\n\t\t\t\t\tWhen it comes to retirement, even the best-laid plans can be derailed by a curveball like redundancy\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n
While the UK Government is urging over-50s to return to work to address labour shortages and boost the economy, in fact nearly two million people aged 50 to 64 are unemployed<\/a> benefits claimants, according to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). More than a quarter of over-50s are out of work, with some, like Duncan Campbell, 60, a project manager from West Sussex, having to dip into pension pots and succumb to early retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of March, the small insurance company where I\u2019d worked for five years had to make redundancies<\/a> to cut costs and, to my disappointment, I was one of them. It wasn\u2019t personal and market forces were to blame, but nonetheless it hit me hard. I received a pay-off of one week for every year in my last job \u2013 so five weeks\u2019 salary. I paid my three-month notice payment straight into my pension.<\/p>\n Being a project manager, I\u2019m used to knowing what\u2019s up ahead, so suddenly finding myself without a job after so many years was like having a rug pulled out from underneath me. I\u2019d planned to retire at 62 or 63 but felt disempowered by the decision being taken for me, without any warning, two years before I was ready. After a long and successful career<\/a> in insurance, it took away the chance to plan for my retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n I took the first two months as holiday, but then, as I faced an empty diary, it became harder. My first thought was, \u201cWhat am I going to do now?\u201d I\u2019d always intended to do lots of things in retirement<\/a>, but suddenly I had to make those things happen \u2013 and found it\u2019s not that easy to work out what you actually want to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n Initially I applied for several jobs and contracts, without any joy. In total, I applied for 15 jobs, some through LinkedIn, some through a job site and some through contacts. I heard from a recruiter that employers tend to steer away<\/a> from the over-60s, even though there\u2019s a glut of experienced people like me in the same situation. I genuinely did not think it would be this difficult to find another role \u2013 I\u2019m not happy about it, but I\u2019m slowly starting to accept that I\u2019m \u201csoft retired\u201d now.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our two adult children no longer live at home, and since we paid the last of the school fees, for the last 10 years or so, every spare bit of cash has gone into the pension pot. But as retirement happened earlier than planned and without warning, my pension was not ready, which has meant tightening our belts. Since the redundancy, we have been living on the pay-off I received, and now that\u2019s run out, we\u2019re living off our savings. I\u2019m still hoping to find some form of income, so that we won\u2019t have to tighten our belts too much \u2013 so far, we have managed without radically altering our expenditure.<\/p>\n My wife is a SEND teacher<\/a>, working part-time at a local primary school, which provides a very small income. Financially, we are OK as we have always been careful. We now own our house and have other savings, and we are not big spenders or lumbered with debts, but it would be good if I could make some income to avoid dipping into my pension and being overly concerned about money as we go through our sixties.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m looking at finding contract work in project management, or a few days a week doing something else, perhaps helping a friend<\/a> with their business, as long as it\u2019s something interesting that teaches me something, gets me out of the house and earns a bit of income.<\/p>\n I\u2019m quite level-headed, but I did struggle with my change of circumstances at first. I guess I\u2019ve been a little bit depressed. I\u2019ve always been a \u2018glass half full\u2019 person, but my wife said it\u2019s the first time she\u2019s seen me become \u2018glass half empty\u2019. I\u2019ve needed to build up people around me, reconnect with old mates and get out and do things \u2013 I can\u2019t rely on walking the dog<\/a> and cutting the grass. The good thing is, once you start talking to people you realise others have been through the same thing, and hearing how they\u2019re managing retirement has been really helpful.<\/p>\n I need to know what\u2019s in the diary now it\u2019s not filled with work. And lately I\u2019ve been exploring new productive ways to spend my time, like furniture restoration, beekeeping and local conservation. And I\u2019ve started the process of becoming a magistrate. The goal is to have a portfolio of stuff to do \u2013 hobbies, sport, stuff with purpose. I\u2019ve found the support of I\u2019m Not Done Yet immensely helpful \u2013 it\u2019s a community to help over-50s like me to thrive<\/a>. What I like is the conversation on the site, which helps me to realise I\u2019m not the only one going through this, and the advice is positive and constructive.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always had a financial adviser, and getting his input has really helped. We\u2019re not panicking about our financial situation and will just cut our cloth accordingly. We\u2019d always planned to potentially downsize anyway, and we may need to, to free up some cash. I am very Middle England, and while I\u2019ve never been a big earner<\/a>, I\u2019ve worked hard all my life and saved and paid for things rather than loading the credit cards, so thankfully we are not in a panic, just not in the ideal position.<\/p>\n Five months in I\u2019m recognising that the world moves on. It\u2019s dawned on me that my old company can manage without me. A lot of what I did in my role was mentoring younger staff members<\/a>, so I was used to people wanting my opinion. That realisation that you are now not part of it and need to find your own currency and relevance is quite a moment. And losing the anchor of a structured week and not feeling needed is hard.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve surprised myself at how much I\u2019ve learnt through this process. Not going into an office and giving yourself permission to do things you enjoy when you want to certainly takes some getting used to. I almost have imposter syndrome about retirement<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019m only 60 and not ready to give up work. I\u2019ve entered this phase of life earlier than I\u2019d planned, but it\u2019s not a crisis. It\u2019s just where we are right now.<\/p>\n