Retirement by Design: Creating the Life You Want Next

Retirement today looks nothing like the rigid, one‑size‑fits‑all model many of us grew up with. It is no longer a finish line or a moment of exit; it’s a flexible, deeply personal transition shaped by identity, autonomy, and the life you want to design. You are never too young to think about retirement — not in the “start saving early” sense (although that helps), but in the sense of imagining the kind of life you want to grow into. As I lean into my own version of retirement, I’m realising that the word itself has expanded. It now includes semi‑retirement, early retirement, part‑time post‑career work, and everything in between. Retirement has become a lifestyle choice, a personalised rhythm, and ultimately a design project: an opportunity to craft the story you want to live.

Retired

• Traditionally meant a full exit from paid work.

• Income from superannuation, savings, pensions, investments.

• A shift from “worker” to “non‑worker”  a binary many people now reject.

• Increasingly outdated because it doesn’t reflect the diversity of later‑life work patterns.
  

Semi‑Retired

• The middle ground: not fully working, not fully retired.

• Often includes occasional bouts of work, either structured or ‘just helping out’.

• Appeals to people who want an additional income stream without the grind.

• Work ramps up or down depending on family commitments, financial needs, travel, personal interests, and life stage.

• Not a status, a rhythm.
  

Retired Early

• Leaving full-time work before the traditional age.

• Motivations include travel, financial independence, escaping corporate life, lifestyle change, and personal motivations.

• Often leads to reinvention: microbusinesses, creative pursuits, or part‑time roles.

• For many – this is ‘living the dream’!

Working Part‑Time (Post‑Career)

• Not always labelled as retirement but often functions like it.

• People choose one to three days a week, short-term contracts, or low-stress, high-autonomy roles.

• Smooths income and superannuation contributions while protecting lifestyle freedom.

What the research says: Retirement is flexible now

The book Retiring in a New Age: Life After Paid Work by Russell Lansbury and Marian Baird offers one of the clearest explanations of this shift. Drawing on large studies of retirees in Australia and Sweden, the authors show that retirement today is:

• flexible

• fluid

• personalised

• shaped by identity, health, autonomy, and meaning

They identify four “post‑retirement orientations”:

Orientation	What it looks like
Stayers	Keep working beyond traditional retirement age.
Leavers	Exit paid work completely and don’t return.
Blenders	Mix part‑time, casual, or project work with retirement life.
Disengaged	Withdraw from both work and community engagement.

Most modern retirees fall into the Blender category — exactly where my own life sits. A bit of work, a lot of autonomy, and a strong sense of designing life on my own terms. The research reinforces what many of us feel intuitively. Retirement is no longer a single event; it is a personalised transition.

The emotional side can be scary

The “Will I have enough?” questions are real.

The identity shift is real.

The uncertainty is real.

But so is the joy.

Your body knows it doesn’t have to get up and go to work anymore.  It softens. It exhales. It resets.

Lean in and enjoy these moments.

What helps in this transition

• Become an explorer in life — do different things, often.

• Connect with people and social media, and/or disconnect - choose what is right for the season you’re in.

• Walk the dog and enjoy your natural environment.

• Really take the time to ‘stop and smell the roses’. Do something for the environment – tend your garden.

• Join your local library — a treasure trove of books, people and online resources, including eBooks, magazines, and community programs.

• Reconnect with creative pastimes and explore new ones.

• Enjoy the quiet and the off‑peak times.

This is the part of retirement we need to leverage: the spaciousness, the slowness, the rediscovery of self.

What I’m doing in my own “new age” of retirement

• I set up my side business.

• I write.

• I teach.

• I engage in learning online and in person.

• I’m exploring somatic movement, meditation, micro-adventures.

• I’m minimising, downsizing, and consuming intentionally.

• I read, I nap, I enjoy good streaming content.

• I enjoy the simplicity of life.

• I am tending and nurturing friendships and connection.

• I’m creating the life I want in the everyday. I am not waiting for that big travel trip or overseas adventure.

• I am comfortable in the notion that no matter our age, we are all still a work in progress, with the opportunity to grow and learn every single day!

This is retirement shaped by agency: choice, autonomy, and intention. Not absence because you “should” or because society expects it. It is a way of being present, not a step into withdrawal.

There are plenty of resources available. Here are a few that I like

• Retirement Made Simple — Noel Whittaker

• Insight Timer (the free app is excellent)

• Your local library — which includes online books and magazines

• Amazon Prime — music, books, podcasts, and free book sample downloads

• Low‑cost activities with friends: adventure walks, book swaps, coffee dates, sharing skills

• My new pushbike (after 20+ years with my old faithful)

• Learning and experimenting with AI

• Podcasts and audio books

My TOP TIP

No matter your age — get to know your superannuation and how it works, it is never too late or too early to engage in developing your understanding of what is an important asset.

Until next time

Kym