How to beat relevance deprivation syndrome with Jim Kilkenny
How to beat relevance deprivation syndrome with Jim Kilkenny
In this episode we talk about relevance deprivation syndrome in a really personal way with former financial adviser, Jim Kilkenny who admits openly that he really struggled with it when he retired.
This week we talk about relevance deprivation syndrome, in a very personal way that many people will be able to relate to.
Jim Kilkenny dived out to the workforce at the age of 56 after a very big career in financial services, having been a financial adviser, business owner and company director. He’d guided thousands of people into retirement over several decades, helping them find both financial stability and understand the need for a sense of purpose. So it was a huge surprise when he stumbled into his own retirement, finding himself feeling irrelevant and lost just months after finishing up work.
We call this ‘relevance deprivation syndrome’ and today we have a long talk about how it feels and how you can identify it, navigate it and even potentially avoid it.
Listen now
LISTEN HERE - LATEST EDITION (S1E12) - OMNY
or listen on APPLE PODCASTS
Here’s some highlights from episode 12 of Prime Time:
What is ‘relevance deprivation syndrome’: How to identify the signs, and why most sufferers have previously been men, but it is growing amongst women.
Why so many people looking forward to early retirement are financially prepared, but not mentally prepared and they don't really know what they’ve lost until they step away
Why a hard stop retirement didn't work for Jim and where he thinks he went wrong.
The process of decompressing after retirement and how he responded to the first months of doing nothing to it in a way that surprised him and his wife. He speaks about the symptoms of relevance deprivation very personally.
The road to recovery from relevance deprivation: How Jim overcame the challenges - finding a first project to turn things around.
How your social interactions from work disappear when you step away so consider your need to rebuild your social networks around the things that you really enjoy in this phase of your life.
How can you be better prepared for when you retire? Jim gives us his list of suggestions and recommendations for navigating the entry into retirement.
How Jim is actually still working on things he’s passionate about in retirement, knowing he has found a new, flexible place for himself to retain relevance.
Finding some pursuits, hobbies and activities you enjoy, and some that are intellectually stimulating, some are health oriented, and some that get you out of the house.
Why looking after your physical health is so important at this phase of life and what Jim does for his health.
Why, "for some people, retiring is a dangerous proposition”.
The surprising upsides of Jim's early retirement: How Jim changed his attitude to money, and the way he spent it in his Prime Time years.
Jim tells us what he says is the best indicator of you being truly ready for retirement.
Have you faced relevance deprivation syndrome head on and navigated it in your own way. Tell us about it in the comments here.
Poll time
So everyone can learn a bit more about how our community feels, take our poll today!
If you are enjoying Prime Time with Bec Wilson, or have feedback, ideas or thoughts on things you’d like us to cover, drop me an email at bec@primetimers.net.
And, I want to ask you for a favour. Would you please pop on over to Apple or Spotify, depending on which platform you use to listen to the podcast, and leave us a review and a rating (A nice one 😁). We’re a new-ish podcast, and these ratings play a key role in the algorithm, and really do help us get ranked and for people to find us.
Together let’s make our prime time count in 2024.
Many thanks! Bec Wilson
Author, columnist, retirement educator, podcast host and guest speaker