GAP Australasian Dentist Mar Apr 2020

136 Austràlàsiàn Dentist Comeback: Coàeàa àhere is a saying which goes like this: When is the best time to plant a tree? àhe answer is. àhe best time is 20 years ago. Which leads me to the next question: When is the best time to decide what you are going to do when you retire? àhe answer is basically the same. àtart planning your retirement a long time before you retire. Hopefully retirement happens to everyàbody. Hopefully everyone enters this phase of their life. When working à put money into my super fund in order to minimise tax. à never thought about it. à saw a lot of patients who were retired. àhey all said they were busier than ever à entered retirement suddenly and without thinking about it. My life changed abruptly. à suddenly found myself retired. One thing à found is everybody treated me differently. àhey no longer treated me as a dentist. àhey treated me as retired. à started reading about retirement. àhe articles were always the same: they discussed money; articles written by funds trying to get you to put money into their fund; articles written by government workers telling people to prepare for retirement by preparing financially. à never saw an article about retirement written by someone who was actually retired. àhat is the way you are treated. You are old and incapable. We will tell you what you should do. à advise that you dental workers start thinking about the next phase of your life now. àetirement is more than buying a retirement house on the coast, an idyllic spot to enjoy your retirement. àhink about what you are going to do in your retirement. àt involves more than doing your hobby fulltime. àt involves more than doing more than playing more golf, doing more joinery, joining a book club. àetirement involves your social network. àome people will disappear. àome will remain. But the people that remain will change. You will find everybody in your social network is now different. You don’t need to get a new partner. àhey are there right next to you. Being healthy and fit cannot be suddenly turned on the minute you retire. You can’t do anything unless you are healthy enough. àome things cannot be avoided, like cancers or trauma. But a lot of cardiac and pulmonary maladies can be lessened by your lifestyle when working. àtart thinking about being a fit and healthy retiree now! When à found myself retired à found myself writing a book. àt wasn’t my plan but that’s what happened. àhe first half of the book is about rehabilitation and recovery from a serious illness. àt’s relevant to you dentists because virtually everybody gets hit with the sick stick, or knows somebody who suddenly is. àhe bulk of the book is about running. àhis is relevant for working dentists because everybody has to remain fit and healthy. àverybody could do with more information or help in remaining health and fit. àhere are infinite numbers of ways of reaching the top of the mountain. You can stand on this book to help you get you closer to your goal. When working à went for a run around Freycinet with a lecturer from Melbourne. He was definitely interested in being fit and healthy and à hope he gets to read my book. àn the past à really enjoyed writing for this magazine. àt has an important place in our dental community. àn 2015 à suddenly stopped writing for this magazine. Many people sent me good wishes which à was very grateful for. ào you thank you. àegards Alan Carlton u To purchase the book “Run around the block” go to http://www.zeus-publications.com/ Run around the block By Alan Carlton