While we’ve all been told for the last 20 or more years that good retirement planning is all about having enough money and managing it properly, the reality is somewhat different.
It’s certainly important to save as much as we can for retirement because having enough is certainly a big improvement on having too little. However money is really the means to an end and not an end in itself. Because financial management at this stage of our lives is often quite complicated, you would be wise to talk to a financial planner.
What we are not told is that there are another 4 areas which need to be managed, which are just as important as our finances. They are –
- Relationships
- Understanding the challenges retirement will bring
- Health
- Finding Happiness
RELATIONSHIPS: The major changes that retirement generally brings to our lives can place added pressure on our relationships. Lots of couples get divorced during the early years of retirement. We have produced a book titled “ Relationships in our 50s – 60s and beyond” which was written specifically to assist people facing these challenges.
UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES: We are faced with more changes now than we ever had to handle as adolescents. Life after a full time career is totally different to the organised, routine life that we experienced in the workforce. This offers both opportunities and challenges and we’ll handle both better if we understand what’s likely to happen to us during this transition period. Again our book “The Rest of your life” can be a great help.
HEALTH: Medical advances and a better understanding of the importance of a good diet, regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle mean that we can maintain good physical and mental health into our eighties (if we do the necessary work). Lots of people are appreciating the importance of staying fit and healthy. Our book has a section on good health and the Health column in Life; Part 2 offers lots of good advice.
FINDING HAPPINESS: This is what most people are really seeking. Unfortunately we are being constantly being told that happiness can be found by buying various products and services. This is both confusing and misleading. Long term happiness comes from inside us. It’s about our attitude and how we perceive the world. Dr. Tim Sharp has written some good books on this subject and if you would like to know more, I suggest you visit his web site at www.thehappinessinstitute.com.au
Paul McKeon