The retirement experience of self-employed professionals: a phenomenological study

The aim of this study was to qualitatively describe the retirement experience of self-employed professionals. Ten retirees who worked as self-employed workers, aged between 60 and 91 years, were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed employing an empirical phenomenological approach. For the self-employed professionals, retirement basically means receiving a social benefit. There is a desire to keep working while the body and the mind still allow the development of professional activities before quitting work totally. In conclusion, retirement among self-employed people promotes a transformation in the work role through time, changing the dynamics of other social roles enacted by the subject.