The new retirement milestones to celebrate
And in the weekend papers - 'Thinking about retiring soon? Here’s where to start'
In this edition
Feature: The new retirement milestones to celebrate
From Bec’s Desk: The week ahead is going to be HUGE!
SMH/TheAge: Thinking about retiring soon? Here’s where to start
Prime Time: Taking a “grown up gap year” with Monique van Tulder
It’s Epic Retirement Month!
20th November to 20th December is Epic Retirement Month. It’s the month when the largest number of retirees retire in Australia, in the year - according to my insights. And that’s worth supporting. So we’re providing thirty days of inspiration, education and the kind of practical advice that helps you shape the second half of life on your own terms. Visit my new website for more: www.epicretirement.net.
And in the week ahead comes one of the biggest moments of all: the launch of the completely updated edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement for Australia and New Zealand. It’s 100 pages bigger, as well as clearer and more comprehensive, with a stack of new sections to help you navigate modern retirement with confidence. Order your copy here
And, over on my NEW website we’ve released The Epic Retirement Starter Kit - a free 16 page guide to help you navigate retirement. Just for Epic Retirement Month. Go get it!
The new retirement milestones to celebrate
You’ll often hear me say that I don’t want you to think about retirement as a finish line anymore. That is the old way of retiring. And we now know that people who take a slower road into retirement, gradually stepping back from work that no longer fits and routines that no longer serve you, tend to have a smoother and healthier transition into the next stage of life.
But I will admit something. When you take the gradual road, it does steal a bit of the romance from the ending you might have pictured. The day you walk in and tell your boss you are done. Then the big Hollywood-style last day of work with ballons, cake and tears of joy or sadness. There is no dramatic exit or champagne moment. The shift happens quietly and almost invisibly over time. And for some people, that means there is no single moment where your peers celebrate you, and your working years can feel like they slipped away quietly rather than with a bang.
So instead, I want you to think about the journey into retirement as a series of small, celebration-worthy milestones. Quiet, meaningful markers you can acknowledge and even celebrate privately with the people that matter. Because each one is a sign that you are moving into your next chapter with intention and a clearer sense of who you are becoming.
Here are a few you might recognise. And remember, you do not need to tick them all off and they certainly do not happen in any fixed order. Notice the ones that resonate and the ones still ahead.
The day you demolish all your debt
There is nothing quite like the day you make that final repayment. Whether it is the mortgage, a stubborn loan or the last bit of credit card debt you have been chipping away at, it always lands the same way. Quietly, privately and with a deep sense of relief. You close the laptop, lean back and your whole body feels lighter.
It is not just about the money. It is the shift in ownership. From this day on, every dollar of your future cashflow belongs to you, not the bank. For many people, this is the moment retirement stops feeling abstract and starts feeling possible.
The day you realise you will have enough to retire
Most people can point to the exact moment this one hits. You finally run the numbers properly, you look at what you have and what you need, and you can see the point on the horizon where everything lines up. You know your number and you know when you will reach it.
You do not need to retire tomorrow, but from this point the fear drops away. You are in a position to choose yourself and that is a quietly powerful moment.
The day work starts feeling optional
This one feels different from burnout. You are still showing up and contributing, but your identity is no longer locked to your job in the same way. You realise you could step back if you wanted to. You can picture yourself working fewer days, changing your pace or taking a proper break.
It is the first real sign that the power dynamic between you and your work has shifted.
The day you hand over a project and feel relieved, not sad
This often catches people by surprise. Someone else takes over something you have carried for years and instead of feeling protective or left out, you feel relieved. You are genuinely glad it is no longer yours to hold.
It is one of the clearest signs that you are loosening your grip on full-time work.
The day you start imagining the shape of your weeks once you are done
Not in a grand, dramatic way. More in the everyday sense. You imagine slower mornings, having time for things you enjoy, not rushing through every day. You picture a week that feels more like yours.
This is usually the moment when time starts to matter more than money.
The day you quietly trial your first version of retirement
Maybe you drop a day. Maybe you take long service leave. Maybe you simply stop operating at full tilt. You do not call it retirement, but it feels like a rehearsal for it.
This is how most people retire now. No big announcement. No farewell speech. Just small and intentional adjustments that gradually become your new rhythm of life.
The day you decide to get intentional about the next stage
This is the true turning point. You stop imagining retirement as something that will just happen one day and start shaping it on purpose. You want your time, your lifestyle and your pace to change, and you want it to happen on your terms.
This is the moment you begin understanding how the retirement systems work, where your income will come from and what decisions you need to make. Retirement stops being an ending and becomes something you design.
The day you tell someone you trust that you are retiring this year
It often happens in a small, private conversation. Over coffee, during a walk or at the kitchen table. You say it for the first time. “I am finishing up this year.”
It is not dramatic, just real. And the moment you say it, the transition begins.
The day you walk out for what you think is the last time
It rarely looks like a movie moment. Most people describe it as steady and calm. You finish what you need to finish, you say your goodbyes and you walk out the door.
If you have been in your career a long time, you might celebrate with a few close friends or colleagues - or head to the pub. Or you might skip the fuss entirely because you feel emotional or nervous. Either way, something shifts as you step away. You have moved from talking about retirement to living it.
