Contributed by: Sandra Adams, CFP®
You are sitting with your financial planner discussing the cash flow projections for your upcoming retirement at the beginning of 2019. You seem to have everything in place — you and your spouse are maximizing your retirement contributions at work and you are able to save additional funds into an HSA, as well as into individual IRAs and a sizable amount into your after tax investment account. You have already been trying to live on one of your salaries — simulating what you expect to spend in retirement — and things are running smoothly. Your estate planning is up-to-date and you have recently been approved for Long Term Care Insurance. All of the technical aspects of your upcoming retirement seem to be in place. There is nothing more to do except work your final year and get ready to “hang up the spurs”. Right?
It just so happens that there might be a little bit more to preparing for retirement that the “technical” side of the planning. The transition you are about to embark on is one that will take some planning from a personal standpoint. You won’t just wake up the first day of your retirement and know what to do. In fact, many clients feel somewhat lost at first.
We recommend intentionally giving some thought, or re-imagining, what you want your retirement to look like:
Give some real time and attention developing a “Bliss List,” or list of goals, dreams and desires that you would like to achieve in your retirement years will get you started. Once you have your list, you may need to build out some specifics: when, how much time, how much money, other resources and people that need to be involved.
Some of the things on your list may require you to start NOW to put in some practice, lay some groundwork, or make some connections so that you can hit the ground running when retirement day arrives. (i.e. hobbies, volunteer work, a new charitable business venture).
Coordinate your list with your spouse to make sure your list is feasible (from a time and money standpoint) and that it works for both of you. You want to make sure you have room for both your individual goals and your joint goals to make things work for your dream retirement.
The transition into retirement can be a bumpy one if you haven’t planned well both on the technical side AND on the personal side. The Center planners are trained to help you with both sides of this planning, and have the tools and resources available to assist you. If you are approaching retirement and find that you need assistance with either the technical or the personal side of retirement (or both), don’t hesitate to give us a call. We are here to help!
Sandra Adams, CFP® is a Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® Sandy specializes in Elder Care Financial Planning and is a frequent speaker on related topics. In addition to her frequent contributions to Money Centered, she is regularly quoted in national media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Research Magazine and Journal of Financial Planning.