Welcome Back!

I am excited to be back in the saddle writing again.

I apologize for the long hiatus.

I am happy to say that I accepted a full-time position as an Executive Assistant in October of 2021. While I thought I could manage a new job and continue writing I vastly overestimated my abilities. (There was so much to learn!)

Things have settled down now and I feel like I can get started writing again.

But as a result of this my job, I have decided to take this newsletter in a new direction.

Let me ask you this – when you hear the phrase ‘retirement planning’ what do you think of?

My guess is your first thought is saving enough so you don’t run out of money.

Planning for retirement is about much more than the money!

While the popular culture paints retirement as a non-stop vacation I think the recent pandemic gave many of us a glimpse of something very different.

For many of us (me included) we found ourselves suddenly out of work with no prospects to find a new job. The days turned into weeks and months where we couldn’t do what we normally would – go to work. Filling this sudden hole in our lives was extremely difficult for many of us and highlighted the emotional and phycological problems with isolation.

While most of us are back at work now and able to re-engage with our lives it was a brief glimpse into the sudden change that will come with retirement.

Surprise!

When retiring we enter a completely new stage of life. Our job provided structure that made us get out of bed each morning, interact with other people and gave a purpose. Without that structure many people struggle to find new meaning.

According to the Dartmouth Life Index Scale retirement is in the top 10 most stressful life events.

This new stage brings many changes but is the one life event we don’t seem to plan for in the same way we plan for others.

Think about your life. How much planning went into choosing a college? Choosing a job? Getting married? Deciding where to live? Whether you had people helping you plan or not, there was a lot more consideration than simply how much each of these things was going to cost.

Every large life event seems to have a whole industry around helping people plan thoroughly for all aspects – except retirement.?

If you search online for retirement planning the first couple of pages are filled with financial planners and advice on how to save money. Granted no one wants to outlive their financial means, but why isn’t anyone talking about the changes to your social life, emotional well-being, psychological impact or physical health?

I want to help fill that gap.

This newsletter will be focusing each month on a different aspect of retirement with the intent to help you think about the non-financial side of such a major life change.

If you find this topic interesting, please take a moment to share this newsletter with others in your network.

I will leave you with this question:

Who Do You Want To Be When You Retire?

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