that
Angellica Bell: mean you could pay off your mortgage?
Peter: Oh, yeah.
Angellica Bell: Did it mean you could live comfortably?
Peter: Yes.
Angellica Bell: Are you in a good position?
Peter: Yes. Yeah. So I didn't have a mortgage and it
Peter: just so happened that my parents were selling their house
Peter: in Cornwall, so we bought it and that's it. So
Peter: that's where I'm living now, basically.
Angellica Bell: How did you feel about retiring then?
Peter: To start off with, I wanted to give something back.
Peter: I've always felt as though I've been very lucky in
Peter: life. So I started off by ( a) helping a local
Peter: charity here that provides holidays for families with disabled children.
Peter: As a journalist, I help them with all the marketing
Peter: side of things. And then at the same time as
Peter: that, I volunteered to mentor teenagers that were in trouble
Peter: in Cornwall. So I spent, I think it was about four years, going
Peter: to see teenagers and trying to help them with their
Peter: problems. I wanted to take up art. I'd given up
Peter: art when I was at school when I was 13.
Peter: So I started going to some evening classes. Used to
Peter: count the days when I could go back there for
Peter: my once a week evening session. And then I was
Peter: looking at the students thinking how lucky they were. And
Peter: I hope they realize how lucky they were. And then
Peter: it occurred to me that I could go there myself
Peter: and do a degree, which is what I ended up
Peter: doing. So I did a part- time degree,-
Angellica Bell: Okay.
Peter: ... ended up getting a first.
Angellica Bell: Of course, you did. You don't seem like somebody who
Angellica Bell: would do things for health. And I like that about you.
Peter: Well, funny enough, when I was a teenager, I remember
Peter: getting quite depressed and saying to my mother I felt
Peter: like that. And she said ... Well, she quoted something in
Peter: French, (foreign language) " You should cultivate your garden," which, basically,
Peter: means keep yourself busy. And that's what I do with
Peter: my life. I've been happy because I've kept myself doing
Peter: things. So while I've been doing all the art stuff
Peter: and all the stuff with the charities and volunteers, I've
Peter: also kept physically busy as well. I volunteer, I dive
Peter: and I run.
Angellica Bell: Ah, so you run. So do you run races or is it just get out there and
Angellica Bell: see how far you get?
Peter: The charity I was working with got a place in
Peter: the London marathon. I did my first marathon in four
Peter: hours, six minutes. So I trained for the next one.
Peter: And so the next time I did it, I was
Peter: 70 years old and I did it in three hours, 51/
Peter: 50 something, just under 3: 52. And when I finished, it
Peter: looked as though I was 10th, but by the time other, some
Peter: slower starters, had finished, I was actually 13th. But still.
Angellica Bell: We're not going to quibble over three places because it's
Angellica Bell: still incredible. So is the outdoors a big part of
Angellica Bell: your experience of retirement?
Peter: Yeah. We have phenomenal views of the sea from this
Peter: house. If I look out this window, I can see
Peter: an island and a lighthouse, and we've got a big
Peter: garden so I do a lot of gardening. I learned
Peter: to dive when we arrived in Lu and I've dived
Peter: in all sorts of places around the world, including the Great
Peter: Barrier Reef and the Red Sea and places like that.
Angellica Bell: Lovely. But you've got such a positive mental attitude to
Angellica Bell: retirement. And was that the case at the beginning? And has it changed?
Peter: So I'd launched a startup and I was really tired
Peter: and I wanted to stop. And also I had all
Peter: these other things I wanted to do.
Angellica Bell: Are there any moments in your retirement that stand out for you?
Peter: I ran in the Olympic torch relay in 2012, and
Peter: that was an amazing experience. It was like being parachuted
Peter: into the best ever party, basically, because I was surrounded by
Peter: people willing me on, basically. It was a fantastic experience.
Peter: 10 years ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. So
Peter: I had a really major operation at that stage. And,
Peter: in fact, I did all my running of marathons after
Peter: I'd had that operation. So, I guess, that's another thing
Peter: that really stands out.
Angellica Bell: You've got some resilience there.
Peter: I'm 75 now. I've had a really great ride, basically.
Peter: I don't want to die, but hope when I do
Peter: die, I can look back on it and think I
Peter: spent my time well.
Angellica Bell: And what do you think it was about your work life that
Angellica Bell: helped you make such a success of your retirement and
Angellica Bell: your positivity?
Peter: Being prepared to chuck up my profession as a civil
Peter: engineer and take a gamble worked out and just showed
Peter: to me that when opportunities arise, you should grab them,
Peter: basically. And retirement is just one big opportunity.
