Rhonda's Financial Blog

So What Does Your Next Chapter Look Like?

Monday, December 5th, 2011

After many years of pushing yourself through deadlines, demands and lots of politics you are ready for an infinite amount of rest and relaxation. You mark the day on the calendar when you are finally free to enter the mysterious world of retirement.

Six months in, you are well rested. You have slept in daily, ignored the news and have kept a distance from all things relating to the past working world. You have had neither pressures nor deadlines. Life is easy breezy, however, you are now finding yourself bored. How much rest and relaxation does a person really need? You have taken a well-deserved hiatus from life but now it is time to venture back into the real world. You have done six months of chapter two of your life.

What will you do for the next decade or so?

Have you taken the time to think what the second half of your life might look like? Yes ‘retirement’ may be the buzz word for the early to mid- boomers but beyond that what planning have you actually done to fill the next 20 plus years of your life?

A good starting point is to take a reality check of your finances. Do you have a regular cash flow from your pension income or your investments to cover your day to day expenses? If not, you either need to continue working where you are, find a part time job to make up the shortfall or look at ways you can either reduce expenses or free up some money (i.e. downsize your life).

Once you are comfortable that you have the basics safely covered you can then start planning the fun stuff. What hobbies, activities or places have interested you that you have yet to explore? Write them down in order of preference. Now let’s start pricing them out.

So you want to be able to take a few courses at the community centre, perfect a skill or learn a craft. There is a few hundred dollars spent.

How about going to more events, concerts or dinners? This is also going to change your budget significantly.

Think about travel. You may want to fly back east to visit one of your kids every six months and take a big trip every year. Or even go on a cruise! Those are more expenses to think about.

Let’s say you plan your lifestyle costs to continue until age 75. If the fun stuff costs you an extra $15,000 to $20,000 a year for the next 15 years – can you really afford this?

Don’t forget to factor in inflation. If you’re lucky, your pension income covers most if not all of your basic and lifestyle costs. However, most people have to combine pension income with income from their investments. Again, if you find yourself coming up short, you will need to downsize your life, reduce your budget or keep on working. It really is that simple.

Financial planning aside, you’ll also need to consider life planning for the second half of your life. We don’t often appreciate the good things that we get from our working environment such as the friendships, structure, learning and growing that takes place. When we work, we also feel valuable.

When we enter into retirement it is extremely important to fill those needs in other capacities. In other words, we still need to contribute or give back and to keep our mind active and growing. So how do we find meaningful work or activities?

This is where Walmart greeters come in. As much teasing as they get, greeters are filling their need for meaningful engagement. They have responsibilities and structure and of course some income but most importantly, social interaction. So whether you decide to get this through volunteerism, through employment, by joining groups or through your family and friendship – it doesn’t matter. You just need to ensure the needs you have to feel fulfilled as a human being are met.

Chapter two in your life can be an exciting and rewarding!

The days could be filled with the activities you are passionate about. You’ll finally have the time to give back. You may use the time to strengthen your relationships and build new ones.

It’s a time of endless possibilities but it takes the financial means and serious planning. Don’t jump in or pull the plug on your career or current employment until you have done what needs to be done to ensure your days are meaningful and enriched.

Photo credit : MikeCogh