When it comes to retirement planning, I always say that are two main elements – planning your finances and planning your time.
In the work that we do we often spend quite a bit of time considering the first of those elements as without the appropriate financial resources it is potentially not possible at all.
Whilst that is essential to a successful retirement, it is equally as important to have something to retire to.
From my experience of seeing many people retire the most successful are the ones who have retired because they had a next chapter of their life that they were looking forward to, and once they got there found this to be what they wanted (albeit with some tweaks/changes).
If I really think about it, I can break it down into 4 main elements as follows:
- Meaning and purpose – Having a purpose for living life and understanding what it is that brings them happiness and fulfilment
- Routine – Having some sort of structure to their regular week that they can operate from. That doesn’t mean replacing working hours with other unpaid work, but rather understanding what needs to be done on what days.
- Hobbies/Interests – Having things to keep the mind and body healthy. This could be something that you have always done, or something new.
- Things to look forward to – When people are working they often put things in the calendar for themselves to look forward to in the future, whether this be an event or a holiday. In the same way doing this once in retirement has many potential benefits.
So when it comes to planning for retirement, it is important to consider and review what you might be retiring to as much as planning your financial resources.
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