The Retirement Newsletter: Am I ready to retire?

Issue Number: -51 — is it time to reframe the question?

Nick

Jan 29, 2023

Welcome

Welcome to issue -51 — Am I ready to retire?

A big question. Is there an easy answer?

Am I ready to retire?

Last week, in issue -52 — One year and counting — I wrote about the last-minute wobbles you can have as you approach your planned retirement date.

The wobbles were:

Money — do I have enough money to retire, and will my money last?
Age — I am too young to retire?
Time — what will I do with my time when I am retired?
Identity — what will I be when I am retired?

And I have had another couple of wobbles.

Wobble 1: Missing my job

I was teaching a group of students how to perform a particular technique in the lab, and I had one of those ‘wow’ teaching moments that you get and which, for me, makes teaching so magical.

One of my students was struggling to understand how the reaction worked.

I explained things, and the student wasn’t getting it.

I drew some diagrams — no joy. When I asked some follow-up questions, it was clear the student still didn’t get it.

I then did a ‘trick’ with pipettes, and the student got it. The student could see how the reaction worked — they had the how and the why. You could see the ‘penny drop’ as they understood what was happening in the experiment. The look on the student’s face, the sudden realisation, made my day. It made my week.

It’s great when things like that happen.

It makes the late nights writing lectures (and these days editing videos) and setting up the virtual learning environment (online system) all worthwhile.

I will miss those moments.

On the flip side, there are the students you try to help, and regardless of what you do, they sabotage your efforts, and the student fails to progress. These students always make me feel like I have failed as I haven’t been able to get them through the course. A real ‘downer’.

Am I ready to retire? Am I ready to unplug? Am I ready to walk away from it all?

Some big questions.

It has taken decades to get my science and my teaching to where it is, and I am pretty good.

I can design an experiment with the best of them; I know my craft. I have lab skills. I can get my experiments to work.

I enjoy teaching, and I am good at teaching. Evidence?

If you teach at a university in the UK, the students give you feedback on your teaching. If your score is low and your feedback comments are poor, you will have an uncomfortable conversation with your manager.

The feedback system is deeply flawed. While welcome, the ‘feedback’ from the students is usually provided by 10-20% of the class, and they tend to be unhappy students (poor test marks etc.). The ‘feedback’ is also a popularity contest, stifling creativity because if your scores are reasonable, you are unwilling to try something new, which may impact your feedback.

My end-of-term feedback from the students suggests I am good at what I do. My scores are good, and the comments are favourable.

During the early days of COVID-19, we had to stop giving face-to-face lectures and move everything online. This was great as it allowed staff to try ‘the new’ because if our feedback scores plummeted, we could blame COVID-19. I used the opportunity to experiment with my teaching.

For my online teaching, I shot many videos. Students watched the videos and did online quizzes. We then met online for streamed sessions where I answered questions submitted by students about the videos, reviewed questions in the quizzes that were causing problems, and took live questions from the chat. It was some of the most fun, challenging and rewarding teaching I have ever done. The students seemed to enjoy it, and I got great feedback.

Even though COVID-19 is still around, we have returned to all face-to-face teaching. All the videos I shot are now gathering dust on the server. I miss the fun of the streamed sessions, and when I retire, I will not be able to teach like that again.

I will miss the ‘wow’ teaching moments, the online teaching sessions, and the tutorials where you get to know your tutees. But I won’t miss the ‘downers’.

And that was my wobble. I will miss my job. Not all parts of it, but some significant chunks.

And then I got the dreaded letter — my first piece of retirement mail.

Wobble 2: The dreaded letter

Last week, I got my first bit of retirement mail.

A letter from my pension provider said, “as you are approaching retirement, we now need to make some adjustments to your retirement plan”.

This created an ‘age’ wobble. Am I too young to retire?

The letter made me think about my age. I felt I was too young to receive such a letter and, thus, too young to retire.

But, if you had spoken to me the other day as I was ‘recovering’ and in pain from three days of teaching undergraduate labs, I would have said I was too old to continue with labs. It was time to retire.

So, what is the answer?

Reframing the question

The more I think about the question:

“Am I ready to retire?”

The more I become convinced, the answer is no. No, I am not ready to retire.

When I look at my life, where I am, and what I want to do, retirement seems to be the answer. But is it?

Maybe it is time to reframe the question, and what I should be asking is:

Is it time for a career change?

To which the answer is yes.

I need a change.

I need to find a way to keep what I like and enjoy and bring in more of what I enjoy. Out with the old and in with the new.

By “retiring” (note the quotes), I can start taking my pension, which will give me financial security. I can then use my “retirement” (again, note the quotes) as an opportunity to explore a new career.

So, the answer is that I am not ready to retire, but I am ready for a career change.

One final thought — do I need to change the newsletter’s name?

Next week

Next week in issue -50 — What is wrong with health care in the UK?

This is important because we need more health care as we age.

Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter, and please don't hesitate to share it with your friends or on social media using the buttons below.

If you would like to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?

Until next time,