LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
CAMP Money: Working at Retirement |
by Alexander G. Yearley, CFP |
You really need to work at retirement these days, especially if you are planning to live at the beach when the time comes. You might ask the following questions: What kind of retirement do you want? Where do you want to live? How do you want to spend your time? Who do you want to spend it with? What are your goals for retirement? Whoever worried about these issues before? Many I am sure, but not enough. Money issues are important in retirement. Will you have enough to retire comfortably? Is there a danger you will run out of money? But equally importantmany retirement experts would say even more importantare the emotional and psychological issues surrounding retirement. To get in the right frame of mind about retirement, it might help to think of retirement as a full-time job, a new career with its own challenges, stresses and rewards. When you seek a new job or career, you ask about pay and benefits, of course. But aren't you also concerned about the emotional and intellectual rewards of the job? What are the working conditions? Are you going to look forward to going to work every day? Will you like your coworkers? What do you want to accomplish in your new job? In short, shouldn't retirement be the perfect job? Perhaps you have never thought of retirement this way. But consider the problems that often arise out of retirements that are not properly planned: Loss of identity. Many of us, particularly career-successful people, find their personal identity is wrapped up in their work. When people ask us who we are; isn't the answer almost always employment related? When we retire, we may lose that identity. Yes, we may answer that we are retired, but it doesn't have quite the same ring or emotional feel. Successful people in careers invariably have clear, firm goals. Apply the same goal orientation and desires to retirement planning. It may be an identity that is linked to your former career such as former small business owners offering advice for pay or not to those starting their own businesses. More likely it may be something quite removed from your working years. Go visit Rehoboth Art League and see what former teachers are making. "I am a painter" has a bit more fulfilling ring than "I am retired". Boredom. Another psychological fallout of a poorly planned retirement is boredom. This is a primary reason for retirees to return to the workforce at least part-time. They realize that they could easily have from 20 to 40 good healthy years ahead of them with little to occupy their time. Even golf and traveling can grow quite old. One way to avoid boredom is to practice retirement before you retire. Take up a hobby that has fascinated you for years. See if you really like it. Spend January in Rehoboth to see if you can handle living here year round. Take that class you saw. But do any or all of these prior to retirement. Next January is too late if you have already sold your place in the city. Conflicts with partners. Another factor to keep in mind is that your retirement may include another person, your partner. Are you both retiring at the same time? Is the house big enough for the two of you when both are home all day? Does you partner share your retirement goals? Not everyone likes golf and traveling. Not everyone likes the beach. Failure to realize that retirement comes in stages. Retire-ment is not linear. Experts now recognize that retirement happens in stages. They range from healthy and financially comfortable when people first retire to health problems and related costs in later years. Keep these stages in mind when you plan your retirement "career". This column is produced by the Financial Planning Association, the membership organization for the financial planning community and is provided by Alexander G. Yearley, CFP, and a local member in good standing of the FPA. Mr. Yearley runs Community Pride Financial Advisors at 39 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971, and offers securities through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. Member NASD and SIPC. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 01, February 1, 2002. |