Navigating the Sands of Change – Is Retirement in Your Near Future

Whether you find yourself in the sandwich generation or navigating other distinct circumstances, retirement readiness is on the mind of people at all ages. Your retirement plan is a readiness ‘life plan” and should be every bit as unique as you are.

There are two ways to look at retirement: The old way of retirement is relaxation, a reward achieved and an ending that leads to boredom. The new retirement is a new way of thinking of exploration, mastery, mentorship and renewal and a life balance realizing long held dreams.

Most people assume they want to retire, as soon as they feasibly can, but have not looked very deep into what it means in their day-to-day life. Without planning, retirees can go through distinct phases of emotions after they stop working. You might initially start with a sense of freedom, but you can also experience periods of regret, boredom, anxiety, and depression. These unexpected and unknown emotions might creep in slowly and it is important to recognize these emotions.

• Successful Planning – Attaining clear insights and boosting confidence in your retirement strategy, while crafting a well-defined roadmap for the next chapter.
• Emotional Preparedness – Addressing the ‘What Do I Do Now?’ An approach focused on helping cultivate awareness to effectively manage the emotional aspects of retirement with greater confidence and readiness.
• Purpose & Vision – Tackling the question of “Who am I beyond my career? Encouraging an exploration and expansion of self-identity, discovering what brings fulfillment, and elevating one’s self concept, fostering an enriched approach to retirement.
• Navigating Lifestyle Shifts – Addressing the question of how to fill newfound free time by exploring recreation, reinvention, and adjustment to a new, flexible schedule. Adapting to a new, different, or even schedule-free lifestyle through thoughtful planning.
• Evolving Relationships – Examining and proactively managing potential shifts in relationships, including those with spouses, friends, and former colleagues, and understanding their impact.
• Awareness of Triggers – Fostering understanding of potential triggers and proactively mitigating surprises in the post-retirement phase.

Retirement coaching provides an opportunity to explore, learn, and prepare for your retirement readiness. A retirement coach brings clarity to the six arenas of retirement: Career & Work, Health & Wellness, Finance & Insurance, Family & Relationships, Leisure & Social, and Personal Development. Your unique understanding of the arenas help you discover any shortfalls and expand your personal sphere of understanding.

Because these arenas are operative throughout your life, in all life stages, they serve as a functional structure for formulating your personal retirement success life plan. The importance of these arenas is that together they form a framework upon which you can “hang” various options for your plan, so that you look forward to the golden years, rather than dread them.

People interested in preparing for retirement, develop a dream of what they are looking forward to and chose to live intentionally with well thought out plans. Most people think that having enough money is the key to a happy retirement, but it is only a part of the successful plan.

Constructing a personal retirement mission statement enables us to prioritize the many demands made on us and our time. It helps us to balance our appreciation of our personal gifts and talents with the needs of the world around us.

Three parts to the mission statement. 1. A statement of “Who I am.” “I am a person of …”   2. A statement of “what I’d like to do.”  “Called to express in ways …”  3. A statement of “where I’m going.” “Now that I am retired, I have…”

Retirement coaches analyze these results to help guide participants through a planning process to design and prepare for their desired retirement.

The past few weeks I found a book that challenges me as I move closer to retirement, called Biblical Grandparenting. The challenge for me is to build into my planning a greater emphasis on exploring God’s design for disciple-making and passing faith to future generations. Worth checking out for sure.