The whole point of retirement is to improve your life—at least, that’s the case for most people. However, many people assume that if they stop working, their life will somehow magically be better.
While not working does give you time and energy to pursue your goals and interests, you’ll need to do more work to design a life that can help you be fulfilled and happy in your retirement years.
To help you design the life you want in retirement, ask yourself five probing questions: the who, what, where, when and why. Let’s take a look.
Who Do You Want To Spend Time With?
Think about who you want to spend the rest of your life with. Of course, that likely includes family and friends whose company you enjoy and who provide you with emotional and logistical support. Answering this question might help you decide where you want to be in retirement, as you may choose to live geographically closer to the people you’d like to spend more time with.
You might also have long-lost family and friends you haven’t seen for a while. If you do, make a list and vow to reconnect with them. Or maybe you’re open to making new friends. If so, think about pursuing interests and activities where you’ll meet like-minded people.
On the flip side, there might be people in your life who you really don’t like. If possible, see what you can do to spend less time with them.
Many retirees often cite close personal relationships as important to their sense of their fulfillment and happiness. Be sure you’re consciously choosing who you want to spend time in retirement with so these relationships add to your joy.
What Do You Want To Do?
Make a list of all the activities you’d like to pursue with your retirement freedom. Perhaps you already enjoy certain interests and hobbies that you want to spend more time doing. Or you might have fantasized during your working years that someday, when you have more time, you’ll [fill in the blank].
If you don’t have any specific ideas about interests you’d like to pursue, then be open to trying new activities. Most likely there’s nothing to lose except time, which you might have plenty of in retirement.
Be sure to think beyond traveling, and consider what you’ll do on a daily and weekly basis. This can help define the financial resources you’ll need to support the life you want.
When Do You Want To Retire?
If you’re still working, deciding when to retire is one of the most important decisions that will impact your financial security. Some people like their work and want to continue as long as possible, or they may need to work for financial reasons. Other people can’t wait to retire. And some people want to work, but not full time so they have more time to pursue their hobbies and interests. By balancing your financial and lifestyle reasons for retiring, you’ll be able to more easily determine what the right age should be for you to retire.
Take the time to analyze when you can afford to retire and balance the common-sense formula for retirement security: I > E, or income greater than living expenses.
If you’re already retired but aren’t actively pursuing any hobbies or interests, ask when you might pursue the activities you’ve identified. What’s holding you back?
Where Do You Want to Live?
Recently, retirement researchers have determined that the community and the specific house you live in can strongly influence your health and happiness in retirement. To increase your retirement happiness, you’ll want to select a community where it’s easy to see the people you want to be with and where your favorite activities are close by.
Rightsizing your home can also help improve your finances if you can reduce the costs of maintaining and living in your home.
Why Do You Want To Retire?
Perhaps the most important thing to determine is the reasons why you want to retire. Many people don’t want to work anymore, or perhaps they’re no longer able to work. Indeed, this can be one powerful reason to retire.
However, if you only have negative reasons that push you into retirement, you haven’t designed the life you want—you’ve simply stopped working. To make the most of your golden years, you’ll also want to understand the positive reasons that pull you into retirement.
There are two more important considerations that provide foundational support for your retirement happiness. First, you’ll want to make sure you have sufficient financial income to support the life you want. That’s why it’s important to design a fulfilling and satisfying retirement, so you know how much retirement income you’re going to need. And second, you’ll want to take steps to be as healthy as possible, so you can enjoy the retirement life you’ve designed.
Take the time to design the life you want in retirement, and then go enjoy it! You’ll be glad you did.