Retirement looks simple on paper until you realize you’re not just leaving a job, you’re leaving an identity. Lee and Gwilym sit down with Rob Williams, a former partner and co-head of IP at Bird and Bird who retired at 56 and retrained as a retirement coach, to talk about what actually makes the transition hard for high-performing professionals in intellectual property, law, and patent work.
They discuss the non-financial side of retirement planning: the “role loss” that can hit when status and self-worth have been tied to your work for 30 years, the assumptions people make about the honeymoon phase, and why many smart, capable people still feel unsettled after the celebrations and travel wear off. Rob shares a practical framework for designing a fulfilling retirement built around purpose, achievement, community, and direction, plus why “retirement” doesn’t always mean stopping work.
They also talk about the part people avoid: relationships. Partners, adult children, and grandkids may have their own expectations about your time, and mismatched assumptions can create tension unless you communicate early. Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of IP careers and real life, share this with someone who’s starting to think about their next chapter, and please leave a review so more people can find the show.
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