I was in the Marine Corps on active duty between 1990 and 1996. When Marines retired or left the Corps, they often said something like, “I am not going to miss the circus, but I will miss the clowns.” It was funny to me back then, but I didn’t fully understand the meaning. The clowns were part of the circus. Why would you miss one and not the other? Why would you miss either one?
This phrase has been repeated to me over the years, most recently by a neighbor when they recently retired from civil service work. It hit differently this time, perhaps because we are similar in age. Perhaps because I miss the guys I served with in the Corps, and we only recently reunited at a colleagues funeral in 2022. Or perhaps because I am getting older and realize that we all leave the circus one day, and I know at some point I will say the same thing.
After 30 or 40 years of working, we often are focused on other questions: what we want to do next; the travel locations we want to fly too; figuring out our retirement paycheck come from; wondering how or should we roll my 401k over; what we will do all day now that we have eight hours plus travel time back in the calendar. It’s those questions that are often top of mind, and not, who will I eat lunch with every day? How will I replace the water cooler talk from the office? Who will I talk to every day?
It’s important. It may be the most important part of retirement. It may also be the one most overlooked piece to the retirement puzzle for some.
Missing the clowns doesn’t mean you miss the day-to-day hassle. It doesn’t mean you miss the drama or bickering. Or constant meetings or consistent memos from corporate about the next big thing. Missing the clowns is more than that.
Missing the clowns means that a part of you was part of something else. And you were a clown too. The circus keeps moving once you leave. The clowns do too. And it’s the clowns we miss when we stop working.
It's okay to still want to be a clown. After working for 20 years at the same job with the same people, you'll miss the conversations you used to have. Who's gotten a promotion, who's been passed over, who got fired, or what your co-workers did the past weekend.
You and your clowns all had a common denominator, a common bond. That's what kept you united. If you're already retired, reach out to an old colleague and grab lunch, catch up. If you're about to retire, keep your clowns close.
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Alex Bishop, CRPC®, MS, is a Private Wealth Advisor and Franchise Owner with Bishop Financial Partners, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC in Huntersville, NC. He specializes in fee-based financial planning and asset management strategies and has been in practice for 24 years. To contact him, https://www.ameripriseadvisors.com/alex.h.bishop or alex.h.hishop@ampf.com.
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