Member-only story
The Retirement Newsletter: Retirement as changing seasons — retirement is not the autumn but the summer
Welcome
Welcome to issue 175 (28) — retirement as a season.
Some say retirement is the autumn of our lives, but I think it’s the summer.
Read on to find out why I think it is the summer, and so should you.
Retirement as a season
If we think of the stages of life as the seasons of the year, it’s common to find people thinking of retirement as the autumn — the season of harvest and decline, when the vibrant days of summer fade into autumn.
Why autumn?
Autumn is associated with the slowing down of life, a gentle winding down towards winter, which can be viewed as the final stage of life. However, considering retirement as the ’autumn of life’ is misleading and possibly harmful.
I argue that we should consider our retirement as the beginning of summer — a time of warmth, growth, and endless potential — a season not of retreat but of rejuvenation, reinvention, and rediscovery.
