Businesslink

Dick Wittman likes to joke that he's failing at retirement.

His daughter took the helm of the family's farming operation in 2017, and he's pared down his financial and business management consulting work over the last three years.

But, he is as busy as ever. I know because he returned my call between a racquetball match and a doctor's appointment.

"Retirement is a myth," Wittman says. "What is it that you want to be retired from? The mistake we farmers make is not making a distinction between transition and retirement."

It's an important question, because unlike other industries, once farmers stop day-to-day work in the operation, they usually still own a significant portion of the operating entity, the land and the associated assets. "You're still an investor. It's a delicate dance to hand off the baton, because they're still playing with your marbles."

For Wittman, the transition to mentor, coach and board chairman wasn't easy. He had to fight the urge to micromanage and figure out how to get out of the way without going away.

After a while, he realized that for most of his life, he woke up thinking about what he needed to do that day. Even in retirement, there was always something that needed to be done on the farm. So, he reframed the question. "What can I do today that's not work?"

He started investing more time in relationships and meeting friends for racquetball and breakfast. He spends time in his woodshop and the woods. He's taking more trips with his wife since traveling is something they didn't do as much as they would have liked during his busy career. He still teaches workshops, but those are usually short commitments.

"A lot of people are just paralyzed thinking about what they're going to do after they retire," he says, adding that he's found two books -- "The Second Mountain," by David Brooks, and "From Strength to Strength," by Arthur Brooks -- particularly helpful in helping reframe his thoughts about retirement.

"What we need to do is figure out how to do different kinds of work, different kinds of play with different communities involved," he says.

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