Retirement financial planning is something that every person nearing retirement should do.  But before we start diving into how many assets they have, how much debt do they owe, what their expenses will be like, etc., we first need to establish a life plan.  A life plan is basically a description of what they want their life to look like during retirement, and it’s based on what they value most.  This could be things like children, grandchildren, independence, travel, fun, service, etc.  A life plan also includes goals of things that you want to accomplish.    We find that this process of creating a life plan is sometimes difficult for clients to get their arms around because they have only thought about retirement in very abstract terms.  I asked one client recently what he planned to do on his first day after retiring from his job of 35 years.  He said, “When my alarm goes off in the morning, I’m going to roll over.”  While this is a part of retirement that I’m sure most people look forward to (not having to do anything), having a passionate purpose and goals is critical to enjoying those “golden years”.  Retirement financial planning will help you be excited to get out of bed each and every morning because you have a purpose.

At an educational seminar that I was giving about 1 year ago, I was talking about this value-based goal setting idea when one woman raised her hand and said, “We’re all way past the point of setting goals in life.  We should have done that long ago!”  This person was missing was a very important fact of life, which is that life is far from over just because you are retired.  Retirement is a time to pursue the passions of life that you never had time to pursue because you were always working.  Retirement financial planning will help you to accomplish and pursue those passions, long after you’ve said goodbye to your co-workers.