Help Me Retire Podcast - Episode 12

Creating your own retirement vision

Show notes:

This is the Help Me Retire Podcast… with your host… Mike Brown… Senior Wealth Advisor with Raymond James Financial Services… and head of Brown Family Wealth Advisors…

Mike is the best-selling author of Your Way to True Wealth: How to Make It Happen, Make It Last, and Make It Matter…

He and his team have been helping clients pursue their dreams of financial independence for the past 30 years… and in the Help Me Retire Podcast… he’ll share his best ideas with you…

And now… here’s Mike…

In this episode of the Help Me Retire Podcast...

• Kick off a 7-part series... “7 Steps to a Successful Retirement”...

• Next seven episodes... walk you through step-by-step process we use to help people navigate... what can be intimidating series of decisions...

• Decisions you might be facing... whether retiring next month... next year... even five years from now...

• Might be afraid of making bad choices... maybe don’t think you know enough yet to make those choices...

• Maybe you don’t even know yet... what those decisions are...

• Don’t even know where to get started...

• Well, don’t you worry... help is on the way... I’ve got it all laid out for you... seven steps... seven things you want to be thinking about... things you want to start doing... in... order...

• And we’re going to start in this episode... by creating your own vision of retirement...

Let’s start by laying out all seven steps... in logical order...

• Creating your vision of retirement... which is what we’ll be focusing on in today’s episode...

• Next episode... putting together a retirement spending plan...

• Step Three... another episode... look at all of your retirement income sources... help you make right decisions when it comes to claiming Social Security, for example...

• After that... I’ll show you how to protect yourself... protect your health... protect your wealth... and protect your privacy... your information... that’s Step Four...

• Step Five is all about investments... can’t wait to share that with you... lots of things to talk about there...

• Then Step Six... we talk about taxes in retirement... putting together a plan to help you enjoy retirement... without sharing more than you have to with Uncle Sam...

• And then finally... Step Seven... the final episode in the series... creating your legacy...

So let’s jump in... and start creating a vision for what you want your retirement to look like...

Might surprise you to know I’m not going to be talking about money or investing in this episode... save that for later...

This is about your life in retirement... and how you want to live it...

Think we should start by outlining some basic decisions... some pretty objective questions you’ll need answers to...

• Here’s one, for example...  How would you describe lifestyle you want to lead once you retire?

  • Active... never staying in one place for long... always being on the go...

  • More passive... sedentary... more focused on relaxing...

  • No right or wrong answer... but that one decision will impact a lot of the other decisions you’ll be making before retirement...

• Next question: Have you decided when you plan to retire? Picked a date?

  • Will you and your spouse retire at the same time?

  • Does your spouse have a different vision than yours?

  • One of our clients said his wife told him... “I married you for better or worse... but not for lunch!”

• Another question... Where will you live once you retire?

  • Relocate to another city?

  • Stay in your current home?

  • Downsize?

  • Research has shown that people who live in their own houses in retirement... tend to be happier... but only through their 70s...

  • Once they reach their 80s... that same research shows that they’re actually happier when they live in apartment buildings or senior communities... where they can spend their time with other people... they’re less socially isolated...

  • Will you own a vacation home?

• Next question... Retire cold-turkey... or just cut back to part-time at your current employer... maybe another employer...

  • Retirement doesn’t have to mean leaving your career behind... maybe you can keep working part-time... just doing the parts of your job that you loved most...

  • Good for self-esteem... and a little extra income never hurts...

• And finally... let’s talk about some other people...

  • Will you be responsible for anyone else in retirement? Parents... adult children... grandchildren...?

• Those are the objective questions... kind of like true-false...  the easy part...

  • Next, we’re going to move on to deciding what to do with all your free time... and that’s definitely multiple choice...

So imagine it’s Monday morning... clock didn’t go off... because you didn’t set it...

It’s the first official day of your retirement...

• What’s the first thing you’ll do when your brain wakes you up on the first Monday morning after you’ve stopped working?

  • Get up... have cup of coffee... read news...

  • If you do read the news... first thing you’ll discover... world did not stop spinning because you decided to stop working...

  • Maybe you weren’t indispensable after all... maybe life does carry on without your input...

  • Let me tell you something...

  • That can be a rude shock... and you’d better be ready for it... it really throws some new retirees for a loop...

• So, what you’re going to need are some good reasons to get out of bed on that first Monday morning...

• Retirement researchers have discovered... lack of structure can make time go faster...

  • Last feeling you want to get after you retire... that time is slipping away from you...

• First instinct many people have right after they retire... I just want to rest for awhile... take my time... put my feet up and goof off some...

  • Nothing wrong with that... as long as it’s temporary and not a full-time lifestyle...

• It’s common for people to lose a sense of status and purpose when they retire... and just relaxing... goofing off... is not going to give it back to you...

  • Where old expression comes from... don’t retire from something... retire to something...

  • That’s good advice...

• Before you stop working... you hear things like... retirement is one big vacation... every day’s a Friday...

