Retirement Role Models: Who Are Your Greatest Superheros? (2022 Update)

The original purpose of this blog was to keep track of my research into the next phase of my life – retirement. Literature is full of role models to help the hero make decisions and move the plot along. But who would be my retirement role models?

I had two primary retirement role models, and I’m not sure either one really suits my vision of my retirement. Meet my dad and my grandfather.

The Retirement Role Models

My Father – the Accidental Retirement Role Model

My dad did the “freedom 55” thing, and he retired with no particular plan and just the bold statement that he was “going to carve birds and fish.” That was about all there was to the master plan.

My father had set up his retirement investment/pension at an early age. And he always said that when his eligible pension numbers came up he would “pull the pin”. Nothing more, that was the only thing my Dad said about retirement. Just that 30 years was the magic number and he offered no other reason for retiring.

In actuality, we were all shocked when he did exactly what he said he would do. The prescribed date arrived. He provided the office with the required notice. Dad packed his boxes, and he just walked out the door. 

My father worked for the provincial government for 30 years. He was highly successful and had all the hallmarks of being a very happy work-a-holic. But the man had absolutely no visible hobbies to speak of, seriously, zero.

When my father was working full time I never saw him do anything even remotely considered “hobby-ish”.  He spent every weekend puttering around our rural property. That was his idea of fun I suppose. It was our idea of a dangerous hobby!

Full disclosure; my father’s lack of hand-eye coordination, especially with tools was legendary! That sentence requires a few additional exclamation marks.  

The Hobby

So, the dearth of hobbies coupled with the utter lack of manual dexterity meant that his “I’m going to carve birds and fish” comment was met with huge skepticism! This was a man who inadvertently trimmed his fingernails with the table saw and ran over himself with his own tractor.

I’ll save setting himself on fire for another blog! (Oh, and setting the garage on fire. And then another time, almost burning down the neighbour’s barn.)  The truth is, no one in our family could actually picture him retiring.  Injured, missing a limb, keeping a surgeon on retainer, yes.  Whittling on the front porch, no.

My Grandfather – the Poster Child Retirement Role Model

Now, my grandfather, on the other hand, was (my father’s father) the “poster child” for what I thought retirement was supposed to look like.  He retired when I was about 10 years old.  So almost all my memories of him are of him being retired.

When I was growing I watched him spend all his time doing things he loved. Pappy’s days seemed awfully full to a little kid. He was a plumber and a steamfitter by trade.  And he retired from the meat packing plant before he hit 60.

My grandparents then moved to Sandy Cove Acres, a retirement community (frequently referred to as “God’s waiting room), to enjoy their golden years.

Without exaggeration, the day he retired (and virtually every day thereafter) Pappy proceeded to play 18 holes of golf three times a week, he played poker with his buddies almost every day. And if he wasn’t doing that, he was shooting pool or fishing.

They went to Florida year after year, like all good “snowbirds” do, and did the exact same things down there.

The Routine

Pappy had a set-in-stone retirement routine.  He would get up, have breakfast and then go play a round of golf. Then he would come home for lunch, read an entire Louis Lamore novel, and then go play cards or shoot pool with the lads.

Next, he would come home, eat dinner, and read the Toronto Star. Then, he day ended his day by watching either the Toronto Blue Jays or the Toronto Maple Leafs until bedtime. Rinse repeat.

The Goal

My grandfather was over 100 when he died, and my gran was 97.  He was retired from the meat packing plant longer than he worked there.  Similarly, my dad died thirty years into his retirement…after working thirty years.  They appeared to have enjoyed every moment, with no regrets. 

But, that’s a lot of post-career time to fill!

So what’s a girl to do? My ability to play golf ends with driving the cart. And I can’t, and don’t want, to whittle.

My two primary retirement role models taught me that you need to love something as much as you did your career if you’re going to have a happy retirement. Simply because you may spend the same amount of time or longer, doing it.

I know that I will need some different options. But I also believe that I will need to work at something; both for my sanity and to fund my Fluevog shoe habit!  I have some legitimate hobbies now, like reading, writing, painting, and puttering around our rural property (OMG, I am my father). 

Those hobbies may need some diversifying.  And my “second stage of life” job needs to be fun and done on my own terms.  The one true takeaway from both my retirement role models is that my retirement plans/hobbies also need to stand the test of time. 

I’m hopeful that I can enjoy my retirement as long as they both did. Dad was retired for 30 years when he died, and my grandfather had been retired from Swifts for just over 40 years when he passed. And, true story, my grandfather golfed until he was 98!  And my dad never needed more than 15 stitches after any fish carving project!