I still remember the motto of the primary school I attended in the early 1960s: 'Ek Wil, Ek Kan' ('I Will, I Can'). Maybe not the most inspiring slogan for a first-grader, but it stuck with me throughout my life. Interestingly, that school still uses the same motto today. Even though it has since changed from an Afrikaans-medium to an English-medium school, the motto remains 'I Will, I Can.'

Whenever I wanted to do something ('I Will'), I always asked myself whether I could do it ('I Can'). Can I physically do it? Do I have the required skillset? Can I afford it? Does it align with my values? What a simple, no-nonsense, practical way to decide whether to do something or not: Can I do it? Simple and practical—just like this blog.

Even though I had a good job and really enjoyed my work in the years leading to my retirement, I started thinking about retiring around the age of sixty. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized: I want to. I want to retire. True to my practical approach, the next question naturally followed: But can I retire?

This exciting thought started to take hold of me, and I cautiously brought it up with my wife:
“I’ve been thinking more and more about possibly retiring a bit earlier—maybe at 63 instead of the usual 65.”
“Where is this coming from?” she asked. “You love your job.”
“Yeah… but retirement is starting to sound more and more appealing. The more I read about it, the more it seems like a real option. Just think—you’ll do things because you want to, not because you have to!”
“Will we be able to live?” A very practical question!
“I always analyze everything in detail,” I replied. “I’ll do some calculations. But first, I need to learn more about retirement—I know nothing about it. I’ve just always gone to work every day…” I grumbled.

So I started researching what retirement involves. I even attended a short course on retirement offered by my employer’s pension fund. I didn’t understand much at first, but I quickly realized the course focused mostly on the financial side of things. It was full of new concepts and terms, so much so that I ended up attending it a second, and even a third time.

I started reading more broadly about retirement and everything that comes with it. At first, I was more interested in the emotional aspects of retirement—the joy of being retired and the risks if you're not prepared. Since I initially knew very little about the financial side of things, I especially focused on how to figure out how much money one needs to retire and how to get there.

As my research progressed, retirement started sounding better and better! It promised opportunities to enjoy life far more than I had expected. Suddenly, physical and mental health, along with support from my spouse, children, family, and friends, started to matter much more than my job or financial status had before. Retirement became this perfect chance to finally become the person you always wanted to be—and to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.

With no full-time job anymore, there’s simply more time for personal, marital, social, family, and creative activities. If I had known all this earlier, I would’ve started planning for retirement much sooner—and probably could’ve retired even earlier too!

Are you still early in your career, where retirement seems like a distant thought? Are you already middle-aged and worried (or even anxious) about whether you’ll ever have enough saved? Even if you’re already retired, you can still learn more about the emotional, lifestyle, and financial sides of retirement.

I’d like to share my practical thoughts and opinions with you about both the non-financial and financial aspects of retirement—through the eyes of someone who’s been in the corporate world for many years. But these principles apply to everyone—whether you’re a salaried worker in the corporate world, an employee in someone else’s business, or an entrepreneur running your own. This blog is based on my own pre-retirement research and eight years of post-retirement experience.

No matter what stage of life you’re in, I invite you to read on.