And you, do you see retirement as a goal, or as a deadline?

Two of my passions are outdoor adventures and ecology, and thankfully we have more and more people making films about such adventures. Yesterday, I watched Alpine Quest: “From Vienna to Monaco: A Women’s Alpine Challenge”. Three women traversed the alps from Vienna to Monaco by combining cycling, ski mountaineering and trail running. 54 days, 1’600 km, 67’000 m of elevation gain. It is quite an impressive feat, the kind of adventure you want to go make for yourself ¹.

I started imagining myself in this adventure, considering if I would be able to finish such an expedition. The biking and trail running parts, probably, and the ski mountaineering part, maybe within my reach with a mountain guide. So when one of the women, Loubna, mentioned she was 57 years old, I started calculating the number of years I could have left to envision such an adventure: at least 20 years or so, provided I keep a good fitness level.

But my thoughts did not stop there. What about in 30 years? Would I still be able to aim for such a challenge? In Switzerland, the legal retirement age is 65, and with the current social context it will likely be 67 when I retire. So I have 30 years left before retirement, give or take. Would I still be able to do this when I retire? Nobody knows, but it’s certainly much less likely than when I’m 57. There is a limit to how old you can be to tackle such crazy adventures.

I’m already considering myself lucky enough to have realized in my mid-thirties that, to achieve some of my trail running dreams, I needed to be in good health and have a certain level of fitness, and those are not guaranteed forever. This came to mind while discussing with people older than me, who told me they can’t run anymore because of some health condition, usually knee or ankle problems. I understood that to achieve some of my running dreams, like completing a mountain ultramarathon, I should start doing them as soon as possible, while I still can.

Today, I went one step further. While reflecting on yesterday’s thoughts, I noticed that it was not the first time I was counting down the years until retirement. We all went through discussions with friends during our early twenties that go like this: “Oh man, still 45 years left before I retire.” But this time, the counting was different. I counted the years down not towards a goal, but towards a deadline.

Retirement is often seen as a life goal, the moment when you stop working and start enjoying the good life. But now I’m starting to see retirement as a deadline, and I’m even more motivated to squeeze in as many adventures as possible before it. It makes it much less fun to think about retirement, but I’m sure I’ll have a richer life.

And you, do you see retirement as a goal, or as a deadline?