Where do you start in planning for retirement? I suggest you start by taking time to consider and visualize what retirement currently means to you. Do whatever you usually do when you want to think things over, whether it’s sitting quietly by yourself, taking a walk, or chatting with a friend over coffee.
Don’t attempt to complete this exercise in one sitting. Give yourself several opportunities to bring your current images of retirement to mind. In my interviews with successful retirees, every one of them said that thinking through what retirement means can take several days or weeks.
Your images and thoughts probably won’t be well-rounded, coherent, or complete—that’s not the point of visualizing your retirement. Rather, the point is to reveal the strengths you already have so you can build on them as well as reveal the negatives so you can deal with them.
Do you need some help or inspiration to get your thought process rolling? You might want to write down your current picture of the things you look forward to, have concerns about, etc. In fact, I recommend it. This not only gives you some material to use as you move ahead; it also emulates one of the key strategies successful retirees use: writing things down.
What is it about retirement that attracts, scares, or excites you? The answers to this question—the positive and negative thoughts or images of retirement—are as individual as you are. However, here are some specific questions to help you get started:
• Are you looking forward to getting up when you want instead of when the alarm rings?
• Do you want to spend more time with your grandchildren, your partner, or other family members? Are you concerned about being expected to do that?
• Does retirement mean you’re getting “old”?
• Does retirement mean leaving work you love?
• Is there a significant difference between retiring on your own timeline versus being forced or asked to take early retirement?
• Are you looking forward to having more time to take care of yourself?
• What does retirement mean when it comes to doing things you’ve wanted to do for years?
• Do you find it hard to imagine what you’ll do with your time?
• Does your partner express concern or joke about you “being in their way” (or vice versa)?
In general, couples should complete this exercise separately. It’s quite common to have more negative images and thoughts than positive ones, so don’t worry if this is the case for you. Understanding the situation makes it easier to change things for the better down the road.