There’s a better question to ask this year at Christmas than ‘when are you retiring’. Try this …

And, my end of year message!

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Feature: There’s a better question to ask this year at Christmas than ‘when are you retiring’. Try this …

From Bec’s Desk: This is my last Epic Retirement newsletter for the year.

Read my articles in The Times this week: There’s two - The top six retirement regrets — and how to avoid them and an extract from How to Have an Epic Retirement

There’s a better question to ask this year at Christmas than ‘when are you retiring’. Try this …

Around Christmas tables, that big question comes up sooner or later. ‘When will you retire?’ It’s rarely asked out of pure curiosity and it can carry a bit of judgement, a bit of comparison, and usually some unspoken anxiety about money, age or timing. I’m not a fan really.

A more interesting question is simpler. ‘What are you looking forward to in January of 2026?’

The answers tell you a lot.

Some people answer this question easily. They talk about a trip, a project, a habit they’ve decided to keep going once the year resets. They don’t sound like they’re waiting for something to start - or worse, their working life to finish before they start. Life already has some shape to it and they’re on the move.

Others pause, then talk about their work. Deadlines, meetings, the comfort of routine returning. For many people, work isn’t just income. It’s structure, identity and a ready-made reason to get out of bed. That matters more to retirement decisions than we usually admit.

Then there are people who don’t really have an answer. January is just the resumption of obligations and running on the wheel of life. Or the driving forward of other people’s lives - their kids, their partner’s. You know what it’s like. Nothing bad, nothing good. Just forward motion.

That response is worth paying attention to. Retirement doesn’t create interests, energy or direction - truly. It tends to expose what’s already there. If time feels thin now, more of it later doesn’t automatically fix that.

This is why I think the lead-up to retirement matters more than the date itself. People who manage the shift well usually haven’t waited for a clean break to think about what they want to do. They’ve already built some things they want to keep doing and some fresh ideas for the year ahead. They’re not relying on grand passions or reinventions, just activities and rhythms that aren’t entirely dependent on work.

Christmas is useful in that sense. It disrupts your routine without committing you to anything. A few weeks of different days, different people, and a different pace can be good for you - and can help you see life a little differently. Some enjoy it. Some can’t wait for normal life to resume. Both reactions are information you can use when considering your year ahead and your retirement setup phase.

January doesn’t need to be filled with ambition. It just needs to include something you’ve chosen, rather than something that’s been handed to you or that would have happened anyway.

So if you’re tempted to ask someone when they’ll retire over Christmas, try the January question instead. And if you can’t answer it yourself, that’s a healthy signal that you might want to get curious and start looking for things to inspire you for the year a

head. And don’t worry - you’re not late for the party - yet! So work through how you want to use your time best in 2026, and think about what you’re looking forward to.

Make it epic - and tell me your answers in the comments.

This is my last Epic Retirement newsletter for the year. And I’m writing one that will go to both our UK and Aussie/Kiwi newsletter readers.

I’m about to head off on a family holiday and trying, with mixed success, to turn the volume down for a proper break. It’s been a big year. I wanted to write something thoughtful, but I’m tired, I haven’t packed, my flight’s in eight hours, and the to-do list is winning. My husband wants me to get off the computer.

So this is the honest version.

A lot of what’s happened this year exists because this community kept nudging, questioning, sharing and saying “go on then”. That, plus some very good people who worked alongside me, has turned into a year I’m proud of.

Working backwards, we launched How to Have an Epic Retirement in the UK this week. It landed at number one on Amazon in Financial Retirement Planning and a few other categories. That matters less for the ranking and more because it shows the ideas about an Epic Retirement travel. The questions people are asking about retirement are remarkably similar, wherever they live. And we’ve got a few good answers.

My UK articles in The Times UK have also kicked off, and I’m now writing a fortnightly retirement column. That’s been a real thrill, and I’m keen for it to be driven by real reader questions. If there’s something you want explored, send it through. I cant be posting it in here as a photo very often

The Australian and New Zealand edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement dropped three weeks ago and went into reprint within two weeks. You bought more copies than my publisher expected, and that’s a very good problem to have.

This year, a lot of people went through the How to Have an Epic Retirement Flagship Course. What’s made that satisfying isn’t the number, but how seriously people engaged with it. You didn’t skim it. You really used it. The feedback blows me away. Thanks for that.

We also launched the HESTA exclusive edition of the course, with the first 1,000 students completing the program. More rounds are coming in February and mid-year 2026, so if you’re with HESTA, keep an eye on your inbox.

The Prime Time podcast finished the year ranked 169 on the Aussie Podcast Ranker. Not bad company when you’re sitting between footy shows, radio giants and comedians.

My columns in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age were read 2.2 million times online this year. That still surprises me, and it reinforces how hungry people are for practical, grown-up conversations about ageing, work and money.

And the Epic Retirement Club Facebook community has grown to 640,000 people. That’s a lot of lived experience in one place.

Finally, the Epic Retirement Tick in Australia has started shifting how some super funds are prioritising retirement. Meaningfully it’s making it easier to see who’s actually lifting their game. Thanks to Chant West for their hard work on this too.

All of that sits on a healthy truth: this work only matters if it helps people make better choices about midlife and retirement related issues and feel more confident about the second half of life.

Thank you for being part of it this year. I’ll be back after the break, hopefully rested, definitely curious, and with plenty more to talk about.

The podcast will continue right through the holidays though - there’s some great episodes in the can - make sure you get the Prime Time Podcast newsletter here.

I’m incredibly grateful for all your time, energy and interest. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You can see some fun stuff I’m doing over the holidays with my family and to celebrate my 50th birthday with me on Facebook and Instagram.

• Facebook: facebook.com/becwilsonepic

• Insta: instagram.com/epicretirement

Cheers bigears! I’m off on holidays! Make yours epic and I’ll do my best too!

Author, podcast host, columnist, retirement educator, and guest speaker

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Read my articles in The Times this week

You don’t need £1 million to enjoy a rich retirement

Let’s get this out of the way early: you don’t need a million-pound pension to have a good retirement.

Seriously. It’s time to shift the mindset from “How big does my pot need to be?” to something far more useful: “What kind of life do I want, and how much will it cost?”

This is an extract from How to Have an Epic Retirement UK edition published in The Times this week. Read it here

The top six retirement regrets — and how to avoid them

Imagine that you are retired and looking back on the choices you made in your forties, fifties and sixties. What would you wish you had done differently? It is an uncomfortable question, but a useful one. It forces you to look not only at your financial decisions, but at the shape of the life you’re building.

In my retirement education work and online community I hear a lot of stories from people who have already crossed the threshold into retirement. And I’ve been looking more closely at the regrets they carry and what those regrets tell us about what we can do differently. Read it here

The new edition of How to Have an Epic Retirement: Your ultimate guide to living well, loving life and retiring with financial confidence

Get your copy of the new UK Bestselling pre-retirement guidebook, How to Have an Epic Retirement: Your ultimate guide to living well, loving life and retiring with financial confidence.