What happens after a career ends? How do people successfully transition to retirement? Mike Drak, co-author of Victory Lap Retirement, found the answers to these questions after he was forced out of his career in banking after 36 years.
“I struggled with the transition,” says Drak. “I refer to it as ‘sudden retirement syndrome’. For many people it’s a shock: equivalent to a deep sea diver coming up too quickly from deep water and getting the bends.”
The jarring experience prompted Drak to read everything he could find on retirement. He soon discovered that the majority of the books dealt with the financial side of things. Surely an important aspect of retirement, but Drak was interested in more.
He wanted to know what people did when their daily routine of getting up and going to work was over. How did they fill their time? What type of lifestyle did they embrace? Did they set new goals for themselves? Retirement was an opportunity, he thought, for a person to discover the ‘Real Me’ and create a lifestyle compatible with who they really were as a person.
Drak acknowledges that when he worked in the corporate world, “I pretended to be someone else, the corporate type, so I could get ahead. But that wasn’t the real me and never matched up well with my values.”
All of this thinking about retirement led Drak to writing Victory Lap Retirement, with his co-author Jonathon Chevreau. He wanted to write a book about planning for the so-called ‘golden years’ by creating a personally fulfilling lifestyle. It would be an after-career victory lap both gratifying and enjoyable, during which you would do what you found personally satisfying. And yes, work would still be a factor. But now you would work not because you have to work, but because you want to.
“Working part-time during retirement has many benefits,” notes Drak. “It helps keep your mind sharp and you can learn new things, you get to interact with people, and you can still generate some active income.”
By continuing to work in some form you can also defer your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) until the age of 70. And now that many people are living longer that can be beneficial. According to Drak, doing this will increase your eventual CPP payments by 42 per cent.
Drak himself seems to be busier than ever. After making revisions to Victory Lap Retirement for a new edition to be released in Canada and the U.S. this year, he began writing a Victory Lap Retirement transition guide to be released in 2020. He also offers retirement coaching services. Even with all that, Drak still has other goals. He’s started to train to compete in the Ironman Cozumel triathlon, taking place on Cozumel, off the coast of Mexico.
“I’m planning on doing the Ironman in 2020 after I turn 65,” he says. “Once goals are met, new goals take their place. That’s what keeps retirement interesting and fulfilling, there’s always a new adventure to look forward to.”
Drak will be at Newmarket Public Library for two free sessions: the first is a Victory Lap Retirement Workshop Wednesday, March 27 from 7 to 9 p.m., during which he will discuss creating a personal retirement roadmap, and the second session will be on financial strategies for retirement on Tuesday, April 2 from 7 to 9 p.m.
You can register for both with the library’s online programs and activities calendar at www.newmarketpl.ca, in person at the lower level information desk or call 905-953-5110, ext. 4770.