Are you in your retirement Job?

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Anyone been in what they thought was the retirement job, but then took a leap of faith and changed job?

(Not just change workplaces in same/similar role, but actually a different industry or same industry but different role)

Would be interested to hear how you dealt with upskilling or retraining, and also the likelihood you had to take a big pay cut whilst restarting at near the bottom of the ladder.
We ended my job as a public servant in the NRM space as part of our relocation back in 2018. We've been single income since. We were able to trade off the one property we sold to buy this one but I've taken over the role of property manager, restoration ecologist, builders labourer and heritage architect in the meantime...
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
Anyone been in what they thought was the retirement job, but then took a leap of faith and changed job?

(Not just change workplaces in same/similar role, but actually a different industry or same industry but different role)

Would be interested to hear how you dealt with upskilling or retraining, and also the likelihood you had to take a big pay cut whilst restarting at near the bottom of the ladder.
Yeah I gave it a go. Despite having qualifications in PR / Comms I kept being drawn into / back into research roles (market and business mainly), mainly because it was interesting and the opportunities for more senior roles more readily available. However it was hard to get out of the contract cycle and after a pretty disastrous career choice I was left stalled out in Adelaide with seemingly zero opportunities to progress.

But then I decided I actually might like to use my qualifications for something, shifted gears, shifted interstate and started at the bottom. Despite the lack of pay and long hours it actually really enjoyable mucking in on the ground floor again and I learnt heaps. The pay cut was hard but once I accepted the ability to save money was just going to be really limited in the short term it was ok. Due to further opportunities (and a lot of luck) I was able to bounce up the ladder pretty quickly too, so zero regrets about the change.
 

Elbo

pesky scooter kids git off ma lawn
Like a couple of others, I'm probably not old enough to be hanging out in this part of the forum, but I'm in my mid 30's and planning to 'retire' (i.e. stop working in the paid economy) in the next 10-15 years. I probably fall into a mix of the FIRE/frugal living/alternative economy philosophies on work and retirement, so my approach might be different to others. I'm actively trying to deflate my lifestyle, save lots, produce more, consume less and think outside the box when it comes to spending money.
I really love my job but have recently gone down to part-time to help raise our kid. There is huge demand for surveyors, so I think that has given me some bargaining power at work and allowed my wife and I to both work part-time and look after our kid.
I'm keen to keep working part-time as long as possible as I really love the balance it provides, but I think there is an expectation I will return to full-time work when the kid is a bit older. I think I'm probably in my retirement job, but I also think the world will look very different in 10-15 years time and I think land development can be pretty unethical, so I struggle with that. I probably see myself building a small bike business and retiring to do that at my leisure.
 
I think I am, now, I didn't use to but I do now.

I used to hanker for a gig in a different but related area, it's almost unheard of to be able to transition from one to the other. I actually made the transition but there was a restructure 6 months later and so after 9 months I was returned to pond from whence I came.

For a few years I applied internally and externally for other gigs similar to the one I was ankled from, got very close a few times externally, internally was always a case of "another candidate was more suited for the role, we can't exactly explain how" which is code for "jobs for the boys". I can take a hint (eventually) and slowly I've been letting go.

And I know I've arrived at the point where I'm content now (job wise), because my old job has been reinstated and awarded to someone with out any chance to apply, and I don't really care. But doubling down on this is that the nek day I get an email about an external gig looking for someone in my exact position, for the exact gig I used to hanker for, and I don't care, I'm not applying.

Perhaps it's part Covid uncertainty, perhaps age , perhaps getting a cancer diagnosis, I don't care how I've arrived here (though I do refuse to live as though the cancer thing is the end). My current gig is varied and challenging, I get to mentor staff, I get to add value to the community, I have 15 staff to guide and set up for wins, and I'm told I'm good at it and I like doing it, all 10 mins from home, 5 mins from the beach. What more would I want ?

Retirement is ways off for me, but I reckon I'm happy to do this until I get there.

And I guess I'm writing this here as some sort of confirmation to myself that it's the right decision.
 

Slowman

Likes Dirt
Hmmm, I'm pretty sure I could leave and get a significant pay raise. Finally the trend in IT is back to insourcing though it's a bit of a hybrid. High level strategic system architects and the like are being rehired by banks and large companies but they are still outsourcing their ops and development. My wife did just that and received a 50% increase!!! It's tempting. I like the flexibility of working from home and while some positions want you back in the office, there are plenty out there that are fine with WFH. They win too because they can trawl a larger talent pool nationwide rather than just locally.
 

Scotty T

Walks the walk
I reckon I will retire here, maybe up a rung or two in the mangement heirarchy but I like what I do now and have a lot of autonomy.

Like @Slowman I could go out into the contract world or even private sector and earn more money but it wouldn't give me the same sense of purpose or the flexibility of my current job.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
I'm unsure if this will be my last job. I spent 15 years at working at Caterpillar in various roles and I've been where I am now for just over a year. Time will tell if it's somewhere I'll stay for another 15 or so. It's been alright so far, I'm 48 so got a bit of time up my sleeve.
 
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