While some say it’s picking up, others point to gloominess in Europe and elsewhere and tell us the worst is yet to come. Maybe you’re like my wife, the hard-charging attorney-type who runs a legal office and is approaching retirement herself. What a great attitude! But it does mean that if a chunk of the money is missing, retirement could be more like two-jobs-and-night-school. Before you think about the money, think about what you need in terms of time and freedom. You’ve probably heard that your retirement is divided into three segments: the Go-Go Years, when you still have abundant energy and want to go do the things you’ve put off (travel, hobbies, creative endeavors, etc. I don’t know about you, but I would like the Go-Go portion to last as long as it can.
If that’s how you feel about it, you better take that into consideration when you consider how to feather your nest egg. What else do you need? If it’s so much that you’re putting off retirement longer than you’d hoped, that’s a different scenario than imagining how handy an extra couple hundred each month could be. The older we get, the more we realize that we don’t have forever, and “how you spend your time is how you spend your life. Freedom, Baby. So, depending on your appetite for flexibility, you may need to find something that isn’t geographically specific. Use your gifts. You’ve honed a lot of skills and talents over the years – don’t check them at the door to retirement.
People approaching retirement these days are a lot more tech-savvy and computer literate than at any time in history. But I guarantee that whatever you’ve been doing for a living, there is even more out there in terms of what computers and the internet can do. Learning is also a major skill you’ve honed in your career. Maybe you are approaching retirement with a bundle of energy. I hate it when I get a chance to play a round of golf and I just “don’t feel like it. It’s amazing the difference it makes.
Maybe you would be happy with a part-time job in your community – retail greeter, golf marshall, chef, gardener, whatever – and you don’t mind adhering to a little bit of a structured schedule. Or maybe something flexible like income from your laptop computer is a better plan for you (there is at least one platform I know of that is outstanding). Remember that the goal is overall happiness, and you want enough health, wealth, and inspiration to carry you to that goal.
