(Hint: Don’t Be Afraid To Think Outside the Box!)
Planning for retirement can bring your vision into focus at any age. The real benefit is that it allows you to relax and enjoy TODAY knowing that you are doing what you need to do: you are on track. Sometimes the first planning take won’t be successful, e.g. thinking you’ll retire at age 62 but realizing on further reflection that you don’t want to stop working completely. Maybe instead you’ll work part time until age 67 or 70 … winding down over time. When you decide on the plan and the numbers fit – it is MAGICAL!
Planning for your vision
At Bartley Financial, we are blessed to have the ability to help guide our clients through the process leading up to and through retirement. Some questions that we may ask are: What does retirement look like? What will you be doing with your days? Planning for retirement, a complete change to you day-to-day activities, is a process. You have to sit back and think about it, think limitless! Recently, some clients returned from Alaska after several months on an adventure that was not your typical trip. Listening to them describe their adventures, the excitement was palpable. Another client balanced very stressful careers and owned multiple properties. Although they had a retirement plan, things changed, a building sold, and they decided to retire sooner than their plan. They packed up their stuff and moved halfway across the country. The last time we spoke with them, they were loving life, losing weight and off their medications! It is exciting for us to be able to share in our clients’ joy and excitement as they navigate their way through retirement.
Planning for questions
When heading into retirement there are a lot of open questions, e.g. what will we do in retirement, how will we afford it, are we ready to slow down? These unknowns can lead to stress as you begin to think about retiring. In the years prior to retirement, we spend a lot of time with our clients not only discussing the financial aspects of retirement, but also the emotional piece. We love it when we see our clients make the shift from being stressed about retirement to being able to relax and enjoy themselves and each other. We have had the chance to witness many clients undergo that change. Having listened to our client’s plan, crunching the numbers, discussing the plan in detail with them, then seeing their goals and aspirations materialize is incredible! This is what gets us up and out of bed in the morning and excited to get to work.
Planning for change
You may have a vision in your head how you think your retirement will look, but once you reach retirement that vision may change, and that’s OK! Planning for retirement is important, but the biggest thing to remember is that your plan does not have to be set in stone. Once you reach retirement, you can change your mind and decide you want to do something completely different! Maybe you think you want to sit by the beach and read your book, or maybe you think you would like to work or volunteer part-time in retirement, or perhaps you plan to travel the world. Planning for those scenarios is great, but life is dynamic, and you should be too. When we build the plan with our clients, we all know the numbers, cash flow needs, etc. A major goal can easily be changed, e.g. from extensive travel to living closer to grandchildren. Our experience is that it ALWAYS changes. We are here for you and can work through all of your lifestyle changes with you. I bet if five years ago, you asked the couple that just returned from Alaska if they planned on spending months in Alaska during “retirement,” their answer would have been a resounding no!
How can we help you?
Life doesn’t stop when you cut back on work or retire completely. We’ve seen how full and rewarding this stage can be time and again! Please reach out to us if you want to talk about your own dynamic dreams for retirement.
At Bartley Financial, we care about way more than your finances. We care about the life you’re trying to live; finances are just a piece of that. Call us anytime if you need fresh ideas for your finances or help in achieving your goals. We’re happy to help!