In our previous blog, we discussed the importance of carefully planning how you’ll spend your time in retirement; this isn’t a task you should take lightly.
Here are a few questions to get you thinking about planning your future in retirement:
- What were you passionate about in your youth but didn’t have time then to add to your busy life? Was it dancing, writing, woodworking, or maybe something else?
- What would you choose to do if you had no other commitments on your time? Teaching night school? Farming? Working with animals? Caretaking? Creating that woodworking shop?
- Do you have strong interests in any of these activities? Writing? Singing? Dancing? Painting? Mentoring? Volunteering? Continuing education? Higher learning?
- Is there another specific area of interest that you would like to pursue? Believe it or not, you now have the time to do something you have always wanted.
- Do you want to spend more regular time with your grandchildren? Maybe you have wanted to be a bigger part of their lives but never had the opportunity to make that commitment.
- Here are harder questions. Where do you see yourself at age seventy-five? Age eighty? Age eighty-five?
- Do you and your spouse share interests? If so, do you have a plan to pursue those interests? If you do not share interests, how will you manage your own individual interests and still spend time together?
- Are you willing to put yourself in situations and circumstances that expose you to new and different opportunities? Maybe more dedication to physical exercise will require more time and effort or learning a skill from the bottom up—such as gardening or woodworking; or maybe you want to take up tennis or golf—something you have never done but always wanted to try.
- Have you thought much about how you want to spend your final days? This is not a question many want to answer, but if you become more spiritual in your retirement, you may think about this phase of your life.
Finding your purpose in life in retirement may not be so easy, and it may take time to discover, but you will know it when you can say your purpose in life is timeless (you could do this forever), tireless (you never get tired of doing this) and causes infectious energy (you can’t wait to get started every day). This is your “aha” moment.
Retirement is an opportunity to hit the reset button—get out there and do it. You finally have time. Someone once said, “When things fall apart, the pieces sometimes land in a better shape than they ever were.” Retirement can be like this if you work to find that special purpose.
This excerpt is from Ryan S. Kidd’s book The Art of Retiring Whole. Ryan is a Senior Partner with Validus Financial Associates and specializes in the financial aspects of retirement. Additionally Ryan has a master’s degree in counseling that helps him better understand the non-financial issues that retirees face. CRN-3985724-121521