Before & After Photos

Here are some before and after photos. The first is us in uniform during our last week before retirement, having a cuppa with the Chief of the Air Force in Canberra. The next two are photos of us doing things we had never done before retirement. Yep, I guess you could say we led a sheltered life until now!

Many of my family and friends are babyboomers. Some have already made the transition to retirement in some form or other – others are still contemplating what their version of retirement might look like. Those who already work for themselves can dictate their own hours and working conditions, so ‘retirement’ for them may simply be cutting back on days or hours worked, and taking more time for leisure. The military made it easy for Murray & I by setting the retirement age at 55 years. We both elected to transfer to the Air Force Reserve and we can take on short-term projects that may look interesting.

For the majority of my friends though, retirement means saying goodbye to full time work and having the time to do all those things they always wanted to do whether that includes travel, voluntary work in the community, more time for hobbies, or being able to spend valuable time with the grandchildren. If you are newly retired like us, or planning for it in the coming years, an insightful quick-read book titled 'So What Do We Do Now?', written by Australian Eva Bennett, offers some very sound advice. In her book Eva discusses how people often prepare for retirement based on finances alone, ignoring other important issues such as physical and psychological needs. She teases the issues out under topics of Home, Health, Relationships, Purpose and Leisure. Click on the title in blue above. The book is well worth a read.