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Going Places: Making the Move to Retirement

Sheila Murphy reflects on the joys of retirement and shares what she wishes she had known beforehand
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Did you choose retirement? Or was it chosen for you?

You could say I chose to retire; but, in reality, I聽chose to take voluntary severance.聽I decided it was time to聽look聽at聽what聽else聽was available聽and,聽if nothing聽appealing turned up,聽then retire.聽Prior to the announcement of the voluntary severance聽scheme,聽I had not thought聽to retire聽before the normal retirement age;聽but the scheme provided an opportunity to re-think the next聽stage聽of my life.聽It was not an easy decision to make because I liked the work that I was doing聽but聽I聽have not regretted聽that decision.

How was the transition from the working world to retirement?

The transition was surprisingly easy.聽I was in control of my life, I made the decision to terminate my employment, I had sufficient funds to retire early, and with no work to keep me聽busy every minute of the day I had the time to聽enjoy life, exercise more, and look to see if聽there聽were other opportunities I may like to pursue.聽I think it helped that school friends were taking early retirement聽鈥� probably a consequence of our shared early career understanding of a聽retirement age聽of聽60聽until the goal聽posts聽moved mid-career.聽

Looking back, what do you wish you knew about retirement before you retired?聽

I wish I had known just how much fun it would be to retire.聽Provided you plan for financial stability the world is yours to explore 鈥� well,聽until COVID came along.聽Maybe it is part of our personality, or possibly the roles we have played in our workplace, retirement is sometimes looked upon as a terrifying step where you lose your identity, or authority, and聽have to聽think of things to keep yourself occupied every day.聽I know who I am and what I have achieved;聽and聽now聽wish there was more time in the day to do the things I like to do.

What鈥檚 your best advice for someone in their 20s/30s?聽

Enjoy today,聽but plan for that enjoyment to be extended throughout your entire life span,聽and that means having a good financial plan for your retirement.聽

What do you enjoy most about being retired?

While at work聽I found I聽had little聽time for聽the hobbies I enjoyed.聽Over the years I spent less time on out-of-work activities such as scuba diving, squash, gym, ballet and international vacations,聽eventually losing many of聽my聽hobbies.聽Taking into account聽my age and past聽sports聽injuries I now have the time to start afresh聽with聽new and exciting ways to stay fit.聽

Work-related travel may take you to many interesting parts of the world but unlike vacations,聽you rarely get to see anything beyond a conference room聽and聽an airport.聽Therefore, I really look forward to interesting vacations.聽I spend a significant amount of time researching and planning each trip.聽

As a result, Glyn and I have had some great trips to various countries in the Far East, East Africa and Europe; but not South America and it is time to change that.聽Book guides, the web, and tour options give you a good sense of what is out there.聽From that it is easy to generate your own two- or three-stop trip seeing and doing exactly what you want.聽I was focusing on areas around Argentina, Chile and/or Brazil when SARS-CoV-2 emerged.聽After the second wave of COVID it became clear that it would be a while before it was safe to resume my planning; so, for now the project is on-hold.聽聽

What鈥檚 the biggest challenge you have confronted to this point in your retirement?聽

I listened to my financial advisors,聽set aside funds for my retirement,聽and financial projections looked favorable for a comfortable early retirement.聽Despite all of that, the first year that I needed to spend my savings on everyday life gave me pause for thought.聽There was no logic as聽to why I was concerned other than we can never predict the future.聽Though being cautious in those first few years of retirement聽helped me adapt from a regular salary to a smaller pension.聽

How do you stay connected to the chemistry enterprise as a retiree?聽

Now that I no longer work,聽I have much more time to get involved with the ACS,聽keep up with聽articles of interest, and be active in my division.聽Currently, I am one of the CELL councilors and a member of DAC.

What do you like most about where you are living in retirement? What鈥檚 one thing you wish you could change about where you live?

I moved from Delaware to Florida after finishing work in order to be closer to聽Glyn鈥檚聽place of work.聽Glyn聽already had rented accommodation, so I just moved in while we looked for our next home.聽Once we had chosen聽our next place, I had the responsibility聽to oversee聽the renovation project of our new apartment.聽This was a major project which started with stripping the apartment down to the studs and rebuilding.聽It is聽really great聽to live in a place that is exactly how you designed it to be.

Climate change and hurricanes apart, my apartment is situated on the St John鈥檚 River with its Riverwalk,聽sidewalks,聽parks聽and only a thirty-minute drive from the airport.聽It鈥檚 easy to access by car and聽great for getting around聽by聽foot.聽There鈥檚 only one problem聽--聽there鈥檚 very little parking when you get here!

What guidance do you have for people who are getting ready to retire?

Everyone is different and there is no set formula for a transition from work to retirement.聽Financial planning for retirement starts early.聽Formulating your 5th聽quarter transition from work to retirement develops as the time nears.聽Sometimes you may get a mental block of how to fill those unstructured days but consider this 鈥� what have always wanted to do but work always got in the way?聽Is this a project that you could get your teeth into if you had the time?


Sheila Murphy, ACS Consultant
Sheila Murphy, ACS Consultant

Sheila聽was born in Greater Manchester, UK, received her BSc Hons in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield, and was awarded her PhD聽in inorganic/organometallic chemistry from the University of Birmingham.聽After five years as a Research Fellow at Aston University working on methacrylate-based hydrogels, and her marriage to Glyn, a psychology professor at the University of Birmingham, she settled down to a life in industry.聽Sheila joined Courtaulds plc, Coventry, working in a Strategic Research Group focusing on surface modifications to enhance the performance of fibers, films, coatings and advanced materials.聽Eventually, Sheila changed her focus to cellulose-based products聽and fiber technologies.聽

A position in New York piqued Sheila鈥檚 interest, and after much discussion she applied for a research post with International Paper (IP), in Tuxedo, NY. Swapping聽a Birmingham-Coventry聽commute for a聽UK-US聽one聽she聽embarked on a 5-year journey with IP聽to enhance the performance of聽dissolving pulps聽culminating in her position as聽manager of the Chemical Cellulose Business.聽It wasn鈥檛 until she moved to another pulp company, Rayonier in Georgia, that Glyn took early retirement from his job as head of department, and joined Sheila on St Simons Island, GA.聽Retirement didn鈥檛 last long for Glyn and two weeks after relocating he started a new career with a community mental health clinic.聽Sheila went on to spend 10 years at Rayonier serving in several different management roles from research to manufacturing.聽

Finally, Sheila鈥檚 industrial career turned full circle when she joined Ashland Specialty Ingredients (ASI) in Delaware 鈥� a chemical company with products based on both cellulose and synthetic polymers.聽Meanwhile, Glyn retired from his CEO position and relocated to Delaware only to be lured back to work 鈥渢o temporarily help out鈥� at his last place of employment.聽After five years at Ashland,聽Sheila took voluntary severance and joined her husband back in the south聽where he continues to work as聽CEO聽despite聽Sheila鈥檚聽encouragement for聽him to join her enjoying retirement.

This article has been edited for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of their employer or the American Chemical 中国365bet中文官网.

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Sheila Murphy, ACS Fellow, Retired Industrial Chemist

Sheila Murphy, ACS Fellow, Retired Industrial Chemist


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