To Work or Not to Work

To retire or to start a new career? These days, there are no hard and fast rules—just what works.

Meg Kiuchi, 63, has long known she should have been born French, in France, instead of Japanese-American, in an internment camp in the United States. It’s not that she denies her Japanese roots. But as a committed Francophile who felt homesick for Paris when she returned to Oakland after a recent trip, she feels French. The former child-protective-services social worker—who took early retirement (at age 56) and reinvented herself as a painter (of French scenes)—has never regretted forfeiting a larger pension. “Don’t let fear block you,” she advises anyone who asks. “This is the only time you’ve got.”

And she should know. Four years ago Kiuchi was diagnosed with ovarian cancer (she is in remission after chemo and surgery); a year ago with breast cancer (also in remission, after surgery); and early last year she watched her husband, at age 59, lose his battle with cancer. In the wake of his death, she came close to canceling a barge trip through France the pair had planned.

“I thought it would be too painful,” she says. But finally, encouraged by friends, she took her sister in his place. Ironically, she found that without her French-speaking spouse, she could communicate well herself. And getting around independently made her feel she could do more.

“I’d love to live in Paris for a while,” she said on her return. Within a month, she had joined a website that facilitates home exchanges and was planning her return, this time “to settle in.” As soon as they heard she was going, two friends, both retired, said, “Count us in!”

Kiuchi found liberation in working with a financial planner. “I had been feeling overwhelmed with paperwork—burdened and depressed. I wasn’t sure what I could afford or where to invest. I had to convince myself it was OK to spend the money and not do it myself.” But, she says, starting to work with a financial planner “was like getting a blast of pure oxygen. Suddenly I felt I could breathe and spend my time doing what I want.”