In the Happy with Retirement series, we talk to retirees. How have they arranged their pensions? And more importantly: how are they enjoying it now? We spoke to Rolf van den Bergen (64). He worked for Dow for 17 years and has been on leave since 1 January. He will officially retire on 1 April 2025.
Rolf: "I worked for 46 years in all. At Dow, I was a process operator. This meant I was the 'Ship Machinist'; I made sure that all the parts of the machinery kept working properly."
I like variety
"I've always worked shifts. That meant I interacted with different colleagues of different ages. And during our breaks, we put the world to rights. Working shifts, I was off more often during the week and didn't always have the same working hours. That gave me more freedom to do what I wanted outside normal office hours. I've always liked having variety in my life."
You soon get used to being retired
"Getting out of work mode took some getting used to; I felt I ought to be doing something. Retiring is a transition, but you quickly get used to it. For example, it's nice not having to get up early anymore. And I can now do even more of the things that I used to do in my spare time, like cycling on my road bike or mountain bike, riding my motorbike, fishing or filming with a drone. Sometimes I go on cycling or hiking trips with my wife, too. Or we head off somewhere in the campervan."
Getting an overview of my finances
"Having worked for different employers, I have four different pension pots. I also have an annuity policy. So, I needed to get an overview of my financial situation. Retirement is not a simple matter and the only information I got about it was online. The lack of face-to-face contact about my retirement did bother me. But I managed to get it all sorted in the end."
Now, if I get bored, I'll go and lie in my pool
"Soon we'll be heading off on a tour of Scandinavia in the campervan. We don't yet know how long we'll be away. We also want to go to more cycling races, like the Tour of Flanders or the Amstel Gold Race. We'll take our bikes with us so we can cycle around the area ourselves. Now, if I get bored during my retirement, I can always go and lie in my pool."