What does retirement look like to you?
For many of us, it's something we've spent years working towards. We imagine having more freedom, more time, and fewer responsibilities. But one of the things that really struck me in my conversation with Chris Maduri was this:
Retirement isn't just about what you're retiring from. It's about what you're retiring to.
Chris has spent nearly two decades helping people prepare financially for retirement, but over the years he's realised that having enough money is only part of the equation. The people who enjoy retirement most are often the ones who've given just as much thought to how they want to spend their days as they've given to building their retirement savings.
That really resonated with me.
So much of our identity becomes wrapped up in our work. Whether we love our careers or simply work to provide for our families, our jobs give our weeks structure, purpose and routine. When that suddenly disappears, it can leave a much bigger gap than we expect.
One of the questions Chris encourages people to ask themselves is wonderfully simple:
If you didn't have to work tomorrow, what would you do with your time?
Not because you have to find one perfect answer, but because it's a great place to begin exploring what brings you joy, purpose and meaning outside of your career.
Maybe it's travelling.
Maybe it's mentoring younger people.
Maybe it's finally learning an instrument, volunteering, starting a small business or simply spending more time with the people you love.
The point isn't to have it all figured out. It's to start becoming curious about the life you're creating.
Of course, we also talked about the financial side of retirement.
Chris explains why planning changes once you move from earning an income to relying on your investments, and why protecting your income during those first few years of retirement can make a significant difference to your long-term financial security. We also discussed planning for the unexpected, including healthcare, aged care and making decisions that protect both you and your family in the future.
But what I appreciated most was that none of the financial conversation happened in isolation.
Chris sees retirement as a whole-life transition.
We spoke about the importance of movement, strength training and looking after your health, because financial freedom means very little if your body can't support the life you want to live. We also touched on meditation, mental wellbeing and the value of creating daily routines that give your life rhythm once work is no longer doing that for you.
One analogy from our conversation has really stayed with me.
Chris compares retirement to climbing a mountain.
Most of us spend years preparing for the ascent. We build our careers, raise our families, pay off the mortgage and accumulate wealth.
But very few of us prepare for the descent.
Yet that's often the part of the journey that requires the most care, the most intention and the most planning.
I think that's what I loved most about this conversation.
It reminded me that retirement isn't the finish line.
It's another chapter.
And whether that chapter is five years away or twenty-five, perhaps the best thing we can do is start building a life that we're genuinely excited to wake up to, long before our final day at work.