Angellica Bell: So what's your advice for a healthy retirement?
Peter: Somebody told me this when I first retired, " You need
Peter: to have a balance between three things: the physical side,
Peter: the mental side, and then the third thing really is
Peter: a social side, develop a social network. I'd always worked
Peter: so hard. I didn't really have a big social network,
Peter: but when I come here I've joined a running club
Peter: and I've really put my roots down here and I think
Peter: that's also a very key part of retirement.
Angellica Bell: You don't have to run marathons in retirement or have
Angellica Bell: thousands of hobbies to be happy. It's just about finding
Angellica Bell: the right healthy balance of activities for you. I do
Angellica Bell: love Peter's advice about doing something for the body, something
Angellica Bell: for the mind and something for the community. A fantastic
Angellica Bell: balance. Now, let's get some expert ideas on things you
Angellica Bell: can try in your retirement from the best independent learning
Angellica Bell: to sensible advice on getting active. I'm joined by Legal
Angellica Bell: and General's Emma Byron and health coach, Susan Saunders. Susan,
Angellica Bell: tell me about your mission to Age- Well because you've
Angellica Bell: published a book all about it, haven't you?
Susan Saunders: That's right Well, published two actually. I was co- author of
Susan Saunders: a book called " The Age- Well Project, and then at the
Susan Saunders: end of last year, I wrote a book by myself
Susan Saunders: called The Age- Well Plan. And, yes, I am absolutely
Susan Saunders: passionate about helping people to age. Well, I think we
Susan Saunders: can all change the way we age.
Angellica Bell: So as a health coach, how do you approach the needs
Angellica Bell: differently for people in later life? Is it ever too
Angellica Bell: early or too late to start? I feel I know what
Angellica Bell: you're going to say.
Susan Saunders: Yeah. It's never too early and it's never too late.
Susan Saunders: Everybody's individual, of course, and everybody has very different requirements,
Susan Saunders: but it's really a case of working out where you
Susan Saunders: are now, evaluating what you want and working out what
Susan Saunders: you want the future to look like. How's it going
Susan Saunders: to feel? What are you going to be doing? That
Susan Saunders: applies to health as much as to finances. What is
Susan Saunders: the way forward? What you want it to feel like?
Susan Saunders: And then working out the steps to get there.
Angellica Bell: Now, to write a book about it, you must have thought, "
Angellica Bell: This is needed and people need to hear this." So
Angellica Bell: what was it that motivated you to write about this?
Susan Saunders: My own journey to aging well started nearly 20 years
Susan Saunders: ago. I was 36. I was working full time as
Susan Saunders: a TV producer. I had a baby and a toddler
Susan Saunders: and my mother was diagnosed with dementia and so I
Susan Saunders: became a carer as well. So I had to juggle
Susan Saunders: all those balls, which was very, very difficult. And what
Susan Saunders: made it more poignant was that as a teenager myself,
Susan Saunders: I had watched my mother do that for her mother.
Susan Saunders: So I was conscious of a pattern. I was conscious
Susan Saunders: that I wanted to do everything I could to reduce
Susan Saunders: my risk of dementia and age- related diseases. And I
Susan Saunders: started researching and reading endless papers, which are published on
Susan Saunders: this subject. And it's all so confusing. You're constantly being told, "
Susan Saunders: Drink coffee. You'll live forever." " Don't drink coffee. You'll die."
Susan Saunders: And I just wanted to really work out a middle
Susan Saunders: way and work out what would work for me. I
Susan Saunders: was so busy. I didn't have time for weird wellness
Susan Saunders: retreats or making a hundred juices or whatever. So I
Susan Saunders: had to work out what would fit into my life. And then when
Susan Saunders: I started blogging about it with a friend, we just
Susan Saunders: found that there were so many other people in the
Susan Saunders: same boat who just wanted knowledge without having to follow fads.
Angellica Bell: So, basically, it's a book about things you can eat,
Angellica Bell: things you can do just to make that process easier
Angellica Bell: or is it just to be conscious about the fact
Angellica Bell: that as you get older your body changes?
Susan Saunders: I think, first of all, it's about being conscious about
Susan Saunders: what's happening. And, as I said, what do you want from
Susan Saunders: your own life? But when we started, I really thought
Susan Saunders: it was just about food, it was just going to
Susan Saunders: be about what we ate. And then as we researched
Susan Saunders: more, I realized there's so many other things which are really
Susan Saunders: important. It's not just what you eat. It's exercise, how
Susan Saunders: you move, how well you sleep, is really critical. Social
Susan Saunders: engagement, mental stimulation in whatever form that might be and
Susan Saunders: the environment in which you're aging. All those things are
Susan Saunders: really critical.
Angellica Bell: Well, as we're hearing, being healthy in retirement is a
Angellica Bell: multifaceted idea. And, I guess, it's very individual too. So,
Angellica Bell: Emma, what are some of the angles people should consider
Angellica Bell: when they're thinking ahead?
Emma Byron: Yeah, clearly, it is very individual. We know people live
Emma Byron: a lot longer these days, but that's not everyone. We're
Emma Byron: not all an average person. So when we look at
Emma Byron: average life expectancy, that's not necessarily going to be used.
Emma Byron: So it's going to be very dependent on people's health.
Emma Byron: Do they smoke? Do they drink? All of those things.
Emma Byron: So even when you're planning for your retirement, trying to
Emma Byron: work out how long are you going to live and how long you
Emma Byron: need to finance your life for is a very difficult thing
Emma Byron: to do. And people make the mistake often of looking
Emma Byron: to their parents as an indicator of that. So none
Emma Byron: of us like thinking about death, but let's think about it in
Emma Byron: a more positive way. I think the other thing is
Emma Byron: about, it's not just living a longer retirement, it also needs
Emma Byron: to be a happy retirement, and it's going to be very
Emma Byron: different if you're fit active and healthy, versus if you
Emma Byron: require significant care needs. We could live for a very
Emma Byron: long, long time and you want to make sure that you're
Emma Byron: going to have the finances to support you in that
Emma Byron: and that you're fit and healthy as well so you can enjoy it as much as anything else.
Angellica Bell: Yeah. Well, security and financial peace of mind play no
Angellica Bell: small part in our mental wealth being, whatever state we're
Angellica Bell: at, you just feel calm. But how can people on
Angellica Bell: a lower budget maximize this, especially if they are wanting
Angellica Bell: to experience lots of things in older life but be well?
Emma Byron: Everyone wants to know that they're going to have enough
Emma Byron: money to pay the bills and the basics. So I always
Emma Byron: like to think of that. What do you need at
Emma Byron: bare minimum to survive and live a happy life? And there's
Emma Byron: lots of different ways, depending on your income, your wealth,
Emma Byron: how that will be supported. So most people will be
Emma Byron: able to get a state pension. So make sure you
Emma Byron: understand how much that is. Is that enough to cover
Emma Byron: what you see is your basic living needs? So, your
Emma Byron: electricity, your food and so on. But actually I think
Emma Byron: what I would class as essential need is not just
Emma Byron: food and clothes and so on. Having the ability to
Emma Byron: do your favorite exercise class, that might be just equally
Emma Byron: important in that category. And then you either are going
Emma Byron: to have to fund that with your state pension or
Emma Byron: you might have a defined benefit pension that will pay
Emma Byron: you for the rest of your life or you might
Emma Byron: use your defined contribution pension to purchase an annuity, which
Emma Byron: would also give you that security and peace of mind.
Angellica Bell: So how should you budget for a golf or travel
Angellica Bell: hobby if you're pension planning, for instance, as well?
Emma Byron: You might be able to rent out a room for
Emma Byron: a lodger or something like that or do a bit
Emma Byron: of dog walking for people which, again, is going to
Emma Byron: keep you active and healthy. So if you don't have
Emma Byron: enough in your pension to do that, then there's other
Emma Byron: ways that you can supplement it. And then I like to think about
Emma Byron: the budgeting in threes, categorize it, break it down, it
Emma Byron: makes a bit easier to manage, so the basic living
Emma Byron: needs. And then I'd call it he nice to have. So,
Emma Byron: if possible, we would like to go on holiday or
Emma Byron: go out for meals or socialize with friends, that's always
Emma Byron: where you can cut back if you really need to,
Emma Byron: if you don't have enough, but having a pot of money
Emma Byron: that allows you to have those nice to haves. And
Emma Byron: then the other thing is having a rainy day fund.
Emma Byron: None of us can predict the future, none of us
Emma Byron: know when our cars are going to break down or our washing machine
Emma Byron: is going to break down and we might need something
Emma Byron: for that. And also care needs in later life. So
Emma Byron: I think having a bit tucked away that you try
Emma Byron: not to touch unless it's a rainy day, is also
Emma Byron: helpful. So it's really just basic budgeting, but trying to
Emma Byron: break down the problem into a few parts I think
Emma Byron: can help to make it feel a bit more digestible
Emma Byron: and manageable for people.
