Last Updated on April 5, 2026 by teamtfl
“Hemant, I want to retire.”
Prakash (name changed) sat across from me — 54, VP at a large pharma company, children settled, corpus looking healthy. He had the look of a man who had already decided. The meeting, he thought, was a formality.
I smiled. “Let me ask you 5 questions first. If you can answer all 5, I will help you retire tomorrow.”
He leaned back, confident. “Go ahead.”
What followed was a conversation I have had hundreds of times in 25 years. And almost every time, the person who walks in wanting to retire walks out wanting to wait.
⚡ Quick Answer
Retirement is not just a financial decision — it is a life decision. Most senior executives focus on the corpus but ignore longevity risk, loss of identity, unfinished goals, wasted expertise, and social isolation. This article presents 5 reasons to reconsider retirement through a real advisor-client conversation.
Question 1: “How Long Do You Think You Will Live?”
Prakash: “I don’t know — 75? 80 maybe?”
Hemant: “India’s average life expectancy is around 71 years. But that is an average — it includes villages with poor healthcare, labourers, smokers. For someone like you — urban, educated, access to good hospitals — the number is closer to 82-85. Maybe more.”
Prakash: “Okay… so?”
Hemant: “So if you retire at 54, your corpus needs to last 28-31 years. That is not a retirement. That is a second career in money management — except this time, you cannot make a single mistake.”
Most retirement calculators assume 20 years. Reality is demanding 25-30. Every additional year you work does three things: it adds to the corpus, it delays withdrawals, and it shortens the period your money needs to survive. Working just 2-3 years longer can add ₹1-2 crore to your comfortable horizon at 75. Think about what ₹1 crore means at that age.
Question 2: “What Will You Do on Day 4?”
Prakash: “Day 4? What do you mean?”
Hemant: “Day 1 you celebrate. Day 2 you sleep in. Day 3 you take your wife out for lunch. Day 4 — what do you do?”
Prakash: (long pause) “I will… travel. Read. Maybe consult.”
Hemant: “Maybe. Or maybe you will sit in the drawing room at 10 AM wondering why nobody has called. Work gives you more than a salary, Prakash. It gives you structured time, social interaction, and a reason to get dressed in the morning.”
I have seen this pattern dozens of times. Rajiv (name changed), a senior bank executive, retired at 57 with excellent finances. Within 18 months — restless, short-tempered, increasingly disconnected. The corpus was intact. The person was not.
If you have a second career, a consulting practice, or a passion you have been building on the side — excellent. But “I will figure it out after I retire” is not a plan. It is a wish. And wishes do not pay the emotional bills.
Question 3: “Are All Your Financial Goals Actually Done?”
Prakash: “Yes — children are settled, house is paid off.”
Hemant: “What about your daughter’s overseas MBA she mentioned last year? Your mother’s long-term care? That Goa property you and your wife keep talking about?”
Prakash: (shifting in his chair) “Those are… optional.”
Hemant: “Today they are optional. At 65, when you cannot fund them, they become regrets.”
This is the pattern I see most often. Executives at 52-55 think their goals are done because the big ones — house, children’s education — are checked off. But there are always second-tier goals hiding in the background. A parent’s care. A lifestyle aspiration. A child’s wedding the way they want it.
Your 50s are the decade when income is highest and children are becoming independent. It is the most powerful accumulation window of your entire career. Closing it early costs more than most people calculate.
“Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials — much to live on and much to live for.”
— Unknown (often attributed to various financial thinkers)
Not sure if your corpus covers ALL your goals — not just the obvious ones?
A 30-minute conversation can reveal the gaps hiding behind the confidence.
Question 4: “What Happens to Everything You Know?”
Prakash: “What do you mean? I will relax. Let the younger generation take over.”
Hemant: “You have 30 years of pharmaceutical industry experience. Regulatory knowledge. Supply chain expertise. Market understanding that took decades to build. When you retire, all of that either disappears — or you redirect it.”
Prakash: “Redirect it where?”
Hemant: “Teaching. Mentoring startups. Board advisory. Industry consulting. Writing. These are not ‘keeping busy’ activities — they are genuine contributions. And they typically pay enough to supplement retirement income while keeping your brain sharp and your purpose alive.”
The Japanese call it “ikigai” — a reason for being. It does not disappear at 60. It just needs a new expression. I have seen retired clients who mentor young professionals come alive in ways their corporate careers never allowed. The happiest retirees are not the ones with the largest corpus. They are the ones who found something to do on Day 4.
Question 5: “Who Will You Have Coffee With on Tuesday Morning?”
Prakash: (long silence)
Hemant: “This is the question nobody asks at retirement planning workshops. For 30 years, your social life has been built around work — colleagues, industry events, office lunches, WhatsApp groups with professional peers. The day you retire, that architecture collapses. Almost overnight.”
Prakash: “I have friends outside work.”
Hemant: “Do you? When was the last time you met them on a weekday? Your children are in other cities. Your wife has her own routine. Research consistently shows that social isolation is one of the biggest predictors of depression and cognitive decline in retired individuals.”
This is the one that hits hardest. Prakash sat quietly for a full minute after this question.
