… the essence of financial fitness.

One of the most misused, misunderstood, mistaken subjects in the field of financial planning is retirement. I recall early in my career that retirement was (still is) one of the six financial planning issues included in a typical comprehensive financial plan. Don’t get me wrong, retirement, or the underlying motivation – financial freedom to make choices – is important to consider. But as I embarked on this amazing ever-changing career, wanting to deeply understand the essence of retirement, I began with the dictionary which told me that retirement was (still is): “to withdraw, be secluded, removal or withdrawal from service, office or business.” Really? Who wants that?  Of the hundreds of clients I have worked with over the years, no one has ever said they wanted to withdraw from life and be secluded. Most, if not all of them, want to be fully engaged.

Fast forward several years and with direct client experience of retirement planning, clients taking retirement, and being retired, I gained insights. First, trying to predict and control the future with quantitative analysis about retirement timeframes and the financial number to live upon is partial and moderately helpful. Changes that occur annually (even more frequently) make these calculations more and more an academic exercise. The benefit to any calculation is the opening to discuss what really matters and what retirement “looks like” when it actually commences. This leads me to the second insight; it doesn’t help to say I want to retire at a certain age, reaching a career attainment, or amassing this amount in liquid assets. These tangible objectives do not translate well into reality. Asking what does life, your daily activities, look like after you stop your current work habits is a better approach.  These questions give rise to thoughtful exploration about how all resources (time, health, relationships, and legacy) will be energized in a non-working situation. The third insight, which applies to all of life, until a direct experience is a part of decision making, actually knowing what “you” want when work stops is from the mind’s imagination and will likely change. For example, in a scenario to retire to the golf course four days week, when non-retirement play is only once a week, creates fatigue and less enjoyment after a few direct experiences of “too much” golf.

There is much to share about the practical financial aspects of retirement, including “safe”-withdrawal rates, tax efficient investing and distributions, skillful resource allocation, purposeful integration of benefits for “seniors”. These subjects are covered in many articles – too long to share here. Recognize the value of these exercises.

Today, when working with clients, the conversation covers the above practical matters and two key elements: staying fully engaged and dynamically steering. We realize that all beings want to stay fully engaged in life – offering talents and gifts purposefully.  We also realize that a far superior practice to planning for retirement with future predictions is to dynamically steer each decision closer to reality. Both of these practices meets a universal human desire to be well used.

Retirement, in its most modern form, is the invitation to be well used and to navigate this precious period in life with awareness, intention and clarity, for the benefit of self and the world at large.