“I started working as a sculpture restorer at the end of my studies, at the age of 27, and I immediately settled as a freelancer in 1998. I have always worked, while taking care of my two children that I had at 27 and 30.
It’s a profession that fascinates me, through which I am immersed in history on a daily basis. I mainly work for museums or in churches, on objects made decades or even centuries ago. It’s like looking at history with a magnifying glass every day, understanding the journey of these objects. And even as an atheist, the objects of worship touch me, and it’s always a pleasure to put them back after restoration in their church and to see people happy to find them.
It is also a physical job, even if it is not as painful as that of a worker, for example. I often work on scaffolding, in odd postures for several hours, I may have to carry heavy loads, I sometimes have to remain static all day, work in the dust or in contact with solvents. I also travel a lot on a daily basis, to see objects, to get quotes that are free…
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It may not be totally the fault of my work, but I developed problems with the lumbar, with the cervical. These health issues had been mounting crescendo for several years, until last year when I had to stop. An MRI confirmed double cervical discopathy. But in liberal, the principle of occupational disease is not recognized. When you want to stop, you must have contributed for daily allowances, otherwise you have no financial compensation.
And then it’s also an unstable job, you never know where you’ll be in six months. My net profit is between 9,000 and 11,000 euros per year. When I moved to the southwest of France about ten years ago, I had a hard time finding clients. To cope with this lean period, I had to work for four years at an apple grower, and at the same time, I continued to exercise my other profession, in particular by making estimates to get back to work, and I ‘ve contributed both as an employee and as a liberal. Very badly took me: when I had a first assessment at 41 years, I realized that I had contributed for nothing, because one cannot contribute more than four quarters per year. I who was hoping to catch up on the years when I had little work, it was a bad surprise.
“Even in a profession that seems idyllic, rest is well deserved”
I’m looking forward to retirement with a firm footing and I have no trouble planning myself: I hope to finally be able to take time for myself, devote myself to my personal projects and above all go and see my family and friends more regularly. Above all, retirement will finally take away this terrible mental burden that my job brings me. : as a liberal, it is impossible to drop out of your company, and therefore to take time off with peace of mind.
I love my job but I sometimes have a lot of trouble with this weight, between paperwork, worries about the end of the month, and health problems. Even in a profession that seems idyllic, the rest of retirement is well deserved.
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So even if I’m passionate about my job, I’m looking to retrain but I don’t know where I’m going yet. It’s hard when you’ve done the same job all your life, especially if it’s rewarding like mine. I think I’ll take the plunge in a year or two, I’ll see how my carcass reacts to a new job. But for now I’m forced to work part-time or part-time, and in the short term, it’s not going to be financially manageable.
I recently went to see what sauce I was going to be eaten: with my chaotic journey, before the reform, if I left at 62 I would receive around 350 euros in pension, 800 euros at 67. With the reform, I will be forced and forced to work until at least 67 years old. They say we can leave at 67 no matter what, but I’m suspicious.
I could already see myself working until the age of 62 in my condition, I have no desire to die at work. I really experience this reform as an injustice, especially when I regularly hear the amount of dividends paid to CAC 40 shareholders. We have the impression that we are being extended for two years, for nothing. »
When will I retire?
They are workers, teachers, nurses… Whether they are passionate about their job or not, whether they are impatiently or apprehensively awaiting retirement, all are concerned by the reform announced by the government of Elisabeth Borne and which notably provides for the decline of legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. A reform that questions them about their projects and their relationship to their work. “The Obs” gives them the floor.
