There were reports in the newspapers over the last couple of weeks about the sudden retirement of senior judge Margaret Heneghan from the High Court after just 2 years. She is retiring at 58 years of age in a role where most judges step down at the mandatory retirement age of 70, which is when they will receive their full pension. The legal profession were all very surprised by it but let’s look at bit behind this decision.
As well as being successful in her own right, Margaret Heneghan is also married to businessman Austin Power who recently sold his nursing home help franchise for tens of millions of euro to a French company. Suddenly not getting her full pension seems less important because as a family, they are now financially secure and she no longer needs to work for another 12 years to receive the full pension.
Justice Heneghan has told colleagues that she going to pursue other interests with her husband. If she and her husband have plans, what is the point in putting them all back until she is retired from the bench at age 70? At 58 years of age, she will have plenty of energy and ability to do anything. At age 70, the activities that you could have easily done at 58 aren’t quite so easy. There will be lots of experiences and memories she would lose out on because she working instead of enjoying life.
When I work with financial planning clients, everyone tells me the same thing, they want to enjoy their lifestyle. Do we have enough money to enjoy the lifestyle that we want?
Well, what if you find yourself in a position to enjoy that lifestyle without the need to go out and work again? Would you continue to work, especially if you have spent close on 4 decades working already?
If Justice Heneghan and her husband have plans that they want to achieve in life and the means to pay for them, go do them and enjoy it! Life’s for living.
Tell me what plans you would like to achieve in life. Drop me an email at steven@bluewaterfp.ie