Mr. Hummel, you will retire in August 2019 after 49 years of training and working as an architect. Are you looking forward to it?

It's good now. I took early retirement at 60, but then realized that I really missed the contact with people. That's why I started again with a reduced workload.

Have you now prepared for your retirement?

No, I haven't made any special preparations. I now know what to expect because I've been able to deal with it over the last five years. I enjoy an intense but solitary hobby. Now my wife and I have also started joining a walking group. I think it's healthy, fun and can be expanded.

Would it be an option for you to take part in seniors@work? What would be important key data for you?

I don't think it would be entirely fair to compete with my former colleagues. Let's stay in the field of architecture: younger employees or architectural firms are sometimes dependent on orders. I wouldn't want to "take" these orders away from them.

However, I could imagine taking part if I could offer some form of support on a voluntary basis. For example, buying or selling a house: not acting as an estate agent myself, but giving the seller support in the sense of a second opinion.

What would you like to say to the organizers of seniors@work?

I worry about the question of liability. Whatever I offer as a senior citizen, be it building a barn, helping with the cherry harvest or herding dogs... What if I make a mistake or something happens? Who is liable? I would like to have this clarified for myself. As a service provider, I need to be able to protect myself.

Thank you very much, Mr. Hummel, for these interesting thoughts and - not to forget - happy birthday and toitoitoitoi for your retirement!