I Retired Early, Now What?

Believe it or not, for too many people retirement can feel like a bit of a downer; and for early retirees, it can sometimes feel even more so. Those that may be baffled by the notion that retirement isn’t dreamy, I would liken retirement to when you graduated from high school. You worked for years to arrive to that point and looked forward to graduating; but once you graduated, you may not have felt as liberated and fulfilled as you thought you would. Retirement can be similar, and in today’s blog I’ll explain what can be done to help you feel both liberated and fulfilled in retirement - especially during an early one.

Retirement for Some Isn’t So Dreamy

The word retirement conjures up in our minds images of relaxing on some tropical beach, or traveling around the world. Other images include leisure activities such as golf or pickle ball (I’m still waiting to play this sport - I’ve heard great things about it). In fact, when I Googled the word “retirement”, here are a few of the images that came up in the search.

Quite a few images featured a pair of chairs, sometimes near a lake, other times on a beach. For example:

Others had loving couples like these:

And here are others I found more interesting:

The images seem to convey feelings of liberation, relaxation, happiness, and joy. They represent the opportunity to explore the world on your terms without anything holding you back. But like many things on the internet, (think Instagram), reality can be very different from what you see online. However, with the right type of planning, and not just financial, you can make your retirement more meaningful.

How do you have a fulfilling retirement?

I recently read an article by Robert Laura who is a best-selling author, nationally syndicated columnist, and president of Wealth & Wellness Group.* Much of his work focuses on the non-financial aspects of life after work.

He said that more than 80% of what it takes to successfully retire has nothing to do with money. I’m not exactly sure how he came up with the figure of 80%, but suffice it to say, a successful retirement is so much more than just having the financial means to do so. Mr. Laura states that there are six aspects to have a successful retirement. These aspects are listed below along with my own thoughts.

People that successfully retired were able to:

1. Replace their work identity

This makes a lot of sense. For many successful retirees, and especially for early retirees, a lot of their fulfillment was wrapped up in their career. Their work or business had challenges that at times were difficult, but when these challenges were overcome, it provided a real sense of satisfaction. Despite all of the demands and challenges one’s career can provide; it can also provide an immense feeling of purpose and accomplishment.

2. Fill their time with meaningful tasks

If all you do in retirement is watch the Price is Right, you’ll learn like Happy Gilmore that the Price of Retirement might be wrong. Consequently, filling your time with tasks that provide a sense of meaning and purpose can help provide joy and fulfillment.

What exactly do we mean by meaning and purpose? As I shared in a previous blog, The Pursuit of Happiness, much of what makes us happy has nothing to do with money. Instead, it focuses on activities that produce a state called “flow”. This often occurs when you take on an activity where your unique skillset is challenged that requires cognitive investment. At these moments, you become absorbed in an activity and lose sense of time.  This can occur while writing music, through woodworking, or even completing a crossword puzzle. This is where many find meaning, and it occurs when they do something for themselves, which is an internal concept.

Purpose would be an external concept where you do something for others. It could be something as simple as spending meaningful time with your family, or volunteering in your community.

If you can find an activity that provides both meaning and purpose, then you will really be fulfilled. For example, playing music at a center for seniors.

3. Stay relevant and connected

You could retire early and have a great relationship with your spouse, but still feel “lonely” as a retiree. This may be because most of your friends and family are still working. You won’t be able to play during the middle of the weekday against your friends in pickle ball; and it might be painful when you lose to a 70-year-old retiree.

4. Keep mentally and physically active

This one is pretty obvious. Practicing good mental and physical health will greatly improve how you feel.

5. Express their spiritual beliefs

For some, this means becoming more involved in their religious faith. For others, it’s being a part of a cause they believe in, such as helping the homeless. And others, it means spending time out in nature. As I’ve heard it said, “I’d rather be in the mountains thinking about God, then be in church thinking about the mountains.”

6. Feel financially secure

Yes, without money, retirement isn’t possible. But as demonstrated above, without these other five aspects, a fulfilling retirement may not be possible either.

Many of my favorite meetings with clients are where we discuss at length the goals that are most important to them. Many of these have nothing directly to do with money; however, we can create a financial plan and strategy to help achieve them. I’ve learned from my work with retirees that it is very important that one doesn’t just retire from something, but retires to something.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog, and I hope you found the information useful. If you have any questions about early retirement or planning in general, please feel free to schedule a meeting by clicking here.

Source:

* https://www.fa-mag.com/news/right-way-retirement-63041.html?section=47