Lots of women I’ve spoken to have said that they’d love to do what I’m doing, but that they’re too scared,” says Siobhan. “But I was scared too! Don’t be afraid to ask for help – there will be a tribe of people out there who are feeling the same way.” The ‘honeymoon period’ lasted about a year. All that freedom! But then I felt like my life was starting to slow down. Time dragged, and I ceased to flourish, both mentally and physically. And that’s when I realised the idea that retirement is good for us might just be a myth. So, I decided to investigate further. Using my own experiences, and my research, I created the D.A.R.E. Method, which is the basis of my 8-module online program Dare to Discover Your Purpose . The method was my way of helping people to do what I had done: find out that there is a new path you can take, however close you are to retirement age – and even if you’ve reached it already.

A truly great book, a story of not only drug addiction but also the strength of the human spirit, told with humour and honesty. - Dave How do your thoughts on retirement differ from most people – in other words, what makes you a retirement rebel? But above all, Siobhan’s experiences on the road have taught her new life lessons – and reminded her of some of the older ones. “I do miss catching up with friends, but I don’t get lonely,” she says. “I’ve learned to live in the moment again – taking time to listen to the birds and watch the clouds. That’s something we all do when we’re young, but I hadn’t done it for 40 years.” I spent years worrying what other people thought and now I just want to be loud and take up space and be totally myself,” she says. She sees a similar sentiment in many women in her age group, for whom the confidence of later life is combining with a desire to set boundaries around one’s time and efforts, whether that’s rejecting grandparental childcare or being the go-to event caterer out of a materfamilias sense of duty. “We’re exiting relationships that no longer serve us, we’re saying no to things we don’t want to do; we’re cutting people out of our lives who don’t make us feel good,” she adds. “There’s a new mood and that mood is about grabbing life by the wotsits.”Comedian Jenny Eclair’s standup show Sixty Plus! (FFS!) XXL Show! tours across the UK from 2 September. It explores what being 60 means for today’s 1960s-born “babes”. “Being part of the punk generation affected how I think and it’s probably why I still have a problem with being told what to do – and it’s why I swear so much,” Eclair, 63, says. “In some respects, punk was a licence for the middle classes to rebel, and that sense of rebellion continues in our later years.” The four steps of D.A.R.E. are Discover, Assimilate, Rewire, and Expand. The method requires you to summon courage to emerge from your comfort zone of retirement to embark on a new journey. It will give you the knowledge, the psychology, the strategy and the tools you need to make positive changes. Here’s what each step entails: Discover what retirement is and what it’s definitely not Approaching retirement and frustrated with her job, Siobhan Daniels made a BIG decision: to start living life on her own terms. Rather than hiding from life's challenges, she bought a motorhome and drove off to find them. Definitely not retired. I stepped down from my job as an actuary this year after 30 years. I loved that role, but life is short and I wanted to take on some other challenges before the opportunity to do that slipped away.

For Cutter, punk was all about “peace and anarchy and doing what you want as long as it isn’t about harming people”. It was also about sexual freedom. Cutter is bisexual, and the scene was a sanctuary in the 80s. I do some voluntary work with the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, supporting their social media campaign for 15 minutes a day. I also hope to work with the students in Southampton University. I have just been appointed a Professor of Practice there and I hope to be able to use my experience to inspire the next generation. Camerados is a new social movement of people going through tough times who through mutual aid want people to get the two essentials: Connection and Purpose.

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Approaching retirement and frustrated with her job, Siobhan Daniels made a BIG decision: to start living life on her own terms. The granny shift is a tender point for the over-60s with a yearning to self-actualise through travel, says Anne Hardy, a sociologist who studies later-life “snowbirds” (sun-seeking van and motorhome nomads). “Women who choose this lifestyle are often judged harshly by their own children and by society,” she says. “They are construed as being somehow selfish for leaving their grandchildren.” The second myth is that in retirement, you’ll have enough money. This is also untrue. When you retire at 65, you could go on to live another 30 years. How will you fund retirement? And finally, probably the most important myth to bust is that retirement will make you happy and healthy. The statistics actually reveal a significant increase in depression, illness, loneliness and social disengagement in retirement. Mental Health Nurse John-Barry Waldron is our guest on this week's Reach Out PodcastJohn-Barry works in a secure hospital, supporting people experiencing mental illness and helping them return home to their communities.He's also capturing the stories of staff and patients through the On The Ward Podcast which you can also get wherever you get your podcasts.Also in the conversation - We discuss access to mental health services, and how stigma still bring issues for patients and their families. In February, 67-year-old former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon competed to represent Ireland in the Eurovision song contest with his hit, Hawaii, a love letter to his wife of 44 years, Nora Forster, who was living with Alzheimer’s disease (sadly she died on 6 April). Lydon lost out to shiny man-band Wild Youth, but his bid was a watershed for the generation for whom he was a standard-bearer, says David Amigoni, who researches later-life creativity at Keele University. “The new 60-somethings are finding that the field of creative possibilities for their later years are broader than ever – from theatre to music and art.”