End of year, end of working life. These two events, one a regular event, the other a decision and a new chapter in life, often occur at the same time.

So, what will that feel like for you this Christmas? Will it be a relief, feelings like you’re just on holiday, or are you facing retirement with trepidation?

So, how will you face this new phase?

Remember that our true identity is quite different from our work identity. Who we really are is more about things like – our attitude, our personality, how we view the world around us, our compassion and empathy, our sense of humour and our spirituality.

We all need to have a more realistic expectation as to what life will be like in retirement, so that we are less likely to encounter major shocks such as loss of identity, change in circumstances with friends and with your significant relationships, family and partners.

As we continuously stress on this website and in the books we publish, retirement is about more than getting your finances organised. Doing that is important, but doing some lifestyle research and planning is just as important.

We hope that you will find the information we provide makes the job of preparing for life in some form of retirement a lot easier.

Happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year and your new life.