One of the key areas we advise on is retirement planning, preparing for retirement, retiring and living your retirement. As we could now live for 30 years or more in retirement it’s important to get it right.
There’s a good quote that says ‘Retirement is about waking up with enough purpose and going to sleep with enough money’.
For the transition into retirement to be successful you need to have both ‘the emotional capacity to retire and the financial capacity’.
A good transition into retirement for many is to semi-retire for a few years first. This allows you the time to build up other interests outside of work and perhaps a new network of friends.
You need to have not just the wealth to retire but also the capacity to handle the emotional or psychological impact of leaving the world of work.
In general, people need to start thinking earlier about what comes next. It’s useful to have these discussions years before you retire. Understanding what you might do in retirement should help you to plan to have the means to retire (to do what you want).
Be flexible with your retirement, it’s very likely that you will change direction and you will have to adapt your original plans and keep adapting them. Your retirement plan has to be pliable.
Quite often people either carry on working or return to work after a few months off. This can be a retirement option for those that have the means to fully retire. I have also had clients who have been pretty much full time voluntary workers. The most important outcome is that you are happy with your retirement.
Summary
Think about your retirement, what do you want to do? How will you spend your time? Have you factored in what your partner and family want or what you’d like to do for them in retirement?
What will it cost to live the life you want to live?
Will your new life be engaging and intellectually stimulating? Plan with your partner if you have one.
As mentioned earlier you need both the financial and emotional capacity to retire.
Steve Speed
09/03/2020
Thought provocation from Nucleus Illuminate 06/03/2020