Beyond Retirement Investing: 3 Success Factors to Consider while ...

Written on April 16, 2012 at 1:00 pm, by admin

If you are within a few years of retirement, you?re most likely investing well and are benefiting from the sound advices of your knowledgeable financial advisor.? What is often overlooked on the road to this major life transition is the fact that there are nine other crucial factors to consider prior to exiting the workplace.? Here are three factors that you can address by asking yourself these important questions:

1. How will I manage my time and my energy?

A common assumption upon entering some form of retirement is that there will be unlimited time to finally do what we have longed to do for the past years.? However, in order to apportion your time and energy in a way that leads to happiness and fulfillment, you will need a clearly established vision with goals, a sense of purpose and intentions based on your values. Without this, new retirees may come to see a year or so later that time has passed them by; that they have been busy, yet have not accomplished their most important goals or realized their dreams. Be sure to focus your energy and apportion your time in accordance with your priorities and take specific steps towards your most heartfelt desires.

2. Who will I be beyond my working title, status or profession?

Over decades of working in a business position or a profession, you are likely to have equated your personal identity with your professional role. After the initial euphoria of the first stage of retirement, you may notice a discomfort when you introduce yourself to others as a ?retired ?.?.? Some retirees experience a sense of disorientation when the structure of the workplace is gone along with their hard-earned title. Some even feel they are going through a sort of identity crisis.? To prevent this, you need to think through how you will redefine yourself.? Your new sense of identity can take shape from your character strengths, talents, rediscovered interests, wisdom, experience, accomplishments and the community you belong to.? Knowing more about who you are personally also naturally leads to a congruent course of action and a more fulfilling quality of life.

3. What new purpose will I embrace?

Although leisure, travel and self-care appeals in the first stage of retirement, over time most people long for a sense of purpose to generate meaning in their life. For some, social utility may include more time helping family members while others may find joy in volunteering, locally or abroad, for a cause they care about.? Current research reveals that volunteering contributes to wellness, greater life satisfaction and longevity.? In the second half of life, happiness is created, more so than consumed as people prefer to simplify, focus on what really matters and avoid collecting more material possessions.? The three spheres of activity that make up happiness are leisure ? things you do for fun; engagement ? things that use your passions and skills; and meaning ? involved in activities that connect you with a larger community, a cause or something greater than yourself.

As you plan for your best future, you may choose to live your life as a purposeful learning journey, rather than a series of busy days.? This helps you avoid painful regrets and it will augment the richness of meaning you can draw from your one very precious life.

Isabelle St-Jean, RSW, ACC is a Certified Retirement Coach, facilitator and author of Living Forward, Giving Back: A Practical Guide to Fulfillment in Midlife and Beyond.? To learn more about her services, visit her website at www.inspiredmomentum.com.

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