Did you choose retirement? Or was it chosen for you? If you chose it, how did you know the time was right?
Yes and no. I had not considered retiring but unexpectedly, I was offered a very generous package with a short decision timeline. But for that, I would probably have died at my desk at age 85. I decided the package was as good as it was going to get financially, and I thought it would give me time to create a new career.
How did your identity change when you left your formal career?
That was a problem.听The 鈥渃reate a new career鈥� idea wasn鈥檛 bad, but I didn鈥檛 execute well because deep down I was in denial that it was truly happening. What I did in my work life was my life, and I didn鈥檛 understand the retirement transition consequences of having those two things so tightly bound.
I left my formal career and ended my time as ACS Board Chair about the same time and in that transition I lost my personal context. When people asked me to tell them a little about myself, I started with 鈥淚 used to be鈥�.鈥� While most people鈥攎e included--treat retirement as a financial decision, psychological and personal readiness can be just as important. I was financially ready but not personally ready, and it took a long time for me to make up the personal deficit.
Eventually, while still motivated by achievement, I found a new identity as a career consultant for ACS, and with the grad students in the Indiana University Chem Department and in my popular music history research. It is gratifying to help someone get a start in their career; I鈥檓 proud of the chart analytics books and articles I鈥檝e published.听
Do you still stay connected to the chemistry enterprise? If so, how?
A bit. I still read and have a couple of consulting contracts. My involvement is more in environmental policy these days.
Did you move when you retired?听How did you make that decision?
No. And don鈥檛 forget鈥攖his is a two-body problem. The questions were: where would we move, and why? I鈥檝e never been on board for chasing the children鈥攁nd they鈥檙e kind of all over the place. We saw no point in starting over personally with a new house in a new place needing to find a new set of friends, and our house in Dallas is well-suited to geezers. So we鈥檙e going to stay here. Until our beloved children have us institutionalized.
What do you wish you knew about retirement before you retired?
First, the profound changes that can occur to your identity. Second, the change in status you have with work-based friends. In industry, when you leave, your friends still love you, but you鈥檙e not part of the team anymore. You lose track of the day-to-day plot line of the company and the industry. Third, the overall loss of connectedness to a million different information feeds and conversations.
It might have been easier for me if I had educated myself about what鈥檚 on the other side, but you still have to work to make your new life. I now cherish the freedom I have to choose what I want to do, while still being active and productive. I almost can鈥檛 imagine how I held an everyday job.
What鈥檚 your best piece of advice for people thinking about retirement?
As Timmy Martin said: 鈥淟assie! Get help!鈥� There are some great books that explore this territory like Robin Ryan鈥檚 Retirement Reinvention or Ida Abbott鈥檚 Retirement By Design. Also, ACS has a workshop in the Career Pathways series听on preparing for retirement. And everybody鈥檚 different. For me it was particularly hard. It isn鈥檛 that hard for everyone. But being prepared never hurts.
Bill Carroll retired from Occidental Chemical Corporation in 2015 after 37 years in the chloralkali and vinyl industries and now heads his own company, Carroll Applied Science, LLC.听 He is also Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at Indiana.
Bill has served as President as well as Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网, and is an ACS Career Counselor.
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