Early Retirement.

Denis's Story.

“If all the year were playing holiday, to sport would be as tedious as to work”

(Prince Hal to Falstaff in King Henry IV, part 1, William Shakespeare.)

Denis joined the Insurance industry at age 17, just after high school. It was the early sixties and that was potentially a “job for life”. Denis was ambitious and quickly rose through the ranks and by his early thirties he was a senior manager. In his early forties he was promoted to Branch Manager, a position of status and prestige among his peers.

He enjoyed the perquisites of office ... the company car, business travel, golf invitations to the championship courses and dining in the finest restaurants.

Perhaps it was Young’s or Erickson’s mid life transition, but somehow around his mid-forties life and work became less satisfying.

He became discontented with life in general and bored with things and people who had once been of great interest.

He found this phase very confusing. However he was not one to question “the meaning of life”, and didn’t want to spend time looking inward.

He wanted to change, do something different.

The insurance industry was changing. Mergers and acquisitions, impact of technology, more regulation, his company was almost unrecognisable from the one he joined in 1959.

He got out his retirement calculator! His pension plan offered a pension of two thirds of final salary at the normal retirement age of 65. At age 50 he would have 33 years service.

The company was looking for volunteers for voluntary retirement and early retirement. This was a golden opportunity. He felt he could negotiate a good deal, including and attractive lump sum, more cash than he ever had in his life.

The deal was done and he was free at last! But free to do what?

Go to Part 2 of Dennis's Story.

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