Joop Kaizer on his passion for horses
Joop Kaizer was able to retire in June 2012 at 62. Meanwhile, we are almost 8 years further. Years that have flown by, Joop has not been bored for a moment. He enjoys his freedom every day. But also of the fixed patterns in his life. “It’s very important to keep a certain daily rhythm.
‘I feel financially free. You don’t necessarily need a lot of money for that’. ‘I worked for more than 40 years, mostly administrative work. First 30 years at ABN AMRO, and then 10 years at IBM. Before I started at the bank, I was a professional petty officer for exactly 6 years. So many different pensions. I could make one pension pot out of that, but an expert told me it was better to leave it like that. That turned out to be good advice. It does mean I get 6 pension payments every month!
Financially, I’m fine right now. That gives a nice feeling, a sense of freedom. I feel financially free, without being extremely rich. However, next year I will go down. In fact, when I retired, I chose to receive a higher pension benefit for the first 10 years. That higher pension will be converted to a lower pension next year. Too bad, but of course it comes as no surprise.
The whole idea was: the first few years of retirement you’re still fit and mobile. So you will still travel, and you need money for that. Quite a logical thought. Only nowadays people stay fit and mobile longer than they used to. The same applies to me. Still, I don’t regret my choice, though. My IBM pension is only a small part of my total pension anyway. Most of my pension comes from ABN AMRO.
‘I have 2 horses, but they are not very expensive’. ‘Even with that lower IBM pension, by the way, I will soon have nothing to complain about. How much money do you need? That depends very much on your own situation, of course. What do you want? And what can you still do? Is reading or playing billiards your greatest hobby? Then you don’t need so much money. I have a more expensive hobby: horses.
I have 2. But they are not very expensive horses.
I bought my first horse while I was still working. My wife Lia already had a horse, and went to the management every day. At one point there was a horse for sale that you could ride in a carriage or a cart. A big, white horse: Leandros. Lia said, “Shall we buy that horse? Then you can join too!” I still have that horse; it is now 27 years old.
So I started with the horse in front of the cart. When I retired, that changed. Now I’m also regularly on the horse. And a second horse was added. Whoopi who is 12 years old. My wife has her own horse, so in total we have 3.
I do more physical work now than ever!
‘Those 3 horses are at the barn, of course. I am there 3 mornings a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For my own horses, but also to do all kinds of chores for the stables. I get no money for it, but free lessons. I always start at 9 o’clock with putting the horses out. I really like that daily rhythm. By the way, since I retired, I do a lot more physical work than before. It’s great fun. And it keeps you fit too!
I have a very different life now. And yet the transition from working to retirement was very smooth. I was suddenly home, but fortunately I had plenty to do. The first few weeks I did a lot of painting in the house, something that needed to be done. But even after that, I never thought: how will I get through my days? Thanks to the horses. But I also like to read historical books, for example about the Eighty Years’ War.
I’m always home when my wife comes home from work
“My wife still works full-time, so I help a little in the household. I shouldn’t brag about that, it’s limited to folding laundry and ironing. The rest my wife prefers to do herself. We have another clear agreement: I make sure I’m home when she gets off work. But other than that, I like to go my own way. Every Monday afternoon I take a horse and carriage ride with some men my age. Then we talk on the buck about all sorts of things, with a drink afterwards.’
I have too little rather than too much time!
‘I also pay very close attention to my diet. I started doing that seriously a couple of years ago after it turned out that my blood pressure was too high. I eat a lot of green vegetables, fruits and almonds. And I make sure I don’t drink too much alcohol.
I am happy that I have too little rather than too much time on my hands. I am always up for something new. The next thing I would like to do is a horseback riding vacation in France. That seems really great to me!
Are you thinking about retiring earlier?
Want to know if it is feasible, or what is the best solution for you to reach your goal? Log in to your personal MySPIN environment or contact our service desk.