My favourite business saying is that change equals opportunity, you just have to find it. Retirement is no different, it’s another opportunity!
You’ve spent decades balancing prescriptions, people, and profit, so when the time comes to step back, the transition can be both exciting and unsettling. While most pharmacists know to speak with their accountant or financial adviser about superannuation, tax, and lifestyle funding, the emotional and practical dimensions of retirement are just as important.
Leaving on a High
The first golden rule is to plan early. A well-planned exit allows you to hand over the reins while your energy levels and the business are both still strong. You leave on a high and celebrating what you’ve built. Waiting until burnout sets in risks ending your career on a sour note and possibly without a plan of what’s next!
Selling or Staying On?
Many owners choose to sell part or all of their business but continue working within it. If you stay on after the sale, be clear about boundaries. It can be difficult watching someone introduce new ideas into what once was “your” business. Remember, change is inevitable, and mentoring rather than resisting can make the process rewarding for both parties.
Managing Relationships and Time
Retirement doesn’t just affect you, it changes the rhythm of your household. Discuss with your partner, friends or family how you’ll use your time. Having “together” activities and separate pursuits helps maintain balance and harmony.
Finding a New Rhythm
After years of running a busy pharmacy, the sudden shift to an open calendar can feel disorienting.
Establish routines early:
- get up at a regular time,
- exercise does not have to be intense but being consistently active will increase your longevity,
- schedule activities that are meaningful to you, as you are more likely to stick to them,
- manage your diary so that you get to do the things you want to do as well as support your family and friends.
It has been suggested that you need three interests to keep you mentally and physically stimulated. Running a pharmacy has definitely kept your mind active. Consider keeping your mind active by:
- completing short courses to learn new subjects, skills or increase your knowledge,
- try playing or following different sports or leagues,
- learn something entirely new for you like musical instruments, dance, restoring furniture, sport, travelling to new destinations or by a different mode of transport.
To support a healthy rhythm, consider planning the next holiday or project before the current one ends which adds structure and anticipation to your days.
Balancing Work and Leisure
Some pharmacists find joy in balancing semi-retirement with locum work. It keeps clinical skills fresh and provides social and professional engagement without the 60-hour weeks. To make things easier stick to dispensing systems you already know, and be clear about your availability. Locum or part time work should support your lifestyle, not dominate it.
Re-discovering Purpose
Retirement can challenge your sense of identity, particularly when you’ve been a leader in your community. Ask yourself, what makes me happy? What skills can I share? Mentoring young pharmacists, volunteering in health programs, or consulting part-time are ways to channel your experience while giving back. Think about how your skills are transferable outside of pharmacy.
Staying Connected and Supported
Talk to colleagues and friends who’ve already retired as their stories often offer practical wisdom and reassurance. Reach out to pharmacy associations and professional bodies which provide retirement planning workshops, peer networks, and wellbeing resources tailored to help those transitioning out of ownership and full-time work.
The takeaway?
It can take 6 to 24 months to market, sell and settle a pharmacy. Longer if you need to make changes to your business to maximise the businesses potential. Consider getting a market appraisal so you understand what your business is likely to provide you with financially and any potential that is not yet realised within it.
Retirement isn’t a single event, it’s a managed process of change. Plan early, exit with pride, and embrace new ways to use your skills, time, and energy. Whether that means mentoring, locuming, or learning to relax for the first time in decades, finish your pharmacy career on a high and step confidently into the next chapter of life and enjoy!
Feel free to contact me if you’d like to have a chat about any aspect of retiring successfully.
Written by Mark Wishart, Sales Executive VIC – AP Group
AP Group are the leading pharmacy experts in Australia and specialise in helping first time buyers find the right pharmacy and secure the finance to support their purchase.
We connect existing owners with over 5000 ready and eager investors via our cutting-edge online Data Room. Our Data Room keeps confidential listing data secure and allows buyers to make informed decisions on each of our pharmacies for sale.
AP Group have built connections with all the major banks and a host of smaller lenders, ensuring that first time pharmacy buyers find a better deal.
About the Author:
Mark brings a wealth of real-world business experience and a healthy sense of humour to the AP Group team. After more than 15 years self-employed in the retail and education sectors, he knows firsthand that running a small business isn’t for the faint-hearted. From finding the right people to managing cashflow and planning an exit strategy, he’s seen (and solved) just about every challenge that comes with the territory.
He’s also worked across FMCG and pharmaceuticals, sports retail, managing sales teams and channels with independent grocers, and spending 12 years with Aspen/Arrow, Trividia and Sigma Healthcare. The common thread through it all? A knack for building relationships and a calm, practical approach that gets things done.
Outside of work, Mark enjoys travelling, playing golf and soaking up the Bayside lifestyle with family. A long-standing member of the Australian PGA for over 30 years, he’s even coached our Managing Director, Rob Whelan – proof that patience really is one of his strengths. A loyal Richmond supporter, he’s still holding out hope for another premiership, ever the optimist on and off the course.