  • Truth is... weekends and vacations are nice when you’re working... because they are a break from routine... relief from hard work... all you to do something different... give you something to look forward to...

• But when your whole life suddenly becomes a weekend or vacation... you might not feel like you’re getting a break from anything... because leisure is now your whole life...

  • Are these relaxing things going to provide the same satisfaction as they used to when weekends and vacations were something you looked forward to?

  • Think about it like this: If you play golf every day when you retire... and that’s mostly all you do... then golf can actually become like work after a while... it’s no longer a welcome break from your routine... it is your new routine...

• Here’s a better idea...

  • Once you’re retired... think of each day as a blank sheet of paper...

  • You’ve got 24-hours... and probably fairly few things you just have to do...

    • Plus... now you’ve got all the flexibility you need to do exactly what you want to do...

• Start creating some structure to replace what you used to have at your job...

  • Start choosing a series of habits... or grooves...

  • Things you want to do on a regular basis... maybe every day... every week... develop a nice comfortable routine...

    • And then schedule some breaks from that routine... something different to look forward to...

  • You might say... I play golf or pickleball on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays... I volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays... We go out to a nice restaurant every Saturday night... and church on Sundays...

    • But we’ve also planned a cruise for next fall... and the following spring we’re taking the family someplace warm for spring break...

• See? Now you’ve got your normal grooves... your normal routine doing exactly what you want to do every day... and some things you need to do...

  • And you’ve also got some big, fun activities to plan for and look forward to... that’s what makes them special...

• Set some goals... build a little structure into your day...

  • Then buy a 12-month calendar and start filling it in...

• I told you I wasn’t going to talk about investing in this episode... but there are two investments I really want you to make in retirement... if not before...

  • The first investment to make is in your health...

  • Talk to anyone who’s been retired for a while... they’ll tell you that all the money in the world... and all the time in the world... won’t mean a thing if you don’t feel good... if you don’t have the energy to enjoy those things...

  • And I’m not just talking about physical health... your mental fitness is just as important...

• The second investment you should make in retirement kind of ties in with that...

  • It’s investing... in relationships...

  • How are you and your spouse going to maintain your social network... or better yet... grow your social network?

    • That’s going to be one of the keys to your happiness... and may even add years to your life...

    • But the more people you know and socialize with... the more of them you’re eventually going to see move away or pass away somewhere down the road... that’s life... and you’ve got to be ready to adapt to that... and keep your social network intact...

  • Here’s the trick: keep moving... keep learning... keep creating... keep sharing your life with other people... and be an important part of theirs...

Now I’m going to share a technique to help you build the structure you’ll need to enjoy your retirement to the fullest...

You’re going to want to write this down... so pause this recording... grab a blank sheet of paper and something to write with...

And if you can’t do this right now... make sure to come back to it later... you’ll find it’s a valuable exercise...

When you’re done with this... you’re going to have nine different categories of activities... and at least three ideas for each one...

27 things to help provide that structure we talked about... ways to spend your day... hobbies... working... creating... teaching... giving back... 27 ideas that should bring joy to your life in retirement...

Ready?

• Write the word travel... and then list three places you want to go when you retire...

• Next write volunteer... even if you don’t volunteer now... list three organizations you might consider helping...

• Next... exercise... list three physical activities... things you actually enjoy doing to stay in shape...

• Fourth category... hobbies... things to do with your hands... collecting... building... creating... fixing... taking pictures...

• Next... groups to join... list three groups you might want to join... a golf league... a book club... neighborhood dinner group... a wine-tasting group...

• Next category... study and learn... three subjects you want to learn more about...

• Next... list three regular activities designed to keep your brain sharp... the daily crossword... Sudoku... Wordle... reading to pre-school children...

• Next category... social network... how will you build that all-important group of friends... meet for coffee or breakfast... schedule a game night with other couples... join a club...

• Final category... projects... around the house... clean out garage... organize photo album... hold a yard sale... update your landscaping... build something for your grandchildren... renovate your home to make it more accessible if you plan to age in place...

Okay, that’s it... this list should give you at least 27 activities to put on your retirement day planner...

Remember... the idea is to get into a groove... develop a comfortable, enjoyable daily routine...

And then punctuate that routine from time to time with big trips... or some other way to get away and do something you don’t do every day... again... something to look forward to... that’s the key...

I also have a great resource article to give you some ideas... we’re attaching it to the show notes for this episode...

It’s called Thriving through Retirement... that’s a great word... thriving... which is what retirement should be all about... and this article is chock full of links and other resources to help you create your vision...

Take some time and give some thought to what you’ve heard today... if married... talk them over with your spouse...

At some point... get busy putting together your own vision for retirement...

Next episode... step two in series... creating a spending plan for retirement...

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Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.

Investment advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.  Brown Family Wealth Advisors is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.

Any opinions are those of Mike Brown and Brown Family Wealth Advisors and not necessarily those of Raymond James. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation. There is no guarantee that these statements or opinions will prove to be correct. Investing involves risk, and you may incur a profit or a loss regardless of the strategy selected. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Prior to making an investment decision, please consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation.