Did you know that many people struggle with anxiety, depression, and frustration after they take the leap into retirement? It’s true. We spend such a large portion of our lives working to live “the good life” during retirement, that we forget to plan what “the good life” actually looks like and aren’t sure how to spend our time when we get there.
Many financial planners will focus exclusively on your portfolio. They’ll help you plan your retirement finances down to the cent. However, a large majority of financial planners stop there. They don’t help you to plan your lifestyle, or to construct a retirement savings plan that’s based in your goals and spending values.
At Wisely Advised, we do things a little bit differently. We believe that retirement planning is, at its core, lifestyle planning. That’s why we help our clients through a process of identifying their values and retirement lifestyle goals, and then we work together to construct a comprehensive financial plan and investment strategy that lines up with those things.
Finding Fulfillment As a Retiree
As a new retiree, you’re experiencing a colossal life change. You’re essentially going from having the majority of your day pre-planned to having no structure in your day-to-day – and that can be really difficult. Yet 6 out of every 10 full time workers say they’re confident that they can live the retirement they want. Unfortunately, because we’re so focused on the dollars and cents of retirement planning, we lose site of planning what we want to do once we actually hit the retirement milestone. This can cause a rapid shift in personal satisfaction, emotional fulfillment, and mental health.
You may feel like your life and actions have lost a significant portion of meaning, especially if you were finding the majority of your emotional fulfillment from your job before retirement. In this new season of your life, it’s important to find new ways to feel emotionally fulfilled. This might mean finding new social circles, volunteering somewhere local, exercising your sense of adventure through travel, or exploring an activity you’ve always been passionate about but haven’t had much time for – like art, or fishing.
Saving According to Your Goals and Values
The best way to plan for a fulfilling retirement is to determine what your values are, and how you can line your goals as a retiree up with that value set. For example, if you value adventure, you may make it a goal to travel somewhere new each year that you’re retired. If you value family, you may make it a goal to spend more time with your kids and grandkids.
As you start to build a retirement savings plan, it’s important to take these goals and values into account. Saving for your current living expenses as someone who is employee full time may or may not cut it when you hit retirement and want to travel, spend time with family, or pick up a hobby that has associated costs. On the other side of the coin, you may find that you’re able to significantly cut back some expenses if you’re planning to drastically change your lifestyle. You may be able to downsize your home and pay it off in full if you’re planning to travel more. Alternatively, you might be able to cut the costs associated with a long, expensive commute if you stop going in to the office or metro area where you work every day and instead choose to get involved with your local community instead.
Building a financial plan and a budget where your spending decisions are rooted in the lifestyle you want can help to put you on the path to a fulfilling retirement. At Wisely Advised, we can help you create the plan that works best for you. Together, we’ll uncover your unique set of values, set goals that create a lifestyle gameplan for your years as a retiree, and build a financial plan that prioritizes saving enough to achieve those goals. Ready to learn more? Contact Wisely Advised today. We’d love to help you get started planning your retirement lifestyle!
Tony Velasquez is the Founder and Managing Director of Wisely Advised an Illinois Registered Investment Advisor. Wisely Advised provides comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services to both individual and business clients.