Hopefully, everyone has contact with Mr. Smith during their lifetime!
Mr. Smith could be a relative, co-worker, neighbor, boss, teacher, or just a friend. Regardless of when and where you meet your Mr. Smith, it is one of those joyous times in life that you may not be aware of at the moment. A Mr. Smith will share some of life’s greatest truths if you only take the time to understand and absorb the message. With my Mr. Smith, it was a verbal statement. But, it could just as easily be represented in a story, a constructive comment, or even just observing how Mr. Smith lives his life. I have had the immense good fortune of having been associated with multiple “Mr. Smith” types of people during my lifetime.
One of my actual Mr. Smith persons just happened to be a neighbor. He was a bit older, and a backyard philosopher. He and I were chatting one day and he, in an offhand way, said something that I have never forgotten.
He and I were discussing retirement and life after work. I was in the process of trying to formulate a post-employment life plan and what would bring me happiness. He stated in the simplest terms that a person only needs three things to make them happy.
His three things needed for retirement happiness were: Someone to love, something to get up for, and something to look forward to.
A moment of reflection will show the thought and wisdom that he put into his life and that one simple statement. It also perfectly describes the third leg of the “Retiring With Enough” stool. (Post #1- FOUNDATIONS OF RETIREMENT: THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL
My term for what he described is “Purpose” or “Will I have enough to do in retirement? For Mr. Smith, purpose meant loving someone, having a short-term plan of projects each day, and a long-term plan of future meaningful experiences.
It has been said that in retirement planning there is a 90/10 rule. This means that before retirement 90% of time expended is on financial planning and 10% of time expended is used for non-financial life planning. It has also been said that once a person retires that the 90/10 rule reverses and that in retirement 90% of the time spent is used for life planning and only 10% of a person’s time is spent on financial planning.
It is hard to understand and imagine the point in retirement where you experience firsthand the reverse 90/10 rule. But, firsthand experience dictates that it is very close to the truth.
So, finding Purpose in retirement becomes much more important, especially since this is going to occupy 90% of your post-retirement life.
Purpose in retirement is a big subject with multiple implications. For some retirees it can mean a “Second Act” career in a different occupation, pursuing old or new hobbies, or volunteering for a nonprofit organization that is important to that retiree. It can also mean something as simple as helping children with grandchildren’s care, planning family vacations that will create lasting family experiences, or reading a book while sitting around the pool.
Purpose is going to have multiple meanings for different retirees, and that’s OK. Future blogs will deconstruct this big, big topic.
As Mr. Smith would say: “It’s something to look forward to!”
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