Purposeful Retirement in the Post-Modern Era

Retirement has become increasingly complex with a dizzying array of strategies, products, attention-grabbing headlines, and opinions.  One thing we know for sure, with the evolution of pensions from company defined benefit plans to employee savings plans, more and more responsibility is placed on the employee and ultimately the retiree.

In a previous article, we explored the History of Retirement in the U.S. and saw several phases over the past century and a half.  We went through ‘survival’, to ‘hope’, to ‘expectation’, to ‘complex.’  The complexities we face today have given rise to a new anxiety level we haven’t seen since the Great Depression and the pre-Social Security era.

Clear Out the Anxiety

Clear Out the Anxiety

This high anxiety level is begging for clarity on what retirement really is and how it gets funded.  One thing we can count on is we need to take personal responsibility for what we want our own retirement to look like, plan for it, and execute as best we possibly can.

I believe it will pay off dearly to put in some time to explore what we want to do and who we want to become, in order to have a reasonable satisfaction level.  From there we can explore ways to fund the retirement with resources you’ve accumulated, reset expectations if necessary, and chart a course forward to a Purposeful RetirementTM tailored specifically for you.

Introducing Purposeful RetirementTM

It’s often difficult to get started on something new without a bit of help or guidance.  We developed the Purposeful RetirementTM concept and guideline to help you Visualize Your Retirement Possibilities.  We help you explore the what to do in retirement and that ultimately helps you become the best version of yourself. 
 
Putting all the financials aside for now, our questionnaire will help you think about your goals and aspirations.  Going through this process may help you answer such questions as:

  • What do you want to do? 
  • Where do you want to live? 
  • Do you want or plan to work part time? 
  • What new hobbies would you like to pursue? 
  • International travel? 
  • What will your overall lifestyle look like?
     

Although your ideal retirement may change over time as your interests change, we suggest thinking about the first 5-10 years of your retirement as a starting point.  Let your mind brainstorm for the next few hours or even days.  These eGuidebook is not intended to be completed in one sitting.  Write in whatever comes to mind.  You can change it later.  There is no right or wrong answer. 

The eGuidebook is a simple set of thought provoking questions that will help guide your thinking.  It’s something you can explore and share with your spouse, or individually.  You can get started with our no-charge/no-obligation eGuidebook.  Just click on the link to download:

Get the Purposeful Retirement eGuidebook

What You Can Expect

The eGuidebook is essentially a tool that you can use in the personal comfort of your own home.  You can download it, print it out (only a few pages), write on the hardcopy, and work on it at your convenience.

There are 5 steps that will help guide your thinking.

Step 1:  Create your Purposeful RetirementTM Vision Statement 

There are 3 life planning questions and space to fill out your vision statement.  I give an example of my vision statement:

My Purposeful Retirement™ is to feel secure with my family and circle of friends, not be a financial burden on my children, to be mentally engaged with what’s happening in the world and use my God-given skills and knowledge to help others on their life journey.


Step 2:  Think about your Lifestyle Goals

In this step you can explore and create goals in a variety of ways of categories, or create a category we haven’t thought of: 

  • Activities / Hobbies
  • Travel
  • Health / Exercise
  • On-going Learning
  • Philanthropy
  • Relationships
  • Ministry
  • Work
  • Legacy
  • Other

Step 3:  Estimate the Timeline and Costs

For each of the categories that you filled in Step 2, take your best estimate when the goal would start, stop, estimated one-time cost, and estimated on-going monthly cost.  These can just be your best estimates for now and can be fine-tuned later.

Step 4:  Prioritize your Goals

Often, trade-offs will need to occur based on limited financial resources.  Even if you can meet all your lifestyle preferences and goals financially, it’s good to know the priority of each one.  On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest priority, we ask you to rank each of your goals.  This step is important in case some trade-offs are necessary.

Step 5:  Contact Your Financial Advisor

When you’ve completed the document, you can scan and save as a PDF document and update it at any time for your personal use.  Refer to it regularly and update it when your aspirations change.
 
When you are ready for the financial impact and analysis, you can send to your Financial Advisor for inclusion to your retirement planning and analysis. 

Contact Us

If you do not have a Financial Advisor, we are happy to help you with the next step to perform an analysis and create a Retirement Plan for you.  You can submit the PDF to us via email:
 
mkastler@KastlerConsultingGroup.com
 
After you submit your answers, we are available to discuss how we can the financial implications of your lifestyle selections.  With our 7 Pillars Retirement Planning® services-for-a-fee, we can help determine what is financially feasible and if there are any trade-offs that should be made.  If you still have a way to go until your retirement starts, we can help determine the additional income and savings required to meet your goals and aspirations.

Mike Kastler

I have been performing financial planning and retirement planning since 2015 with a Master of Science in Finance and the prestigious designation Retirement Income Certified Professional®.   As an Fee-Only, Fiduciary, I do not sell commissionable products and only provide Assets Under Management (AUM) services as a flat-fee service, not a % of AUM.

Get Started on Your Financial Plan

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