As a former advertising man, he's used to glossing over unappealing facts, and now, at 71, he doesn't like to spend too much time wondering where the last couple of decades went.

"I don't think much differently to when I was in my 20s," he says. "It's only when I catch sight of myself in the mirror that I'm forced to remember quite how old I am."

While the lack of mirrors in the den attached to his home, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, may be an attempt to avoid the inevitable passage of time, six years ago, James hit retirement age and, overnight, the self-employed businessman became a pensioner.

"Advertising is a young man's game and the job really gave me up rather than the other way round," he says. "I'd ended up running my own little
company and, thankfully, I had been able to put a bit of money aside, but I didn't really have a meticulous plan, so I went to the library to see if they had a guide to retiring.

"There were a few self-help books written in a gung-ho American style, but nothing about the practicalities. So I decided to write my own."

It wasn't the first book he'd written. Back in 1981, his novel The Ludi Victor won flattering reviews, and, though during the intervening years he'd become disillusioned with the literary world, he continued to write fiction for pleasure.

Writing about pensions and back-dating National Insurance contributions may not allow the imagination the same free rein as an espionage thriller, but he successfully navigated the endless form-filling and countless life-changing decisions which come post-retirement.

Settling into his new life, James forgot about the book, but the shock collapse of Lehman Brothers earlier this year jogged his memory.

"I started thinking about all the people who would be reaching retirement age," says James. "There may be no guarantees in this world, but the speed at which things changed was just incredible.

"The stock markets plummeted, the bottom fell out of the housing market, and all the time food and fuel increased. I just thought that if I was finishing work amid all that, I'd be grateful of any help I
could get."

The original book was extensively revised, and reborn as the Little Red Retirement Book. With more pensioners in Britain than there are children under 16, it could quickly become a best-seller.

"A fifth of the population is retired and they aren't content
to put their feet up and wait for the Grim Reaper," says James. "Until relatively recently, people worked, saved up for their pension, retired at 65 and then shuffled off this mortal coil a few years later. Now, people can expect to live another 20 or sometimes 30 years.

"We have much greater expectations, but they need to be planned and paid for."

James admits that since everyone's dreams and means differ, writing a definitive guide to retirement is impossible. However, he does hope that the book, which covers everything from selling homes to moving abroad, will provide an easy reference for the most common issues which crop up during retirement.

"A lot of the material I had read, said you 'mustn't' do this or you 'must' do that," he says.

"I don't want to preach to anyone, but I hope the information I've gathered together is of some help.

"One of the first bear traps retirement puts in people's paths is that, just when they most need to talk to former colleagues and workmates, they find themselves cut off from them.

"They don't want to be like the embarrassing colleague they once knew who kept shuffling into the office long after they'd given up work, but for some people, it means their social circle shrinks dramatically.

"When there aren't people around to ask for advice, you can end up turning in circles."

The events of recent months have also thrown even some of the most well-laid plans into turmoil, and panic is the pensioner's worst enemy.

"A lot of people's retirement centred around downsizing and using the money from the sale of the family home as part of their income," he says. "We all know how bad the housing market has been this year, and finding a buyer who has a mortgage deal is no longer a given.

"Now it's more important than ever to take stock. There is still a lot of bureaucracy to wade through. Sometimes it can feel like the main job of the tax circus is just to trip you up. Knowing what questions to ask is key."

While the world of business has few reasons to be cheerful, even in the current climate there are some upsides to retiring. Passing the milestone of pensionable age brings eligibility to a raft of discounted products and services – if you know where to look.

"People forget that working is expensive," says James. "Most employees spend a fortune on transport, and when you add in clothes, lunches out, it adds up to thousands of pounds a year.

"When you retire, you should, in theory, slash your outgoings. Also, you can get cheap car insurance, reduced prices on line rental, and let's not forget the free bus pass.

"The trick is remembering to make use of them. I went on the bus to Leeds Bradford Airport and I'd already paid £3 to get to Harrogate before I remembered I could travel for free."

Government estimates show that £2.5bn worth of benefits go unclaimed each year, and research from the Citizens Advice Bureau suggests that four out of 10 people don't get the pension benefit they deserve. Endless form-filling and simple ignorance of the system is partly to blame, but James also knows that there is a large element of misplaced pride.

"The benefit pot wasn't paid for by Martians, but retired people when they were among the world's workers," he says. "It's not demeaning to accept help. A society should be there to help its most vulnerable members."

As well as the financial practicalities of giving up work, the book also recognises the psychological shift which comes with retirement.

"There are still a lot of people needlessly resigned to sliding into a traditional old age," says James. "We dream of rest and idleness, and because retirement usually spells the end of paid employment, most people choose to celebrate by letting go completely.

"That's all well and good, but if you remove the scaffolding of the old routine and replace it with nothing, the danger is that you descend into inertia and depression.

"A lifetime of paid work tends to rob people of their imagination, so it's important to make yourself get out and do things."

The Little Red Retirement Book is published on a print-on- demand basis, which means that James can update the information as the situation changes. He's already made some amendments to the first edition, but whatever the future brings, there will be one piece of advice which will never change.

"Did you know Tolstoy published his novel, Resurrection, at the age of 72, and Michelangelo embarked on the great love affair of his life at 63?" he says.

"Acting our age can sometimes be very bad advice, and as long as our ambitions are not too fantastic, we should feel free to get stuck into whatever we want."


The Little Red Retirement book can be ordered through James's website at www. wexyork.com, priced £9.88, including postage and packing. It is also available to download for £2.50.