Daily Express Thursday, August 8, 2019 19DX1STAPPROACHING RETIREMENT: Celia with her husband Tom, left, and above
with their children Paul, Adam and Alice – both boys are about to be fathersrocking retirement
It should be a time of fun and freedom,
so why do so many of us dread
stopping work? In Day One of our
three-part series, author Celia Dodd
reveals how she and husband Tom are
rising to life’s last great challenge
you build up qualities – such as
adaptability and resilience – through all
these difficult transitions in life, and they
stand you in good stead for the next
challenge.”
Informed by all this, Celia took her
radical step and signed her and Tom up to
the pre-retirement course, during which
she realised how much she longs to spend
her twilight years near the coast.
“I realised that I definitely want a view
over water and he is persuadable,
although we are both going to
have to do a lot of
compromising.”
So, what are her top
tips for a successful
retirement?
“A really useful tool
to try to work out how
you want to live in
retirement is the process
of ‘visioning’ in which
you write down the age
you will be in 10 years’ time
and work back from that.”I
N CELIA’s case, the magic number is- “It sounds really old and it’s a
sobering thought, but try to envisage
it. What do I want to be doing and how am
I going to get there?
“If I want to live in the Lake District,
how am I going to make that happen – and
is it a realistic aim? Are there ways of
fulfilling that desire or need without
making a permanent move?”
In Celia’s case, like 1.2 million people
over the age of 65, she also wants to
continue working. “I spent a lot of time
bringing up my kids and not being able to
devote myself to a task, and now I have
the time and energy to devote myself to
writing what I really want to write about,”
she says.
And in the autumn she will become a
grandmother, twice over. “Both our boys
will become fathers and I’m over the
moon about that.”
Her greatest fear, it seems, is the
comfort of the sofa.
“I do like sitting around doing a
bit of craft, but sometimes it
makes you feel not very
good. What is better is to
do things that challenge
you, so that you can
come home and then sit
on the sofa. I love the
idea of being able to
explore interests that I
am mad about, such as
writing radio plays.
Retirement is seen as a
passive phase, but finding ful-
filment is often about stretching
yourself and staying curious.”●Not Fade Away:
How To Thrive in
Retirement, by Celia
Dodd (Green Tree,
£12.99). For your
copy with free UK
delivery, call the
Express Bookshop on
01872 562310 or
send a cheque/postal
order payable to
Express Bookshop to:
Green Tree Offer, PO
Box 200, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 4WJ
or visit http://www.expressbookshop.co.ukIN TOMORROW’S DEFINITIVE
GUIDE TO BREAKING FREE FROM THE DAY JOB
‘Retirement
is seen as a
passive phase, but
finding fulfilment is
often about
stretching
yourself’APPROACHING RETIREMENTAPPROACHING RETIREMENT: CeliCeliawith her husbandithherhsbandToTom,lefleft,tandanddddababbbbbove