Creating a vision for your retirement is critical to your happiness in your golden years. Jim and Beth retired 5 years ago. They were both excited to finally be done with work after over 30 years and were on to a new chapter in their lives. They had been dreaming about this day for what seemed like forever. During the first couple of months, they were shot out of a cannon. Checking things off on their to-do list around the house and so forth. When they got their initial to-do list done, they found themselves waking up late (I so look forward to that), eating their way through the day and watching way more TV than they wanted. They also spent way more money than what they planned. Since they retired early (before 65), all of their friends were busy during the day working. They felt isolated. They had spent so much of their lives at work that this had become a large part of their identity. They grew bored only a few months into their retirement and started questioning if they had made the right decision. Everything was in order financially, but something else was missing.
Jim and Beth fell into the trap of not having a well-thought-out plan for their retirement. Specifically, a vision for the time they’d spend in their retirement.
What is a retirement vision?
A vision for your retirement is a visualization and plan for what you’ll do when you’re no longer doing your “day job.” So much of our lives are consumed with a 9-5 (or more for some), and when that time is no longer consuming us, something else needs to fill that space. More sleep is legitimately needed to take up some of that extra time. But, the other time needs a plan so that you have no regrets.
A retirement vision and plan helps you visualize what you will do beyond the work you’re doing today. It gives you a blueprint or path for how you’ll achieve that third chapter of your life. The idea that you’ll sit on a beach chair waiting for drinks to be delivered to you by someone named Fernando is a myth. Sedentary retirement is not realistic. You need other plans.
Why is a vision for retirement important?
As illustrated above with Jim and Beth, retirement can backfire. While you don’t need a day-by-day play-by-play, it is important to have an overall plan. By having a plan, you reduce the risk that you will fall into depression. You reduce the risk that you will fall into bad habits, such as alcoholism and gambling addiction.
You need to have a plan for where geographically you’ll spend your time, how you’ll spend time with your kids. Where will they be? What will you do to earn a bit of money? Will you consult? Will you volunteer at your local zoo? How will you find like-minded people? Perhaps your current friends aren’t yet retired. How will you connect with other people like you during your golden years?
What goes into a retirement plan?
An effective retirement vision or plan consists of the following:
- Living arrangements. Identify where you’ll spend your time and how you’ll pay for it. Is your house paid off? Will you rent?
- Travel. Where have you always wanted to go? How will you get there? How long will you spend in his place? Will you live there for part of the year?
- Family time. If you have kids, how old will they be when you retire? What does that mean? Where do they live? How will you spend time with them? How do you want them to feel about you?
- Work. Will you really stop working 100%? Or will you leave the ‘daily grind’ and get into more of a part-time situation that gives you more time? Will you be your own boss? Will you be a Walmart greeter?
- Hobbies. Did you have hobbies before you started spending so much time working? What were they? Do you want to revisit them? Do you have new hobbies you want to explore? Do you want to learn a new language? Play a new instrument that you never had the opportunity to discover?
- Charity. How do you want to give back? Do you want to give back? Will you feel better giving back? Is it your time? Is it your money?
How to start a vision and plan.
- The eulogy. This is a bit morbid, but think about how you want to be remembered when you’re gone. Is there a legacy you want to leave? Is it about being there for other people when they need you? Is it about the imprint you left on a cause? How would others describe you when your gone? Did you leave an imprint on people? How do your kids feel about you as a parent? What else could you do now to change this?
- Your third chapter. How does your third chapter read? You’ve had your first and second, but when you retire, you’re experiencing your third chapter. What will you do to change the dynamic of your third chapter? You have a choice for where your story ends.
- The retirement board. Another option for visualizing your retirement is to start a mood board. Cut some things out of magazines that inspire you. What are the things that get you ready?
Here’s my retirement vision to give you an idea
My plan is to retire no later than 55. But, what I mean by retire is that I will significantly dial down my hours that are dedicated to somebody else. I will definitely still “sell my time,” but it will be on my terms, including the hours that I want to make available for this part of my life.
- Our travel. My wife and I are both aligned to a desire to travel across the country (by road), slowly discovering little towns across the U.S. as well as all of the majesty of the National Parks that we have not yet discovered. We also have a strong appetite for international travel. Many countries, such as the sea-side country of Portugal in Europe, have a much lower cost of living than the U.S. We talk about spending even up to half of our time in a place like this.
- Our home. We plan to maintain a house in Michigan for 3 seasons of the year, but for those 3-4 frigid months, we will be elsewhere in warmer temps, either in the U.S. or some other country.
- Our kids. My children will be 19 and 22 at the time I retire. I imagine post-retirement college visits for my younger daughter (if she doesn’t decide to become a plumber….which is pretty lucrative and admirable) and visits for my older daughter as she starts her career. Where my kids land is a wild card. My only hope is that they live where they love (wherever that might be) and don’t feel any guilt to settle where we are. My other hope is that they do what they feel compelled to do vs. what we think they should do. Their lives are not my life to live. We will meet them wherever they are in life.
- Our work. I work in the marketing field. My skills are transferable to any industry. I have kept up over time with various skills, software and so forth. My plan is to devote part of my time to consulting in this space. I also plan to keep the Good for Your Wealth blog going (this is part of my master plan!). Personal finance is a passion of mine. I want to help others realize their power to do something different, not needing to work to their elderly age, to make ends meet. I want people to enjoy the time of their lives when they are able and energetic vs. devoting every last moment to someone or something else.
- Our hobbies. I have several things on my list. Earlier in my life, I was offered a full-ride scholarship to a university for music, specifically vocal music. I turned it down to “sell my soul” to business. To this day, I question that decision. My plan moving forward is to learn both guitar and piano so that I can accompany my own vocals. I will likely start or be lead singer of a band when I’m no longer working full time.
- Our charity. We are currently foster parents. My wife and I both had very rough beginnings, and that has led us to work toward helping children in similar situations achieve something more than their current situation. Good for Your Wealth is also my other plan. This blog is only my first step. My “master plan” is to develop a non-profit that provides education in junior high and high schools to help kids before they get too deep into debt, including consumer debt and student loan debt. There is not enough support available in schools on this topic and also for kids who don’t have savvy parents. By reading my blog and signing up for email updates from my blog, you are helping this cause. Thank you!
In Closing
Visioning your retirement is an exercise everyone should take. By planning your retirement, you are taking control of your future. Just because you are financially ready doesn’t mean you are ready for everything else in retirement. The more you think through your retirement, both financially and otherwise, the more you’ll be prepared.
Happy planning!