At the beginning of my talk I asked a couple of people to try and answer the question “Who are you?” The answers that both gave were similar. They were variations on their CVs – their job titles, previous positions and achievements.

I had asked this question because I wanted to make the point that if a person’s identity is closely identified with their job, what happens to their identity when they retire from full-time work?

Years of experience has shown me that loss of identity can be a real problem for many people when they retire. It tends to be a bigger problem for people who reach senior positions towards the end of their working life. This used to primarily affect men, but with more women now in senior management, it’s now become a challenge for all sexes.

This “loss of identity” can lead to a “loss of purpose” and a feeling of being of no further value to society. These feelings are definitely not going to help a person to enjoy this next stage of their life.

So what can we do?

First, realise that our true identity is quite different from our work identity. Who we really are is more about things like our attitude, our personality, how we view the world, our compassion and empathy, our sense of humour and our spirituality.

Secondly, if we have a more realistic expectation as to what life will be like in retirement, we are less likely to encounter major shocks. So it’s a good idea to do some research on this subject well before you leave full time work.

Thirdly, retirement is about more than getting your finances organised. Doing that is important, but doing some lifestyle research and planning is just as important.

We have made the job of preparing for life in retirement a lot easier.

We have published five books which cover the issues that most people will have to manage in this next stage of life. You can find out more at www.retirementbooks.com.au.