As part of our exploration into what retirement means for different people, and what kind of retirement plans they are making in advance, we are asking people to share their experiences.
First up is Sapna Pieroux, a multi-award-winning brand consultant, founder of InnerVisions Brand Consultancy (est 2016), author of Let’s Get Visible!, speaker and founder of nascent AI platform BrandVisions.AI® and The NotWorkers®.
Sapna is married to Andy, founder of Walpole Partnership – a tech consultancy company, and mum to two boys: Luc (just turned 16) and Leon (13).
Here’s what Sapna shared with us about her plans for retirement, and what she’s doing for each of our four pillars: money, health, community and purpose.
How old are you? And when you do want to/plan to retire?
I’m 56 this year (not sure how that happened! The 90s just feels like a few years ago, right?! Gen Xer through and through).
We’ve worked with our IFA and, because we had the boys so late (in our 40th year), live in London and have two mortgages, we are not in a position to retire till we’re 68, which feels knackering just thinking about some days!
Pillar one: Money
When did you start saving for your retirement, and what prompted it?
I started in my 20s because I had a company pension since I graduated. However, I did not keep the contributions up once I left corporate. When I was 36, went volunteering in Argentina, then met Andy back home, aged 38, had a baby at 39 and set up my own business aged 45!
So crikey – I only had about 12 years doing that regularly.
In bumper business years, I’ve put a chunk of cash into a private pension fund, but my income has been more unpredictable in the last few years, which have meant contributions have taken a backseat, sadly.
Do you know how much you will need to live on when you retire? And are you on track for that?
In today’s money, bar any disasters, we are on track for a joint decent income to live on when we retire.
Do you think you will stop working completely, or keep working in some way part time, at least initially, when you retire?
Andy laughs that I’m not really very good at doing nothing! I’d like to volunteer more – I’m currently a volunteer stylist for Smart Works Charity. But I may volunteer at a local school if that suits better, or in a charity shop. It’ll keep me out of trouble!
I’m really good at painting (art), but just haven’t had time to indulge that so maybe I’ll return to the commission work I used to do when I was 16 for pocket money!
I love DIY and am obsessed with home makeover shows. I sometimes dream of setting up a painting and decorating / furniture restoration hustle! I have degrees in Interior Design AND Graphic Design (I just love the process of transformation) but I’ve never used those interior skills commercially so part of me still has an interior design or home decluttering and organisation itch I want to scratch.
I think I’d have made an excellent reconstructive plastic surgeon too – good with my eyes and hands, both parents were doctors – but it’s probably a bit late to retrain for that!
I’ll need another life to do all the careers I want to! Do you think I may be undiagnosed ADHD?
Will you stay in the home you have now or move or downsize?
We have a rental property (we took out a let-to-buy mortgage on our previous home to buy our current one as I previously had no mortgage on it). So we do say we may downsize to there once the boys leave home. Although Andy has bought so much more STUFF since we upsized, he does joke that we’re never going to be able to go back there! So who knows….
I have another dream to rent our BOTH properties out and go travelling once the boys go as we can work from anywhere!
How did you get to be mortgage free on your previous property?
When I was a student in the 90s, my folks gave me a £15K deposit for a property in Newcastle where I studied. That was a six-bed property and the rents of my five flatmates paid the mortgage. So I lived rent-free for three years.
I kept it once I graduated and I rented elsewhere as a young professional. Eventually the mortgage was paid off and it became an asset. Then I moved to Manchester with my then boyfriend, bought a place there and we made a profit when we sold and moved to London.
The profit from both properties meant we had over a 50% deposit when we bought our first house in London and we did it up, largely ourselves, on a shoestring.
That, and my lovely parents again helping, when I split from my ex, to buy him out, meant I was in a good financial position, when I met Andy.
Just as well as I’ve had years of not working with three years as a stay at home mum (I did have post-natal depression after baby two so didn’t feel able to go back immediately – and it ended up making sense with two kids and nursery fees anyway) and then two ‘sh*tshow’ years off which started with cancer + recovery, moving house, project-managing its renovation and ended with my dad dying.
Luckily, my being like a 50s housewife for three years allowed Andy to build his business, which meant he was able to support me for my sh*tshow years. We’re a great team.
Pillar two: Health
How active do you want/expect to be when you retire?
