When I was younger, I could not understand why anyone would want to retire. What would you do with yourself all day?

Well, now — in my later years — I have friends who are retired and they are demonstrating what it is all about.

On the weekend, our neighbour, Nan, brought around a couple of her new paintings for comment. Nan recently spent two weeks in Venice — her second visit this year — and she has been transforming the images she has collected into paintings.

When Nan isn’t travelling or painting, she attends the theatre, goes for long walks about the city and volunteers at a local inner city school helping kids learn to read. Occasionally, she has time for a glass of wine or a dinner with her envious neighbours. One of Nan’s favourite conversational themes is “living your passions.”

Then there is my friend Theresa with whom my husband and I play bridge once a week. But Theresa, who retired four or five years ago, plays bridge more than once a week. And when she comes to bridge, she talks about the plays she has seen, the courses she is taking and the interesting things she is learning about her city.

Shortly after she retired, she took a course on bird watching in Toronto at a local community college. She loved it. Now she is attending a lecture series on cities. The most recent discussion was on Rome, turning me green with envy.

Then there is John, a retired chemical engineer, who lives down our lane. When John and his wife aren’t travelling — India was their latest trip — he takes courses at Ryerson University. He is currently studying philosophy and chemistry.

He does take the occasional consulting job, problem-solving at a chemical plant he designed years ago when he was fully employed. And he recently produced a module for the full-size model of the Avro Arrow. Here is what is lovely about that assignment: he had made the same piece for the original Avro Arrow.

John’s passion — when he has the time — is geneology. He enjoys visiting archives and libraries, tracking his family tree.

Then there is my mother. We have been trying to find a weekend when we can get together — but she has a very tight schedule, what with bridge and social activities. I would have thought by 89 she might have slowed down a little, that golfing less would have freed up a little time.

So, is everybody this busy in retirement? Or do I just have interesting family, friends and neighbours?

Granted, they have all had interesting lives — and the interests they are pursuing in retirement are the passions they developed when they were working. It’s just that now they have time to pursue those passions — and follow other interests.

The other thing they all seem to have in common is they are well off financially. Not only do they have the time to take exotic trips, or rent an apartment in Paris for a month, they have the money. They are able to have an active and satisfying retirement because they aren’t bemoaning the cost of a theatre ticket or lunch at a fancy new restaurant.

They obviously planned for their retirements.

That’s what makes the role of the financial advisor so important. Retirement isn’t just about stopping work; it is about having enough money put aside to do the things you put off doing when you were working. It’s about the quality of retired life.

So, pester your clients and make sure they save for the retirement they want.

TESSA WILMOTT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF