From silversmithing to retirement
For this Life & Pension, we are talking to Mieke van Leeuwen from Noordwijk. Mieke is Project Controller at TNO's Healthy Living & Work Unit and enjoys making her own jewellery in her spare time. And when she retires? She will certainly keep doing that, but her work is far too much fun, so first she will continue to work until her retirement.
For at least 10 years, Mieke has been making her own jewellery under the guidance of a goldsmith. She mainly uses silver, because gold is far too expensive. Every other week on Tuesday evenings, she goes to her 'teacher', as she describes her, to work on her creations. 'I like the very fine work and I’m very precise. I sometimes spend as many as 15 to 20 evenings on one item. Then, once I’m home, I sometimes continue sawing, polishing or filing. I obviously don't do the soldering at home, because it has to be done in a safe space. This is because the soldering equipment is connected to gas cylinders.'
What she enjoys most is clear. 'I enjoy putting together a piece of jewellery, making it fit all the way to the final piece. That's also how I learned to set stones. That is a very precise process. You have to make sure the stone doesn’t break and you have to fit the ring repeatedly,' Mieke says enthusiastically while showing off some of her homemade jewellery. 'My fellow students make very different things than what I make. And there you are all together during a class. You consult with each other, you learn from each other and that makes it so much fun.'
'I also attend workshops to learn how to work with silver clay. That comes from Japan and is leftover material from phones and PCs and is processed into clay.'
What do you like about it?
'It relaxes me,' Mieke says. 'I work with numbers all day and this is so different. Making jewellery is also quite tricky sometimes. It starts with figuring out what you want to make. So I sometimes look around in jewellery shops and that often inspires me to create something new. You can make whatever you want. For example, the other day I smeared a hydrangea leaf with silver clay. If you then heat the piece for a few minutes, the green leaf burns and you are left with a silver leaf with veins.' Does she see many similarities with her work? There certainly are. 'That's mainly in the precision of the work. You work with budgets that the researchers have to spend and for that you have to keep an eye on everything.'
And once you retire?
'I will certainly still make jewellery. I also have other hobbies. For example, I'm pretty good with a sewing machine. When I retire, I would like to visit my girlfriend more often. She is a clothes maker and unfortunately she lives far away in southern Limburg, but then I would ask her if she could teach me more. I have also been volunteering with Stichting MEERGroen together with my husband since the corona period. Among other things, we harvest seedlings in a forest in Heemstede to prevent the forest from becoming too dense. We plant those seedlings at a hub in Hoofddorp, where people can come pick up a tree for free during distribution days. We do that harvesting under the guidance of an ecologist with a fun group of people from various backgrounds. I often also get to saw, because I can do that fine sawing so well due to my experience with goldsmithing. I then remove the branches that get in the way.'
'I will definitely not retire early. I just enjoy working with researchers way too much.'
Do you ever think about your retirement?
Mieke is very clear about that: 'Actually never.' The same applies to the new pension system. 'I'm not worried about that. The same goes for my husband, who was also a controller once. We just know it's well taken care of.' Thinking about what she would like to do when she stops working is also not really an issue. 'I turned 64 in October and I just want to keep working until the end. I enjoy my work far too much and definitely do not want to retire early. I've been working at TNO since 1981 and I really enjoy working with researchers.
Every day, you're waiting to see what you will be doing that day. Of course, it is obvious that you are concerned with the financial side of projects. One of my tasks is to support the project managers so that budgets are not exceeded. In addition, project leaders consult with me on what to do if research is not going well. The substantive work, of course, is done by the researchers. But I always find the researchers' stories and the drive and enthusiasm for their work special.'
Good to know: when to take action?
For anyone who wants to know more about the new pension scheme, TNO Pension Fund has compiled all of the information. On the homepage of the TNO Pension Fund site, select English and then 'Your new pension' and then you go there directly. So it's very useful if you want to know a bit more about the developments surrounding the new pension scheme.
Also on the website is the 'Wanneer in actie komen' (When to take action) page. There you will find (in Dutch) a list of changes to be notified. The page also lists practical retirement tips. To do so, choose which situation applies to you – for example, have you just been hired, have you been with the company for a while or are you nearing retirement? – and read what applies to you.