Your Lifestyle Retirement Issues
How many issues are there?
You are planning for your retirement and have engaged a financial planner or other professional to create and manage your funds for maximum return. Well done!
So now, what are your plans for what you will do and how you will live in retirement? Living happily ever after is a great vision but what will that mean to you, day to day? According to Peter Cerexhe (2000), there are stages that people experience as they prepare for retirement. These stages include moving from a period of positive excitement about transitioning from full time work; to planning that long-promised trip; to having an unsettled period of developing activities to suit; and to achieving stability. How will you navigate your way to a fulfilling life in retirement?
Many people think of two or three issues about their lifestyle in retirement. I suggest that there are many more issues and sub-issues that ought to be considered when planning your retirement (3aoptions, 2004). Some of these are:
Money Management
This issue is about your ability to manage your finances, work to a budget and ensure that you are insured for income protection or other emergencies or accidents that may occur, however unlikely. Understanding your financial position regarding bank charges, interest rates on credit cards or personal loans will assist you to budget and keep spending within your income.
Legal Considerations
You want to consider all the activities related to your wishes about your estate. You may need to ensure your will is valid and current, that your bequests and beneficiaries are nominated explicitly. In considering your future health and other financial matters, check that you have or plan to have an Enduring Power of Attorney and/or Medical Power of Attorney. Check that you have filed all your important documents safely, and the location is known to your family and executor, as appropriate.
Health
You have the chance to plan your program to maintain your health which puts good in good shape for a long time in retirement. Your approach to your physical and mental well being can include developing strategies to prevent, delay or manage some of the physical, social or personal challenges of ageing. According to Tom Hafey, AFL Legend, in his late 70s and a fitness figure, ‘Get negativity out of your system and be as positive as you can possibly be. Enjoy what you are doing because you are dead a long time.’
Leisure Activities
How will you maintain your well being into retirement? Many people take up that hobby or interest they have been promising themselves during their working life. For some, a hobby can turn into an income producing activity. For example, a high school cleaner developed his hobby of making furniture from local wood materials into a revenue generating business. In a survey of over 1500 Australians for National Psychology Week in 2007, 70% of 40 to 60-year-olds listed leisure activities as their biggest priority as they got older.
Relationships
If you have a partner and either or both of you have been in paid employment, retirement will mean an adjustment period to being together, possibly 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week. For both individuals and couples, changing and renewing their relationships and with others takes time. Consider how each relationship will provide you support and stimulation. Perhaps there are activities you will enjoy on your own and others you want to share with your partner or other close friends?
Fears/Concerns/Apprehensions
It is to be expected that for all the positive feelings you have about your transition to retirement, you may have concerns also. Perhaps this is the first time you are thinking about a life without the work, career or profession that has defined you and kept you occupied for many years. Your fears may be about your physical safety in your home and community; what will you do to ensure your well being in your environment? You may have responsibilities as a carer to older relatives or dependant children and you are unsure about what the future holds. What about your ability to socialise and make new friends and join new groups?
What can you do now, for planning your continued well-being?
Can you do all this on your own? What if you could create a plan for your second half for ageing well? Find yourself a planner to get your second half of life right, for you.
Contact us for a complimentary consultation to focus on your ideas. We work with you to discover what you want for your active life as you age. It will be the best 30 minutes you spend, to start your lifestyle plan.
References
3aoptions Pty Ltd. (2004). Issues and subissues in retirement. Professional Development Program for Coaches.www.3aoptions.com
Australian Psychology Society. (2007). National Psychology Week Survey. APS, Australia.
Cerexhe, P. (2000). Before and After Retirement. Choice, Australia.
© 2009 Helene Strawbridge, All rights reserved. You are free to use material from the Second Half Success material in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read: By Helene Strawbridge of Second Half Success. Please visit Helene’s web site at www.secondhalfsuccess.com.au for additional articles and resources. (Make sure the link is live if placed in an newsletter or in a web site.)
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