Angellica Bell: Well, Susan, we're talking about physical activities for health, but
Angellica Bell: how can our choice of retirement pastimes impact our mental
Angellica Bell: wellbeing too?
Susan Saunders: Having pastimes in later life, regardless of whether you're retired
Susan Saunders: or not, is as important as eating well and exercising
Susan Saunders: is absolutely vital. If you think about it, we evolved as
Susan Saunders: social animals, we belong to our tribe and our wellbeing
Susan Saunders: is really predicated on what we do and how we
Susan Saunders: spend our time. It's really important to be social when
Susan Saunders: we can. I know at the moment that's quite difficult,
Susan Saunders: and it's really important to remain intellectually stimulated. And if
Susan Saunders: you can find ways of combining the two, if you
Susan Saunders: like reading, that's great for your brain. Or is there
Susan Saunders: a local book club you can join? Does your local
Susan Saunders: bookshop have a club that you can join? I mean,
Susan Saunders: this is physical, but if you like running, then is there a
Susan Saunders: local running club or a walking club that you can
Susan Saunders: join, as Jill does with her running club? It's all
Susan Saunders: about finding things that will stimulate us, that will keep
Susan Saunders: our brains active and ticking over because we build new
Susan Saunders: neurons, brain cells essentially, until we die if we keep
Susan Saunders: our brains active.
Angellica Bell: So, so important. Are there any resources you can recommend for people who want
Angellica Bell: to start learning or developing a new hobby or a
Angellica Bell: skill right now?
Susan Saunders: I think the important thing is to stay local because then you'll meet
Susan Saunders: people in your local environment. So as I say, if your
Susan Saunders: local bookshop has a book group and that interests you,
Susan Saunders: pursue that. Local running clubs, local gardening clubs. Keep it
Susan Saunders: local and follow your passions. There's no point trying to
Susan Saunders: take up bridge if you hate cards. If there's something
Susan Saunders: that you like, what's happening in your area that will
Susan Saunders: support that and how will it lead to you meeting
Susan Saunders: other people?
Angellica Bell: And also as you're keeping it local means that you
Angellica Bell: will find people who are like minded and that you can
Angellica Bell: see in and interact with easily, isn't it?
Susan Saunders: Yeah, exactly. And then if you meet people through a
Susan Saunders: gardening club, then you're going to bump into them in the park
Susan Saunders: walking the dog, and you're expanding your community.
Angellica Bell: Yeah, brilliant. And, Emma, is there any places we can
Angellica Bell: get more resources on our finances for this as well?
Emma Byron: Sure. So we have put together a course in conjunction
Emma Byron: with Open University that helps people to plan for their
Emma Byron: retirement. So that can be accessed online at the Open
Emma Byron: University's website and that's completely free for people. It just helps
Emma Byron: you to start thinking about that planning for retirement. And
Emma Byron: then on the L&G website there's also lots of guides for retirement
Emma Byron: and calculators and things that help you just understand how
Emma Byron: much you might get in retirement. So, again, make sure
Emma Byron: you educate yourself. I think that helps you to feel
Emma Byron: in control and happy as you approach retirement.
Angellica Bell: And, Susan, quick. I just want to ask you, is there a right
Angellica Bell: age or way to start this transition to a healthy
Angellica Bell: retirement balance? Do you have to wait until you finish
Angellica Bell: work, for example?
Susan Saunders: No, I don't think so. I think you should start
Susan Saunders: looking ahead, starting thinking about the physical, the mental stimulation,
Susan Saunders: the social things you're going to be doing. Really, as
Susan Saunders: soon as you can, start to ... Even if it's in
Susan Saunders: a very small way, just starting to think about what
Susan Saunders: might that be and what resources are there locally and
Susan Saunders: how could I pursue that and what am I going to
Susan Saunders: gain from it if I do? You think about that
Susan Saunders: as soon as you can, and if you can find
Susan Saunders: a way of structuring retirement so that it's not immediate,
Susan Saunders: as Jill did, you start to perhaps go part time,
Susan Saunders: if you can afford to do that, and then start
Susan Saunders: to pursue those other interests at the same time, then
Susan Saunders: it makes that transition so much easier. And maybe you won't
Susan Saunders: want to retire in quite such a dramatic way if
Susan Saunders: the life balance changes.
Angellica Bell: Hmm. A bit like what you did. And look at you, you're just so relaxed.