The first weekday that feels entirely your own
This usually hits within the first couple of weeks. You go for a walk, make breakfast slowly or run errands without weekend crowds and it dawns on you. This is your time now.
It is one of the real joys of this stage of life, but also the moment you realise you need to use that time well.
The day you start shaping what you actually want from this next stage
This is when retirement starts feeling like something you are building rather than something you ended up in. You begin thinking about how you want your weeks to feel, how you want to use your energy and what you want more of or less of.
You have seen how quickly free days disappear if you are not intentional, and now you want them to disappear in the right direction. It is a gr
The day you leave on your first big trip after retirement
For a lot of people, this is one of the most joyful and emotional milestones. You finally have the freedom to travel when everyone else is back at work, and there is something delicious about that. It might be a long-haul adventure you have talked about for years or just a few weeks somewhere warm, but the moment you click “book” and the day you take off feels different now.
You are not squeezing it into annual leave or racing back for Monday meetings. You can choose shoulder season instead of peak season. You can stay longer. You can take your time.
It is often the first moment when retirement feels expansive rather than uncertain. You realise you now get to decide how you want to spend your days, your seasons and your energy. And that simple act of booking a trip becomes a quiet celebration of everything you have worked for. It is one of the loveliest “this is my life now” moments you will experience.ounding moment and one of the most important parts of the transition.
Tell me today the days that you’re looking forward to and how your retirement will shape. This is different for everyone.
Have you visited the Epic Retirement Shop?
Epic Retirement Varsity-Style T-shirts & Mugs
Retiring can very much feel like a milestone event, a bit like school seniors feel when they’re graduating from school. There’s loads of build up,
So, we’ve curated a range of fun varsity-style t-shirts and mugs you can buy for yourself or gift to someone. They’re print on demand - so once you place your order they’ll take 6-10 days to arrive. If you want them for Christmas or the retirement season prior to, you’ll want to get your order in now.
I feel like I’ve been running on fumes for quite a few weeks and I have to admit I realised how close we are this week to the holidays and almost sighed with relief. The audiobooks have been put to bed, the books are almost in bookstores in Australia, New Zealand and the UK (pinch me!) and I’m finally slowing down to really enjoy the last month of the year.
We’ve given this next 30 days - from 20 November to 20 October - a name, “Epic Retirement Month” and we’re going to do it every year at this time! This is the month of the year when THE MOST PEOPLE retire in the country and throughout the western world, and not because it’s a smart tax move, but because the seasons of life just made sense to. So we’re bringing a month long program of organised and helpful education.
And finally, as I was finishing this newsletter my first column has just gone ‘live’ in The Times in the UK; ‘The secrets of the happiest pensioners’. I’m their new retirement columnist 🫢 and it landed as a full Saturday feature! - pinch me.
This week the first week of activity kicked off.
We launched Epic Retirement Month on the Prime Time podcast (huge thanks to Hostplus for sponsoring the whole month of education on the podcast - so awesome to have their support!). Epic Retirement Month is doing a full month-long take over of the Prime Time podcast - listen out.
I spoke in Sydney at Aware Super’s Annual Member Meeting, chairing their panel of experts on retirement and taking member questions as well as teaching their members about the Epic Retirement Tick.
I headed to Phillip Island in Victoria last weekend too - to speak at the Lifestyle Communities open day. Such a beautiful place.
I’ve just dropped a terrific column in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, tied to Epic Retirement Month too - ‘Thinking about retiring soon? Here’s where to start’
Lastly, I’ve been releasing daily reels on Facebook here - which is a whole new channel and different type of content for me - and I’m having great fun thinking up things and deciding the right formats for them. Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/becwilsonepic or Instagram: instagram.com/epicretirement
Have a lovely Sunday!
Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker
Every time someone starts thinking about retirement, the very first instinct is panic – more specifically, money panic. It’s so uncomfortable that many people avoid the topic altogether, with the anxiety rising like bile every time they hear the words “super balance” or “age pension”.
And I see it everywhere. At barbecues, in supermarkets, and standing in the corner at work events. People bail me up and ask the same question: “How much money do I need in super before I can pull the plug on work?”
It’s a fun number to contemplate. It’s also the wrong first question.
Most Australians jump straight into talking about spreadsheets, online calculators and doomsday scenarios, and then delay retiring while they wait for the “perfect” lump-sum number. Others avoid the conversation altogether.
Read on — this article continues in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times and WA Today. It is free to read - you may have to sign up, but there’s no paywall on my articles.
What is an Epic Retirement? Launching Epic Retirement Month
In this special episode, we flip the script. Instead of interviewing a guest, I jump into the hot seat with my producer Genevieve Rule asking the questions. We’re launching Epic Retirement Month – a whole month dedicated to helping you shape a retirement that’s anything but ordinary.
Bec explains what an epic retirement really looks like (and why it’s about far more than just money), walking through the six big facets she focuses on: how long you might live, your money and spending, your health, what you’ll do with your time (on an average Tuesday as well as the big bucket list stuff), travel, and how your home and care might need to evolve as you age.
You’ll also hear the story behind Epic Retirement Month – including the wave of retirements Bec saw last year in the Epic Retirement Club community – and why so many people quietly retire in November and December without much public conversation or support. Bec shares her mission to help more Australians retire by choice, not by crisis, and to give people the tools and language to plan an epic next chapter.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE PODCAST HERE: