- \ Gerard Gruber
- May 12, 2020
!certified financial planning in ct
There has been much to learn from our experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic over the past few months including the importance of slowing down and appreciating the important things in life—spending time with family, enjoying what nature has to offer, and prioritizing our health, to name a few. What this time in isolation has also taught us is what retirement might feel like day in and day out.
Whether we like it or not, COVID-19 has given many of us a practice run. Schedule free days, changes in the daily routine, and perhaps a truncated income all simulate the retirement lifestyle of many Americans. On both a financial and personal level, there are two very important pieces of information we can glean from this experience as it relates to our retirement readiness.
1. Do you think you could live on less than you previously imagined?
Prior to the spread of the coronavirus, we experienced a decade long bull run. We grew accustomed to the life of luxury and convenience. We may have opted to eat out over cooking after a long day’s work or paying for a convenience, such as a dog walker, rather than doing the work ourselves. But combine a weakened economy with social isolation guidelines and suddenly we have found ourselves being tighter with our budgets and how we spend or save.
As you look back on the past 4-6 weeks of quarantine, have you found yourself spending more or less? Are there services and convenience expenses you have found you may be able to live without? This may be an eye opener for many pre-retirees, illuminating that they may be able to live on a lot less income than they perceived prior to the virus.
2. How will you spend your time in retirement?
Have you found yourself wondering what day it is? Or even what you did last week? Do days blur into weeks that seem to pass without intention or productivity? Just as this has been a common issue for those currently out of work, this is a common issue for many retirees—finding how to structure their days and weeks to seek personal, emotional, social, physical, and mental fulfillment.
The problem is that many pre-retirees are so caught up in the ideals of retirement—freedom, choice, and more personal time—that they don’t actually think about what they will do each day. Both this lack of structure and limited social interaction account for the high rate of depression reported among seniors in the years following retirement. This time at home may have revealed to you one of two things: you are either prepared for how you will spend your days, or you are not. It’s important to be honest with yourself about how this experience has affected you emotionally and use it to prepare for your retirement days ahead.
If this is your retirement readiness check-up, how are you handling it? Do you think that you are more or less prepared than you imagined?
At Harbor West, we understand that retirement and financial life planning are about much more than the numbers. Of course, your financial wellness does much to inform the choices you have in retirement, but have you really considered what you’d like the freedom to do? Schedule a call today to discuss your options and set up a retirement plan that works for you.
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