I hope and expect to be very active when I retire. I train almost daily and have said to my boys that I’m holding my 90th birthday party at Go Ape! and they are invited!
How active are you now?
We have a Peloton bike and I cycle and weight train usually 5-6 times/week.
Are you consciously doing anything now to stay healthy for when you retire? And if so, what?
As above, I do cardio and weights. I also take a calcium supplement for strong bones and a collagen one too – great for joints, skin and muscle. I also make sure I eat a healthy diet and hydrate!
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and lost my dad (who wasn’t in good health when he passed, sadly) in 2023 so I have got the all clear now and absolutely prioritise my health. Get your boobs checked, ladies!
Pillar three: Community
How important is being social/having friends/being part of a community to you?
Incredibly, important. I’m a real people person, and get my energy from others. I was climbing up the walls in lockdown even though I had my husband and boys!
What kind of communities are you part of now?
I’m in two mum groups from my elder boy’s year group (one from nursery, one from primary school). I didn’t really have a mum group in my second child’s year – you make less effort don’t you?!
I don’t have family close-by but I video-call my mum every couple of days. She lives five hours away now, but five mins from my brother.
In the entrepreneur world I’m part of Daniel Priestley’s Dent community, ATOMIC Mavericks with Pete and Andrew, Robin Waite’s Fearless Crew. Although I’m not super active in any of them right now.
I’m also a member of Lea Turner’s The HoLT which is a brilliant one and I’ve made great friends and a bit of business through that one too.
After Dad died in Dec 2023, I was feeling really low and depressed. I wanted to feel happy again. So (inspired by The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell) I worked with a coach to map out things that make me happy.
That led to me joining borrowmydoggy.com for a bit of part-time canine companionship (I love dogs, but my younger son doesn’t, so this is our compromise!). I started volunteering for Smart Works Charity too, as a stylist helping women into work.
I also started my own karaoke networking group, The NotWorkers® which as been SUCH a joy – not just to me but others too! Unbelievably, I found out that National Karaoke Day – July 19th – is also my dad’s birthday. So it felt meant to be.
Also after we moved house three years ago, I was really missing my old neighbours, but our immediate neighbours just weren’t as friendly. Bigger houses. People kept themselves to themselves. 145 people on a neighbourhood WhatsApp group and I knew virtually no-one! So a couple of months ago, I put a call out and 32 people joined a new social WhatsApp to do a monthly drinks night at our local, and I’ve had really positive feedback on that too.
I’m a natural connector. I love getting people together and making people happy. And I’m an excellent host – just like my dad.
How do you envision your daily life when you are retired, from a social perspective?
I’d love to still be a useful member of society! Volunteering as above, creating, perhaps still running the neighbourhood group if we’re still here. Or travelling for a bit with hubby. A round the world trip would be amazing. I might even become some kind of campaigner for women’s rights as the world is completely mad now and getting worse for women.
Pillar four: Purpose
How much of your identity is made up of what you do?
I’ve always been creative – I was drawing since I was two. So anything in the creative space, I love. Whether it’s creating brands, designing interiors (my own house), home decluttering/organising, DIY, painting and decorating or painting commissions – it’s all stuff I’m obsessed by. Or maybe writing another book – I know I’ve got several in me!
My other thing is making people happy and hosting them. I’ve even toyed with being a dating coach – I’m a real romantic. My husband and I met on Match.com 17 years ago when it was weird, and I used to help my friends with their dating profiles back in the day!
How do you think you will feel when you stop working?
Lost at first. Then free to pursue all the hobbies!
What do you enjoy doing outside work?
Aside of everything I’ve talked about?! I love going to art galleries (quelle surprise!), live music, festivals, gigs, the theatre, comedy nights, films, restaurants…
I do sometimes fantasise about selling up and living mortgage-free elsewhere, but we both love everything that London has to offer – part of the reason we’ve stayed here, even if it costs more!
And the point of the two houses is that our boys will have a property each when we go. I’ve advised them to hold on and rent them out wherever they want to live in the future, as a London rental income will give them more than elsewhere in the UK.
Is there anything new you are planning to start doing when you retire?
I plan to age disgracefully and have all the fun right up until the end!
Enjoyed reading Sapna’s retirement story? We’d love to share yours too! Find out how to submit it here.
