How Will You Spend Your Time in Retirement?
Envision it: You’ve retired, and it feels terrific. You wake up in the morning, tea mug in hand, and watch the day pass by. And you do the same the next day. And the next day. And the next day.
Until suddenly, your well-deserved leisure time doesn’t feel as heavenly as you dreamed it would be. You’re getting restless and even depressed.
Take heart: Many people approach retired life with this fantasy—it’s natural after decades of productivity. But human beings were designed for some level of activity, and we’ve noticed that our happiest retiree clients seem to be the ones who achieve a balance of activity and downtime.
That doesn’t mean you have to take another full-time job once you retire. But it does bring up the question “How will you spend your time in retirement?” And we think the most fulfilling retirements tend to be the ones where people answer this question before they retire.
Here are three steps to help you understand how you will spend your time in retirement.
1. Dream Up Your Ideal Retirement
At least a year before you retire (but preferably three to five years out), visualize yourself as a retiree. Do you have a definite picture in mind? Perhaps it’s one in which you volunteer for a favorite cause and then spend your free time building a cottage garden. Or maybe it’s one with lots of time babysitting the grandkids balanced by time with friends on the golf course.
If your picture is indefinite, that’s OK. Now is a good time to start coloring in the details of your retirement dreams. Ask yourself questions like:
What do I like to do and never get bored doing?
Do I have a network of family and friends I enjoy meeting regularly?
Do I want to work part-time?
Do I enjoy teaching others? Do I want to be a mentor?
How active am I in my place of worship?
What are my favorite hobbies or the hobbies that I want to try out?
Do I want to travel the world in one huge country-hopping vacation, or do I want to take shorter, regular trips?
Do I want to stay in the same home or downsize? Do I want to move out of state? Out of the country?
Answering questions such as these can help you dream up a retirement that excites you. You might consider creating a vision board that you place prominently to help prompt more ideas as your retirement vision takes shape.
And if you have a significant other, make sure to include them in the discussion. Whether you’re retiring at the same time or one of you will retire earlier than the other, being on the same page is key to a more gratifying retirement.
2. Build a Foundation for Your Dreams
Once you’ve formed a vision for your retirement, you can take steps to make it happen. For instance, if you want to enjoy the many benefits of volunteering (e.g., giving back, connecting with others, staying active physically and mentally), you can start making it happen.
Suppose you envision you and your spouse as docents for national parks or other regional locations. You can research the skills and background that the National Park Service and related organizations seek in candidates.
If you want to stay closer to home, you can reach out to local nonprofits to find out where their needs are. If you volunteer with them before retirement, even better. Even if you donate your time just once a month or so, the experience can help you decide if this volunteer opportunity aligns with your preferences.
If you plan to get a part-time job, consider whether you will stay in the same field as in your working years. Or maybe you’ll go a different route, combining your income with your hobbies to build a successful small business on a site such as Etsy.
The point is to lay the foundation for your retirement vision. Now can be an ideal time to take any education courses, get experience, find hobbyist groups that mesh with your interests, vacation for extended periods in the places you’re considering moving to, and so on.
You can enjoy a wide range of benefits by doing so. You’ll get an idea about what you like and don’t like. You’ll do the advance work so that you’re ready once you retire. You’ll begin building social connections, which can be critical if you now rely on your colleagues for much of your network. And you can talk to your financial advisor …
3. Work with a Financial Advisor to Make It Happen
Our fee-only financial planning firm in Roseville and Folsom, California, helps clients build retirement plans based on their goals. Ideally, your retirement planning will reflect how you plan to spend your time.
For example, if you plan to vacation abroad regularly, your budget should help you achieve that. If you want to move out of state, your finances should incorporate that objective, including the potential tax impacts. If you plan to work, you need to know how the additional income affects your cash flow, tax bracket, Social Security, and retirement distribution needs.
By doing the prep work for how you’ll spend your retirement, you gain the opportunity to get more specific with your financial planning, helping to eliminate surprises once you retire. You can determine whether you need to take additional financial steps to create your retirement lifestyle, such as contributing more to your retirement accounts. And you can step into retirement feeling more confident that you are mentally, emotionally, and financially prepared.
If you are unsure how to build a long-term financial plan that helps you achieve your financial and lifestyle goals, consider talking with a financial advisor. A fee-only, fiduciary financial planner with expertise in retirement planning can help provide comprehensive advice that puts your best interests first.
Schedule a complimentary, 15-minute call with a fee-only, fiduciary financial advisor today to discuss your personal situation.
This material was prepared by Kaleido Inc. from information derived from sources believed to be accurate. This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice.
Parkshore Wealth Management is a family-owned, independent, fee-only Registered Investment Advisor serving the greater Sacramento area with an office in Roseville, CA. We partner with financially responsible individuals and families who are eager to take positive steps that will allow them to use their money to build the life they desire. The firm is led by Harold Anderson, CFP®, and Daniel Andersen, CFP®, both members of NAPFA, the country's leading professional association of fee-only financial advisors.