Redefining Retirement

I am announcing my retirement! No, not from teaching at RMC or Sims Cattle Company (our family’s business), or from our consulting company, Adapt! I am retiring from being a stay-at-home mom! As of this coming August, I will no longer have kids at home who have been my main priority. 

It sounds crazy, but all of us have many “retirements” in our lifetimes: from college, from being a full-time caretaker, from our first career, our second career, etc. We just never see it as a retirement, we tend to see it as a new phase in life. Which is exactly what retirement is – a time in our lives when a new chapter begins. For most of us, especially in agriculture, retirement seems scary, if not downright impossible.

This may just be in our DNA, to not want to retire. For those of us in agriculture, it has been our livelihood to provide. Maybe it’s in the form of food for customers, a service such as custom grazing, or to provide a legacy for our offspring. Historically (and I mean clear back to early humans), the elderly were honored to be able to help provide until the moment of their death. In indigenous tribes, once someone became less capable of hunting, gathering, or warring, their role became that of teacher or caretaker for the young or infirm. They tended fires, rocked babies, and passed on their tribe’s history, still being of value to the younger generations. They freed young parent’s hands so they could go hunt, gather, or war.  

But many fear retirement, so how do we move past that? This is where retiring TO something is the paradigm shift we all need to embrace. What if we see it more as a transition or a meaningful respite? Rancher Emeritus? Life isn’t over at retirement, it’s just the beginning of a new phase. Hopefully a phase in which one can follow dreams without concern for the daily chore of making a living; where one can do their heart’s desire; where one can feel as useful or as relaxed as they want and where they can focus on their “why” – which possibly has changed with age and situations.  

Besides understanding our new paradigm, a huge barrier to being able to enjoy this new phase in life is usually our financial situation. Many of us have not planned well enough to feel financially secure in making the decision to start a new phase. Economic and financial planning are critical to a successful retirement. Setting a profit goal and a plan to reach it so our needs in retirement are met, is one critical area of WOTB (Working on the Business) that a lot of us neglect.

Another barrier to a successful retirement is our faith that what we have devoted our time, energy, and money to is not going to collapse without our involvement. I believe management succession planning is the only solution that can make us feel secure in our decision to pass the reins over, as we pursue our new passions. Using the tools we learn in our Ranching for Profit Schools like effectiveness areas, organizational charts, and mission/ vision statements can all help us create our succession plan. 

What are you retiring to? Cultural preservationist? Legend teller? Rocker of babies? Sharer of experiences? I am moving on to a new phase, where the time I used to spend parenting will now be focused on providing an environment that encourages the sharing of ideas and knowledge. All with the goal of creating opportunities for personal growth and a holistic life through involvement in RMC. We should be proud when we are able to move into a different stage of life, no matter the age. Retirement doesn’t mean we’re moving towards a stagnant way of life, just that we have new goals!