Karen Kristjanson plays the violin at home in Surrey, B.C., on Feb. 21. (Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail)Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
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In Tales from the Golden Age, retirees talk about their spending, savings and whether life after work is what they expected.
Karen Kristjanson, 72, South Surrey, B.C.
I retired in 2011, at the age of 60, after working in leadership development and coaching for the Canada Border Services Agency. I was feeling a bit stale in my job and ready to leave full-time employment. I had enough pensionable service years to feel okay about retiring and was looking for more freedom. The plan was to start my own part-time consulting business and spend more time on my hobbies and interests, including writing and singing.
My transition to retirement didn’t go as smoothly as planned. About three months before my retirement date, I experienced a severe spinal problem that left me disabled. I couldn’t sit for five minutes or walk any distance without severe pain. The only time I was pain-free was when I was lying down. It felt more like sick leave than retirement. After more than a year of that, I finally had surgery, which enabled me to start adjusting slowly to the kind of retirement I had imagined.
Once I recovered, it took a few years to establish some new life rhythms. What helped was writing my book, Co-Parenting from the Inside Out: Voices of Moms and Dads, published in 2017. Writing gave me something to get up for each day. It provided some structure, which I found comforting. But once I finished my book, I found it challenging to set goals to keep me active and engaged. As a bit of an introvert, I needed to push myself to reach out to friends and build and maintain connections in my community.
I stay connected by singing in a choir and other groups. I always loved to sing and decided to take voice lessons in my 40s. Now, I don’t just have a nice voice but a somewhat skillful one. I’m also taking violin lessons, which is very humbling. I studied violin in my teens and played a bit in a band with my husband over the years, but I was never that good. Now, I’m getting better. My retirement also includes some travel, including visiting my sons and grandchildren. One of my sons is in Winnipeg, where my husband and I lived before moving to British Columbia 20 years ago, and the other is in Toronto.
I don’t worry too much about money in retirement, partly because of my part-time life coaching practice, which tops up my pension income most years. But I’m not only working for the additional income. It feels good to continue using the professional skills I’ve developed over my lifetime. I can also keep my professional identity, which is important to me. I can see its impact and benefit on the people I’m working with, which is very rewarding.
The most marvellous thing about retirement is having the time to do things I want that have meaning to me. The downside of retirement is I’m getting older and don’t have as much energy as I used to, not to mention some of the physical limitations. Health can be a wild card, which is why I believe it’s critical for people to try to do everything possible to stay healthy, both physically and mentally, especially as we age.
Also, it’s worthwhile to develop more than one interest because you never know when something could become impossible. For instance, I love to play tennis but can’t do it any more. I also believe it’s important to stay as up-to-date as you can with technology, even though it can sometimes be very infuriating. It’s helpful if you want to try to stay somewhat relevant.
As told to Brenda Bouw.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Are you a Canadian retiree interested in discussing what life is like now that you’ve stopped working? The Globe is looking for people to participate in its Tales from the Golden Age feature, which examines the personal and financial realities of retirement. If you’re interested in being interviewed for this feature and agree to use your full name and have a photo taken, please e-mail us at: goldenageglobe@gmail.com. Please include a few details about how you saved and invested for retirement and what your life is like now.
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