Many of us living longer in our retirements than we’ve lived in our employment years—this may be 30-40 years. About 11,000 people per day are retiring in the US. In Canada, well over 1,000 people a day are retiring. Understanding that retirees need to live productive, engaging lives in their communities is crucial contemporary life as baby boomers retires in record numbers and living longer than previously estimated.
Retirement is like a graduation commencement. It means starting a new life, not ending one. The difference is, like embarking on a new career, or seeking out a new life in new socio-economic conditions takes practice. So whether you are “between opportunities”, trying out part time retirement or fully retiring, this is practice retirement time , both financially and in terms of your lifestyle before you decide to retire fully, or crafting a life that is retirement on your terms.
In the book Your Retirement Quest: 10 Secrets for Creating and Living a Fulfilling Retirement by Proctor and Gamble executives Alan Spector and Keith Lawrence, I was so persuaded by the Chapter called Giving Back that I took immediate action. I researched volunteer organizations in our area and reached out to the Volunteer Coordinator for the community service organization that I chose. I met with Womens’ Community House in London, Ontario, a residence for abused women, shortly volunteering to develop and deliver a series of job search workshops to its residents. This volunteer activity helped me feel more useful, healthy and optimistic.
As we plan for longer retirements, there are many good books that I would recommend for easing the transition. The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who Have Lived The Longest by Dan Buettner; Changing Your Game From Success to Significance by Bob Bufford; 70 is the New 40: Bonus Years Here We Come! by Barbara Penn-Atkins, Remarkable and Real: Remarkable Questions and Real Possibilities for the Second Half of Life co-authored by Gary R. Jay and others.
In my experience I think it is important to determine why of what we are doing. The Spector and Lawrence book helped me do this. It is an excellent resource for this reason.
There are now on-line assessments and other tools that can be accessed to help participants determine their readiness for retirement. These assessments can help you determine your preparedness for retirement in areas such as attitude toward retirement, adaptability, anticipated life satisfaction, leisure, and many other aspects of retirement planning besides what is traditionally thought of as being primarily focused on the financial side of the process. To put things into perspective, your financial planner may ask about your financial readiness for retirement with a question such as “What would you like to do with our retirement when you get there?” Start planning to determine your next steps at least five years before your retirement event.
For further details on how to prepare for your own “new beginnings”, visit www.robertsonconsulting.ca.
or contact wendy@robertsonconsulting.ca or visit www.retirementoptions.com.