Instead, they find ways to indulge their passion for teaching by taking a class now and then, serving on a school board of trustees, being a consultant in an education-based organisation, or even coaching a sports team.
But not Jan Anderson.
The Otago Girls' High School principal for the past 17 years, will retire at the end of this year after a career spanning 42 years.
And although she will miss it, she plans to go cold turkey.
"The intention is to retire completely. At the moment, I won't have any trouble cutting all ties.
"It's been a very exciting career - one I couldn't have foreseen. But I'm approaching 65. A principal's job is very demanding. It's the kind of job you really need to commit 110% to.
"My husband [Michael] and I have been planning our retirement for many years now. We've been working slowly through our plan and after a lot of contemplation, we've decided now is the best time to retire."
Mrs Anderson is a former pupil of Otago Girls' High School, and after graduating from the University of Otago in 1970, she taught English at Bayfield High School and in Invercargill at James Hargest High School and Southland Girls' High School.
She became deputy principal of Otago Girls' High School in 1992, and in October 1994, she was appointed principal of what is New Zealand's oldest public secondary school for girls.
During her tenure, she chaired the Otago Secondary Principals' Association (1997-98), the Otago-Southland Principals' Association (1999-2000), and since 2005, she has been the Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) adviser for the Retirement Commission, and is on the reference group and selection committee for the Personal Financial Education Framework for Schools Project.
One of the highlights of her career was winning a Woolf Fisher Principals' Fellowship in 2002, which enabled her to go on a study tour of Canada, Ireland and Britain to research education in private and public girls' schools.
Another highlight was representing SPANZ at the International Confederation of Principals Council at a conference in Washington DC in 2007.
She had also enjoyed implementing the new New Zealand curriculum and NCEA.
But by far her most memorable moments were in the school corridors.
"Working with the students and the teachers is a highlight - it's been a daily pleasure.
"I'll miss the staff and the girls hugely."
Mrs Anderson said she hoped to retire to "a little place" in Speargrass Flat near Arrowtown, where she planned to do more mountain biking and road cycling, and spend more time with her grandchildren.
The board of trustees has called for applications for the position of principal, and it was hoped the position would be filled in time for the start of the 2012 school year.
