My 4 Ps of Retirement

(This was written just a few days before I retired from Nestle)

Before I go back to the days when I joined this great organization called Nestle, let me share what I had planned to do post-retirement. It was an important part of my future planning. It's never easy to make a transition from corporate life to a phase when you have to identify yourself as a retired person. The word Retirement itself is quite scary. But I decided to think positively about it and asked myself what I want to do after I retire from Nestle. Can I keep myself busy with things I enjoy doing?
I spent some time on this and realized that my life could be exciting. So, I brought out my notepad and started scribbling my plans.
The outcome was very exciting. I knew that I was going to have an exciting time ahead.
The most critical point of retirement planning is your financial stability. Before you start thinking about your retirement, you must estimate how much you need as a corpus to support your lifestyle. Once you are clear and comfortable with your finances, you can plan your retirement.
Today I am not going to discuss finances. I am going to share what I am going to do post-retirement.
The first thing is, of course, a plan to take a break.
I planned for a 3-month break. I am from Kolkata, where I have my own house which used to be under lock and key for all those years I lived outside India. So, my first three-month plans included the following -

- A week's stay at the beautiful Tollygunj Club in Kolkata after I arrive in India. I needed time to chill in otherwise extremely hot and humid weather in Kolkata. I also needed to clean and set up my house.
- Travel to Bangladesh to catch up with my colleagues and friends there. It was also to meet some NGOs for my future plan.
- Travel to Pune and stay with my daughter for one week
- Travel to Mumbai and meet my friends
- Travel to Gurgaon to visit Nestle Head Office and meet the MD of Nestle India Mr. Suresh Narayanan and my other friends and colleagues, there.

These were all planned early, and arrangements were made. It would take a month to complete this journey. For the rest of the two months, I decided to stay at home to help my wife Mallika to renovate our home.
After that, I would be ready to follow my post retirement plans.
So, what was the big plan that I was excited about? The plan was simple, and I called it the 4 Ps of retirement planning.

1. Passion: In my younger days I loved two things most. Electronics was my first love. I was an electronics hobbyist. I used to make transistors, tape recorders, stereo systems, and all kinds of audio systems. I completely lost touch after I joined Nestle. I plan to spend some time now on this hobby. My second passion was sports. I was highly active in sports, especially Basketball. I was the captain of the University Basketball team, and I represented Bengal in the junior nationals. I can't go back to competitive sports anymore. But I want to actively participate in sports organization management.

2. Payback: I have learned a lot and earned enough in my professional life. I will always remain grateful for that to the almighty. Now it's time to payback. I want to work for the leadership development of the younger generation. I will help and support some NGOs to do that. This is my time to pay back.

3. Profession: I have gained huge experience in the last 34 years I worked for Nestle. I want to use that knowledge and experience professionally. I would like to help organizations, especially start-ups, to improve productivity and business. This I will do on a consultancy project basis. Not free of cost.

4. Political back office: The biggest Leadership gap I see today is in our political set-up. I don't want to join politics as a full-time politician. My intention is to support political parties to build true Leadership.