When to Retire: Looking Beyond the Financials

“Do I have enough to retire?”

“How much do I need to save to retire?”

“When can I afford to retire?”

A financial advisor is no stranger to these questions.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. For many, the value of a financial plan is knowing when you can retire, or when you’ll reach the point that you’ve saved enough to live the life you want to live without fear of running out of money. However, the decision to retire shouldn’t be made only because you know you can do it. You also need to ask yourself whether you should do it, and answering that question requires you to take much more into consideration than just your money. Because retirement encompasses various aspects of life, you also need to carefully consider the emotional, social, and personal implications of your decision before making it.

If that feels understandably overwhelming, start by thinking about how you’ll spend your time and who you’ll spend it with.

How You’ll Spend Your Time

Retirement is often seen as a well-deserved period of rest and relaxation after years of hard work, but it’s more than that. It's a time to pursue personal interests, explore new hobbies, and enjoy the freedom that comes with no longer being tied to a work schedule. Here are a few ways to spend the 2,080 hours you just regained:

• Travel - Retirement provides the perfect opportunity to explore. You can take your time to plan and embark on trips to destinations you’ve talked about visiting for years and fully immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and flavors of new places.
• Volunteering - Many retirees find a sense of purpose in giving back because they can positively impact something that’s meaningful to them. Volunteering can take various forms, such as working with local charities, mentoring others, or providing support to those in need.
• Hobbies and Learning - Retirement is an excellent time to delve deeper into existing hobbies and discover new ones. Hobbies not only provide a creative outlet but also encourage personal and intellectual growth and self-expression. Many retirees choose to pursue formal or informal education by enrolling in classes, attending workshops, or taking online courses. This keeps your mind sharp, expands knowledge, and helps you stay engaged.
• Health and Wellness - As we all know, it’s important to prioritize your health throughout the entirety of your life, not just in retirement. Regularly exercising keeps you physically healthy while also improving overall well-being, which includes your mental and emotional health, too. Many retirees find joining fitness classes or groups to be a great way to stay active while also socializing and making new friends. Speaking of that…

Who You’ll Spend It With

Retirement is a significant transition in life that often involves leaving behind a social network provided by the workplace. So, as you enter this new phase, it’s vital that you find and maintain a sense of community. By building new relationships and even strengthening those you’ve had for years, your retirement experience will benefit in several ways:

• Sense of Connection - A community provides you with opportunities for regular social engagement. That engagement can help combat feelings of isolation and loneliness, lower the risk of depression, improve cognitive function, and even enhance longevity.
• Emotional Support - Retirement comes with changes and adjustments, and surrounding yourself with people who can relate provides you with much-needed emotional support in the form of empathy, understanding, and encouragement. Whether it's dealing with health issues, coping with loss, or facing other struggles, a supportive community can offer a helping hand, a listening ear, and practical assistance.
• Intellectual Stimulation - Whether it’s joining a hiking group, a book club, or an organization focused on a particular cause, participating in conversations and activities with others, especially those with whom you share common interests, allows you to exchange ideas, broaden your perspective, and stay connected to the world around you.

Although the decision to retire isn’t straightforward, these ideas are. That’s because a fulfilling life, at any age, isn’t all that difficult to achieve. We just need to spend our time in ways we value most with those we value most, and there’s no better time to do that than in retirement. As Morgan Housel writes in The Psychology of Money, “The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, is princess. It is the highest dividend money pays.”

So don’t waste your dividend.

If you’re considering retirement, a financial advisor can work with you to develop a plan through a holistic approach, ensuring a smoother transition into your life’s next chapter. Contact us to get started.