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Actively shape your retirement: opportunities and challenges
08.08.2024
The transition to retirement represents a major change in life. It’s completely normal to not only look forward to it, but to also be apprehensive about what daily life might look like in retirement. These tips may help you to actively plan your retirement and to shape it in a fulfilling way. Early retirement may even be an option in some cases.
At a glance
Retirement is the time when we get more freedom. To be able to enjoy this time just the way you want, you should start planning for retirement at an early stage.
Not only that, it’s also important to think about day-to-day life. As long as you’re healthy, there are many ways to spend an active retirement: courses, carrying on working, indulging in hobbies, and more.
Would you like advice from our experts in the form of a retirement consultation?
At last, freedom to do all the things you didn’t have the time for during your working life: this is what most people look forward to when the time to retire is in sight. But, for all the excitement this brings, there is also an element of uncertainty, whether related to finances, what day-to-day life will be like, or maintaining relationships. To make the transition to this new chapter in your life as smooth as possible, it is worth giving these matters some serious thought before you reach retirement age. Start planning early on and give yourself some freedom so you can enjoy your retirement just the way you want.
How should you use the time you have in (early) retirement? Five inspiring examples
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Javier spent 25 years working in the kitchens of various Swiss hotels. When he retired, Javier, who is of Spanish descent, set up a small cookery school for Spanish cooking.
Former nurse Margarete took up archery as a hobby when she retired. She loved the sport as a young girl, but she never pursued it. Until now.
After spending 40 years working as a teacher at a primary school, Helga decided to get involved in local youth gatherings, where she organizes workshops to foster the children’s talent.
When she retired, former lawyer Admira attended a number of photography courses. Today, she takes pictures of people and displays the photos at local exhibitions.
When former bank clerk Werner retired, he swapped bookkeeping for beekeeping, which he took a course in. Today, he keeps honey bees in his garden and produces fine honey, which he gives away as gifts.
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Finances in retirement
Retirement comes with financial changes. When you retire, you no longer receive an employment salary. This is when you start covering living costs with state pension benefits (Old Age and Survivors’ Insurance, OASI / Disability insurance, DI / Supplementary benefits from the 1st pillar), employee benefits (pension fund under the 2nd pillar), your private pension (pillar 3a and 3b), as well as your own assets.
Here are the questions that matter when it comes to planning for retirement:
What benefits can I expect to receive in terms of state pension and employee benefits when I retire? How much money will private funds add to the mix? Go to the “Retirement planner” calculator
What expenses will I no longer have to pay when I retire (e. g. eating out, commuting costs)?
What additional costs will I have to pay (e. g. money spent on hobbies, leisure, healthcare)?
What costs will I continue to pay (e. g. rent, health insurance premiums, taxes)?
Where can I make savings (e. g. a smaller apartment/car)? Go to “Create budget” tool
What will the difference (i.e. pension gap) be between my financial needs in retirement and the benefits I receive from the three retirement pillars?
How much money am I willing or able to take from my savings to fund the lifestyle I want when I retire?
If I have investments: should I adjust my investment strategy to my retirement situation?
Don’t want to completely say goodbye to working life? In Switzerland, it’s possible to carry on working even in retirement, and in doing so defer drawing your OASI pension by at least a year and at most five years. In return, you are entitled to a pension supplement that is paid out for the rest of your life. You can choose either a complete or a partial deferral (between 20 and 80 percent of the pension). This allows you to carry on working at a reduced capacity, for instance, and to offset the income loss with a portion of your OASI pension. Be sure to consult your OASI compensation office to find out what you need to do and what applies to your particular case.
For some people, carrying on working is also a way of supplementing their pension in retirement, whether in the form of a full-time position, a part-time position, or in the form of self-employment.
PostFinance’s retirement consultation – book an appointment now
PostFinance’s retirement advice is recommended to anyone over the age of 50 to clear up any financial questions around retirement planning. Thanks to PostFinance’s retirement advice, you have professional experts at your side to support you: take a look at your expected financial situation in old age together with us and let us discuss possible ways of optimizing it. If you wish, we can provide further details on topics such as effects of early, deferred or semi-retirement, advantages and disadvantages of pension or capital withdrawal from the pension fund, or the affordability of your own home after retirement.
Retirement allows you to reshape your life. But this task can be very challenging. Whereas before you had a fixed daily schedule with appointments and obligations, you now suddenly find yourself with lots of free time on your hand. How can you use it to lead a fulfilling life? This depends on what is important to you in life, what you enjoy, and what makes you happy. Prioritize your personal wishes and needs.
What would you really like to do in retirement?
Are you someone who gets bored quickly and is looking for a new challenge? Then perhaps courses offered by universities for seniors or interesting courses from other providers are the way to go for you.
Do you want to carry on working after retirement? This is an option you have, regardless whether you stick with your previous employer (perhaps at a reduced capacity), or you even decide to go ahead and start your very own company.
You could also carry on working on a smaller scale. Feel like giving someone else a hand and getting paid? The online platform “Rent a Rentner” (rent a pensioner) allows you to do just that. The platform helps link pensioners up with jobs, such as dog sitting, gardening, or filling tax returns.
Volunteering is a great way for pensioners to share the life experience and knowledge they have gathered over the years, and is ideal for anyone keen to do something good for society.
In retirement, you finally have the time and freedom to visit the places you’ve long wanted to go to. The experiences and memories you gather when you go travelling are priceless and enrich your life. Additionally, travelling is a way to fill your life with exciting experiences and stories.
Whether it’s playing the piano, gardening, sewing, hiking or playing golf: in retirement, you can do all the things you had to put off during your working life. The examples you see above in the image carousel may give you some inspiration here.
Retiring normally comes with changes in our social environment, as we lose professional contacts. At the same time, this chapter in our lives represents an opportunity to forge new relationships and to strengthen existing ones. The following questions may help to maintain and strengthen a sustainable social network:
Who are the most important people to me, and how can I maintain these relationships?
What professional contacts do I want to maintain in retirement?
How do I go about forging new relationships (e. g. at a workshop, in an association/club, while volunteering, on social media)?
Pro Senectute offers activities for retirees who want to spend their free time or holidays in good company.
Incidentally, there are also changes in the spouses' partnership – both in terms of the daily routine and the financial situation as a couple. Regular and open discussions are now crucial in order to talk about expectations, concerns and wishes, avoid misunderstandings and find solutions. It’s also important to respect the personal space and interests of your partner. Last but not least, both partners should be able to pursue their own hobbies and maintain social contacts.
Recommended reading
Here’s some recommended reading: in his book “Für ein Alter, das noch was vorhat” (For an age that still has plans), author and philosopher Ludwig Hasler calls on us, when we’re older, to make a contribution towards a future that will outlive us. The book is available in all good bookshops, for instance Orell Füssli, at The link will open in a new window orellfuessli.ch.
Get some more tips about retirement and other day-to-day questions:
