But as Anne Cannings, retirement planning partner from Retirement Pathways, explains in our recent podcast, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Myth of "Just Retiring"
“I think that comes from a narrative that we’ve all grown up with,” Anne explains. “It’s this reward at the end of a long, busy life. It’s one long holiday. It’s gonna be easy. It’s a breeze. What could be easier than not having to wake up to the alarm clock?”
The reality is starkly different. When redundancy and retirement intersect, at least a third of people struggle with the transition – and that’s probably higher because it’s self-reported. Unlike someone making a career move where there’s a job description, a new boss and clear structure, retirement offers none of that. “There is nothing and you’ve got everything to put in there for yourself,” Anne notes. “It’s like a big blank open sheet.”
The Hidden Challenges of Unexpected Retirement
For many people facing redundancy in their 50s and 60s, the impact goes far deeper than losing a job. “When that gets removed, one of the things that gets removed is their confidence,” Anne observes. This is particularly challenging because, as she points out, “lots of people say, I’m never going to retire. And life has a way of retiring you sometimes.”
Those inflection points where a job you planned to do for perhaps another five years suddenly disappears can leave people feeling completely lost. The key is what Anne calls “leaving work well” – enabling someone to take stock, address unfinished goals and feel they’ve done a good professional job.
Why Retirement Transition Planning Matters More Than Ever
People in their late fifties or early sixties who have been through redundancy often feel “quite beaten up,” Anne explains. “It can feel quite brutal. I’m sure that’s no one’s intention. That’s just how it feels.” Many need a period of self-care before they can even begin to think about what comes next.
But here’s where effective retirement transition planning becomes crucial. Rather than avoiding the elephant in the room, Anne suggests having open conversations: “What does success at work look like now? What do they get most pleasure from? How do they see their work developing?”
The Components of Successful Retirement Transition Planning
Anne’s workshops cover everything from the practical to the profound. “We cover everything from the very, very practical to the really deep, mostly in that order,” she explains.
The practical elements include:
- Having an up-to-date will
- Getting a grip on finances and knowing where pension pots are located
- Understanding potential caring responsibilities for elderly parents
- Health considerations for the future
The deeper aspects cover:
- What you’re actually going to do with your time
- The importance of structure and purpose
- Recognising that “being busy and being fulfilled are not the same thing”
- Social networks and combating loneliness
Practical Steps for HR Professionals
Start Early with Retirement Transition Planning
Don’t wait until someone is at risk of redundancy to discuss career aspirations. As part of effective retirement planning, “Those that retire well have been working on it for many years,” Anne emphasises. Smart employers are now offering retirement planning workshops to anyone who wants them, regardless of age, allowing people to self-select rather than feeling singled out.
Support the "Leaving Well" Process
When redundancy and retirement converge, help employees be realistic about ongoing projects and identify suitable handover points. Give them control over how their departure is communicated and what language is used. “Getting people to write their own story at the end” can be particularly powerful, perhaps contributing to an in-house publication or reflecting on their achievements.
Provide Practical Resources
You don’t need a huge budget to support retirement transition planning. Anne suggests pulling together free resources: “There are endless books, podcasts and websites. Bring together some free-to-air resources. It won’t cost you anything as an employer. You’ll have to invest a little bit of time but help people look at those to focus back on themselves.”
It's Not About Seniority - It's About Being Human
One of the most important insights from Anne’s work is that retirement challenges affect everyone, regardless of their position. “Even someone who may be doing a very quiet desk role somewhere that hardly says a word to anybody but beavers away – work might be their whole world,” she explains. The type of support needed is remarkably similar across all levels.
Making Retirement Transition Planning Normal
The key is to normalise retirement transition planning as part of your career development offering. “Make it part of people’s lived experience at work rather than, ‘oh, and when they drop off the end, they retire,'” Anne advises. “The best people start planning at least 10 years in advance.”
By sitting retirement planning within your wellbeing offering, you remove the stigma and make it accessible to everyone. “Lots of what we do actually sits inside a wellbeing offering, ’cause it’s about the wellbeing for the future,” Anne explains.
The Long View
When redundancy and retirement intersect, it’s rarely the disaster it first appears. As Anne notes, “redundancy people later on will tell you strangely, oh, it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.” But that perspective only comes with proper retirement planning and support.
By recognising that retirement isn’t the easy option, investing in proper retirement transition planning that considers all employees’ needs and supporting people to leave well, HR professionals can transform what feels like an ending into the beginning of something positive. Because ultimately, redundancy might be the process but for these employees, it’s about so much more – it’s their future, their identity and their wellbeing.
The question isn’t whether they’ll “just retire.” It’s whether we’ll give them the retirement transition planning support they need to do it successfully.
Anne Cannings is a Retirement Planning Partner at Retirement Pathways, specialists in helping you achieve arich, fulfilling retirement life.
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