Glacier by Sanlam contacted me and told me about this really interesting project #FutureFWD:

“We’ve paired three young South Africans with three inspiring retirees to uncover what retirement is really like. For one month, they will share the realities of everyday life in retirement; from everyday hobbies, daily routines and future plans, to the ups and downs of financial and physical wellbeing.
We all know that saving for retirement is an essential part of life, but what are we actually saving for?”

When I first heard about this project, I was quite apprehensive, but completely intrigued.

Retirement.

It’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought to, have you? When I think about retirement I think one of two things.

1. Little frail people sitting in rocking chairs, knitting and waiting for tea time.
2. I think of retired people as playing golf, bridge and playing with their grandchildren.

It just seems so far away for me and yet, I also love the idea of retiring early.

I guess it’s not something I’ve thought about financially.

I say I was quite apprehensive about this project because I just did not know what to expect. I didn’t know who my retiree would be and unsure about this journey.

The apprehension melted away the minute we met.

When I first met Sarah, I was immediately drawn to her. She is really beautiful, has this regal nature to her and is one of those women who just looks so well put together, really stylish and sophisticated. She looks so fit and you can see she really looks after herself. She doesn’t look old enough to be retired, but then again… what should that look like?

We got chatting and instantly hit it off. It’s a small world – I know her gorgeous daughter through the industry.

The day we met.
We got chatting at the launch and decided to have our “first date” one Saturday morning at the 15 on Orange Hotel for the Vintage with Love sale. It’s a sale of gently worn and vintage clothes and all the proceeds go to Literacy charities.









This piece reminded Sarah of the 70’s and she remembered owning a skirt similar to it.We instantly got stuck into the racks, arranged via colour codes and we both found some great pieces.

After our shop, we sat down and ordered a cappuccino for her and a tea for me.

Age really is just a number and I hardly felt the gap. We got chatting and I learned that she retired at the age of 50 and her husband retired at the age of 48. I’m so intrigued by her and just feel like I’m going to learn so much from Sarah. I want to be a sponge over the next few weeks and really just absorb and learn.

Hopefully I too will be able to retire at that age, wouldn’t that be lovely?

Young people don’t really think about retirement and don’t really think that far ahead financially, so this project is actually excellent, because it’s going to uncover some of the elements I haven’t thought about and make me aware of what needs to be done in order to ensure I am comfortable in my retirement year, and by sharing it with you, hopefully inspire you too!

I’m curious though… Have you thought about retirement? Have you started saving towards it? Do you save and what age did you start saving?

I’d love to open the comments up to a conversation, so please feel free.

Part 2 is coming up!