“I never thought about the social part,” he finally said. He is not alone. In 25 years, I have heard that sentence more times than I can count.
Prakash: “So… you are saying I should not retire?”
Hemant: “I am saying retirement is not a finish line. It is a transition. And transitions need preparation — not just financial preparation, but life preparation. Retirement expectations versus reality are very different things.”
Prakash: “What did you recommend?”
Hemant: “Work two more years. Use that time to build your Day 4 plan, strengthen your social circle outside work, and close the financial gaps we identified. Then retire — not because you are running from work, but because you are running toward something better.”
He did exactly that. Retired at 56 with a consulting practice already set up, a morning walking group, and a mentoring commitment at IIM Ahmedabad. His corpus was ₹40 lakhs larger. His life was immeasurably richer.
Retirement should be a beginning — not an ending you are unprepared for.
We help executives plan not just the corpus but the life that follows. Because a post-retirement plan is not complete until Day 4 has an answer.
The question is not “can I afford to retire?” The question is “am I ready to live the life that comes after?”
Plan the money. But also plan the days.
💬 Your Turn
If Hemant asked you these 5 questions today, which one would you struggle to answer? Share below — the most common answer I get: “I never thought about the social part.”
Hi ,
I think you have hit the nail here , as to the things to be done after retirement .. As everything the concept of retirement also has undergone a sea change .. U just cannot go off into the sunset , without a care in the world .. My 2c is that having alternate hobby /career is very important right from 40s .. esp for men .. somehow the women seem to be busy with various things even after retirement!! ..
Another thing is to keep spending much lower than what U can in any circumstance .. that will give allow folks to retire/semi-retire, get back to lower paying but more enjoyable work etc ..
Dear Hemant,
Really Impressed. Without proper plan after retirement life will become ruined. Thanks a lot. Very relevant subject.
This article gives a good insight on why one should keep the mind and body at work, post retirement.
We should not forget that not everyone nearing retirement keeps good health. They continue to work despite their condition to achieve their goals. Naturally, such people look forward to slowing down post retirement. Good health is the key to post retirement life.
I’d also like to know, how easily the experienced retirees are accepted in the working world as contributors, while employable youths are still struggling their way up.
Hi Dear Hemant,
Amazing topic for discussion and nicely summarised. Also 1 strong reason which i had read in a book that people want to retire is only if they are doing some work which is not making them happy. If you are doing a work which makes u happy as u rightly pointed out…u will never feel to retire…and you should not even esp if you are a male as women have lots of stuff to do at home and males have nothing much as noted…
Hats off for such amazing articles…. YOU ARE REALLY GIFTED WITH A NICE INTELLECT..AND WE ARE GIFTED TO BE IN TOUCH WITH U…
I fully endorse the statements made therein.I retired on 31.10.1992 but still now I aspire to get a suitable job for me even at this age to spend my time useful not necessarily hoping to get any financial benefits.The job should be suitable to the aged without any commuting.It will be appreciated that a suitable institution be formed to inform the retired people the openings available in various fields depending on their experience and qualifications.
Good piece, Hemant. The fundamental point is that, more and more, it makes sense to think of changing goals at a certain stage in life rather thinking of retirement. Consider the fact that people now are even choosing to ‘ retire’ in their 40- s.
Hi Hemant
A very good post.I feel that a person should continue to work as long as he remains healthy.Moreover one must have a hobby to pass time after retirement. It is a fact that most housewives never retire and sometimes they have to do more work when their husbands retire. I think males should learn to become more independent post retirement. They must try to help their wives to reduce their work.
Many times one is forced to take retirement due to poor health or domestic circumstances. In my case I have one brother and one sister who are settled in the US. I am the only one in the family living in India.During my service I have always lived in various locations away from my parents.However I realised that my aging parents needed constant attention.So I had no option but to take retirement to be able to live with them.
I think that retirement is a state of mind. Its planning for and looking forward to the point in your life when you stop working because you have to and are working because you want to. At this stage the compulsions that dictate what job you do, etc go away and you can look forward to doing the job you love and that gives you satisfaction. Money ceases to be the motivator
I’m seeing interesting comments converging to, ‘Don’t stop after retirement’..well I wonder what are most of the retirees who had successfull career, doing nowadays? can we look around our small worlds and find out 🙂
My dad (now retired) keeps himself occupied through gardening, teaching local kids, and teaching some basic yoga. Although my retirement’s pretty far away, I know I’ll get myself involved in teaching my favorites – photography, physics, and mathematics…..my tutorials and lecture plans have been taking some shape already!
Dear Hemant,
I retired in May 2009 but am till continuing with my job in the same organization on the motto “They require me, I require them””. After reading your good piece of advice, I have been vindicated. Thank you very much.
Dear Hemant
The post is bang on! As Buffett puts it, if you are passionate about the work you do, then you will never need to ‘work’ for your entire life. You will daily ‘tap dance to work’ like buffett and hence never retire.
Job opportunities are not there in the market. If you have good networking, recommendations then only you get job though you are in good health & a motivated person. Travelling is also a problem in Mumbai.
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