Angellica Bell: Imparting all this knowledge to us. It could make a massive difference.
Susan Saunders: Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It's finding your passion. As I said to
Susan Saunders: you, that's what I did unexpectedly. But find your passion and
Susan Saunders: pursue it in any way you can. It doesn't have to be
Susan Saunders: a huge thing. It can just be an hour or
Susan Saunders: two a week.
Angellica Bell: Do you think, Susan, that there is this idea that
Angellica Bell: when you retire, you're meant to do certain things or you're seen
Angellica Bell: in a certain way, and is it breaking that mold that
Angellica Bell: the world's your oyster?
Susan Saunders: Absolutely. I think retirement and, generally, the second half or
Susan Saunders: last third of your life, whatever it's going to be,
Susan Saunders: is as individual as you are and there is no
Susan Saunders: set pattern. And the more you make it individual to
Susan Saunders: you, the better it's going to be. And the worst
Susan Saunders: thing is to try and follow a specific mold.
Angellica Bell: Emma, what sorts of questions should someone be asking themselves,
Angellica Bell: say 20 or 10 years away from retirement in order
Angellica Bell: to keep their options open?
Emma Byron: So probably to go back to my putting things into threes
Emma Byron: and how you plan for that, because it's a long
Emma Byron: way in the future. So trying to think about what
Emma Byron: life looks like 20 years out or 30 years out is
Emma Byron: quite difficult. I mean, I'm not quite sure what my
Emma Byron: life looks like necessarily five years out. So I think
Emma Byron: it's trying to visualize that a little bit. So I'd
Emma Byron: start with your life. So what's it going to be like? So where are you
Emma Byron: going to live? Are you going to live in your current house or
Emma Byron: would do downsize? Are you going to move abroad and
Emma Byron: retire to the sunshine? Are you going to still work?
Emma Byron: And then I think it's back to then the finances. So
Emma Byron: what might you have? And trying to think about that
Emma Byron: 20 or even 10 years out from retirement is so
Emma Byron: important because you can do something about it then. If
Emma Byron: you're hitting retirement and you haven't saved enough for this wonderful
Emma Byron: lifestyle you've imagined, then you might be a bit late
Emma Byron: to change that in any significant way. And then my
Emma Byron: third step is putting that together. So you think about
Emma Byron: what your lifestyle might look like. You think about what
Emma Byron: you might have saved and making sure that those two
Emma Byron: things marry together and that you've got enough to supplement
Emma Byron: and fulfill your life because being in control of your
Emma Byron: finances ultimately gives you a huge amount of freedom and
Emma Byron: it gives you a huge amount of mental wellbeing as
Emma Byron: well. No one wants to have ... Money worries are really
Emma Byron: difficult to deal with. So getting to grips with all
Emma Byron: of that as early as possible is really, really important
Emma Byron: to them leading a happy and healthy retirement.
Angellica Bell: Which is such good advice. But then, Susan, at the
Angellica Bell: same time, something that Emma touched on, is that we don't
Angellica Bell: know what's going to happen in five years or even
Angellica Bell: tomorrow, but as long as you're putting that into place,
Angellica Bell: it's just that comfort blanket, isn't it?
Susan Saunders: Exactly. And health is like money. Health is wealth. It's
Susan Saunders: having those things in place so that you know that
Susan Saunders: you can look forward with the energy and the mental
Susan Saunders: sharpness that you hope to have and that you're at least
Susan Saunders: doing all that you can preparing yourself for the best
Susan Saunders: possible future.
Angellica Bell: A big thank you to Emma and Susan for some
Angellica Bell: great ideas. You can check out those links in the
Angellica Bell: show notes to this episode. But if you'd like to
Angellica Bell: find out more about retirement planning or get stuck into
Angellica Bell: inspiring articles and resources, have a look at the website.
Angellica Bell: It's legalandgeneral. com/ retirement. And, remember, there's no better time
Angellica Bell: to start the transition to a healthy mental balance and
Angellica Bell: bank balance to fulfill your dream retirement lifestyle. So go
Angellica Bell: on, start planning your best life now. Next time we're
Angellica Bell: talking about the retirement experience as an LGBTQ person and
Angellica Bell: meeting more inspiring retirees. Join me then.
Speaker 7: Whether you're a gay man or any other guy, whether
Speaker 7: you're single or married, I think you need to get good, sound, financial advice.
Angellica Bell: I'm Angellica Bell. Follow Rewirement on your favorite platform and I'll
Angellica Bell: catch you next time.