I Used to Be a Little Scared of Retirement. Not Anymore.

Steve Petranik became editor at Hawaii Business Magazine on Jan. 20, 2009, after leading The Honolulu Advertiser’s coverage of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. Here are the first two issues he led from start to finish, April and May 2009.

The problem with paradise is the price we pay to live in it. It’s a lot.

That high cost has proved too much for many. To make ends meet, hundreds of thousands have left Hawai‘i in the past decade, many of them reluctantly, and more will follow. But my wife and I have been lucky. We’ve been here for 38 years and hope to stay for the rest of our lives.

It hasn’t been easy, though. We both worked full time for all of those years and raised two children. Plus, Ann would teach summer courses in addition to her regular classes at UH, her research and service work, and I often had a part-time job or two on top of a very full-time one.

Your story is likely similar: You and your families sacrifice to live in Hawai‘i, too. All of our hard work means less time to actually enjoy the Islands. Unless you’re one of the fortunate few, you’ve probably spent more time than you wanted inside an office, store, or other workplace and less time on the beach, in the ocean, or up the mountains.

I’ve always tried to strike a balance. After all, if you’re going to work all the time, you might as well live in Indiana instead of Hawai‘i.

Telling Legacy Stories

But now is the time for me to switch things up: I will be retiring in a few months as editor and executive publisher of Hawaii Business Magazine. Kent Coules has been promoted from co-publisher to publisher and will do an excellent job as HB’s leader. I have spent 16 years as editor of this magazine; on HB’s 70th anniversary, it’s time for new blood to launch us on the next 70 years.

I have offered to stay part-time at the magazine if I am wanted, but after retiring from full-time work, I will be spending more time doing the things that I love: paddling, swimming, hiking, reading, writing, and volunteering. And I’ll be taking up some new things, too, like yoga, the ‘ūkulele, advanced home repairs, and more sophisticated cooking.

And after decades of covering entrepreneurs, I actually want to become one, albeit part-time. The best part about writing is that I learn new things, so I will start my own one-man company and will write about almost anything. But I want to specialize in legacy stories—the story of you, your parents or grandparents, or your company.

One of my favorite assignments was an emotional one: writing about my parents growing up in Poland and being conscripted as forced labor for the Germans during World War II, their time as refugees after the war, their migration to England, and later to Canada. My parents had difficult lives, but their hard work and endurance made it possible for their four children to have better lives.

The Only Life I Have Known

There was a time when I thought I would work forever. What else would I do with all my time? After all, the life I have is the only life I know: I started delivering newspapers when I was 10, sold subscriptions door to door in the summers, worked part-time in an office when I was 14, in a factory when I was 17, and in a fishing lodge the next year. In college, I usually juggled three part-time jobs.

Frankly, I was a bit scared of retirement. I had read about how many people fell into inertia and despair after retiring. But as I added up the many things I was excited to do, I realized I could not possibly find time for all of them, even in retirement.

The second reason I was scared of retirement was the fear that my wife and I could outlive our savings. That’s still a possibility, but I have 90% confidence that won’t happen.

My hedge is that I plan to earn a little money on the side just in case and because I can’t possibly go cold turkey following 50 years of writing and editing.

So, after 38 years of paying the price of paradise, I plan to start enjoying paradise more.