Many people who enjoy their work are often reluctant to retire because they think they could lose more than they gain. As we know, work for many people is about a lot more than just financial security. It involves things like; creative challenges, status, a sense of belonging, social connections and some purpose in their lives. As many people also identify with their job, retirement can mean a loss of identity, which is often difficult to adjust to. 
For people who liked their job but either had to retire, or decided that it was time to go, volunteering can provide them with many of the benefits that their work once did.
The days are long gone when volunteers only did menial jobs with little mental challenge. Today they can be providing management expertise on a range of community organisations. Let me give you a personal example.
Last year I volunteered to go onto the management committee of a large cartoon gallery in Coffs Harbour. This group of community volunteers had approached the local Council to take over the management of the gallery. The gallery is now run almost entirely by volunteers. Some do weekly or monthly shifts and look after the day to day operations of the business. Others have set up and run a computerised data base that contains about 20,000 individual cartoons.
The management team is involved in developing overall strategy, marketing plans, sponsorship of major exhibitions, financial management, IT upgrades and much more. There are volunteers on the management team who have held senior positions in Advertising, Public Relations, Banking, Retail and Web Marketing.
So this one regional gallery business is providing over 30 volunteers with a range of jobs from “meet and greet” visitors up to preparing, implementing and monitoring fairly sophisticated plans for a business which can play a significant role in the local community. There would be similar stories to this all over Australia.
Volunteering has now grown into a major force in the community and the majority of people contributing their skills are retirees. There is a continuing demand for more volunteers for important projects both within and outside of Australia. This means that a wide cross section of skills is required. If you’re in any doubt, do a Google search on “Volunteering”.
If you’re thinking about doing some volunteering, a couple of web sites supported by State and Federal Governments are – www.volunteeringaustralia.org, www.Volunteering.com.au (NSW), www.volunteeringvictoria.com.au. Your local Council can also provide you with volunteering contacts in your community.
So as well as providing valuable community services, volunteering is also a great way for retirees to “give something back”, meet new people, avoid boredom and find interesting new challenges which can suit the skills that they possess.
If you’d like to learn a little more about volunteering or working after you retire, our book “The Rest of Your Life” provides lots of useful information.