Welcome to the inaugural blog of RETIRING WITH ENOUGH, where the focus is on demystifying and simplifying the retirement equation.
The problems facing each person when retirement planning are daunting:
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books, blogs, and podcasts on retirement strategies and solutions. The path forward can be vague and murky with myriad information streams, differing opinions, dozens of projected retirement paths, and most information focused solely on the financial aspects of retirement.
Very few outlets provide an organized and balanced approach resulting in a holistic view of retirement. From these different media outlets come many dozens of variations of what constitutes a “successful” transition into retirement.
As a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor™ and long-time individual investor, I feel that I have a unique perspective! After much thought, research, and deliberation, I have ultimately condensed the problem to one of “ENOUGH.” The Oxford dictionary defines enough as “As much or as many as required.”
Retirement happiness is directly dependent on how well each person answers the question of what ENOUGH means to them. If you use ENOUGH and RETIREMENT HAPPINESS interchangeably, then ENOUGH becomes even more important. Multiple retirement strategies can be further condensed into three questions.
In the same manner that each of the three legs of a stool is critical and crucial to stability, each of the following three questions is critical to retirement stability. A one-legged stool or even a two-legged stool is unstable. Focusing solely on one aspect of retirement planning is equally unstable.
THE THREE QUESTIONS ARE:
-Do I have ENOUGH money?
-Have I worked ENOUGH?
-Will I have ENOUGH to do in retirement?
OR, IF STATED DIFFERENTLY:
-Do I have enough money to retire happily?
-Have I worked enough to retire happily?
-Will I have enough to do in retirement to retire happily?
Just three questions. Right?
Each of these questions focuses on a different aspect of the retirement equation of ENOUGH:
-Question one is concerned with the financial aspects of ENOUGH money.
-Question two is concerned with the mental or freedom aspects of having spent ENOUGH time working.
-Question three is concerned with the spiritual or purpose-driven aspects of ENOUGH to do during retirement.
Things would be much easier if the answer to each of these questions was the same for each person. It would be great if happiness for everyone meant retiring on the same date with the same amount of money to do the same kinds of things in retirement.
But, life doesn’t work that way. Each person is unique and individual, and the answers to these questions for each of the approximately eight billion people living today will vary!
So, the retirement answer to each of these questions is unique to each person.
But, the answers don’t have to be as complicated as most sources indicate, and the answers should always translate into enough money, freedom, and purpose in retirement, not merely a financial path.
In the same manner that the concept of ENOUGH has been simplified to three major questions, each blog post will attempt to distill current trends and information into an easily digestible format. Since all three legs of the ENOUGH stool are critical for stability, all three areas of retirement planning (financial, mental, and life purpose) will be addressed with importance in future posts.
My next blog will focus on what I consider the basic and most important piece of information a person needs to begin their retirement planning journey. I’ll even give you a hint- This most important information is critical to all three components of ENOUGH.
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