Professionals

. . . are you sure?

The pandemic has been long, and hard on some families losing loved ones, and kids wanting to go back to school and see their friends, but it also made us think. 

I am sure you have heard of the great resignation. Employees have been working from home and most are enjoying it. They see themselves as more productive. They are questioning the need to go back to the office. The mindset is starting to change and considering alternatives.

This mindset is not only applied to employees but business owners are thinking of alternatives as well. They have similar thoughts regarding retirement. 

People living through the lockdowns, and people infected with COVID-19 are starting to notice there is more to life. It may be time to start enjoying and experiencing the things I want to do. 

Retirement can be rewarding when you work at hopefully something you have enjoyed, create jobs for others, and serve a need of society. You then save for retirement, thinking one day you will retire. That dream seemed far in the future. 

Retirement can be a great idea, but if you do not plan it, it can be disastrous. Let me explain . . .

Friends and I were discussing retirement. We chatted about what we would do, some were dreaming/fantasizing. We discussed the requirements to retire comfortably. One mentioned he would be retiring when asked to return to the office. Another, let’s call him Jim, said that he was at almost the 70% retirement income threshold to his income. 

So, the discussion continued along this path next was what one does in retirement. Their activities and projects were put aside since there was not much time on weekends to accomplish them. Some looked in awe while others looked in envy. It was interesting to see the facial expressions, you knew who had put thought into it and others who were simply dreaming. 

I was curious about the ones who seemed to have put some thought into it. So, I naturally asked the question . . .  is that your goal, to reach 70% of your income? Jim looked at me and said, “Well, yes. For me to have a comfortable retirement, I need at least 70% of my income.” My follow-up question . . .  how did you come up with that percentage? 

He looked at me as if I should know the answer. He responded that he got the impression from the context in the advertisements, talking to friends and from newspaper articles. I then mentioned (not asking another question for the sake of annoying him), oh, you all have the same retirement goals. 

See, we are fixated on listening to the confusion regarding what is required for a comfortable retirement. These advertisements, or so-called experts, are grouping everyone together. The required amounts for a comfortable retirement are estimates, providing a general idea of what we may require. 

One’s retirement is not the same as the other. We all have different goals for retirement. Some require more and others less. The income required depends on your goals.  You want to work with someone who will listen to your retirement goals. I will ask questions, drilling down on your answers. With this information, we can incorporate it into the financial plan, which will help answer an important question. 

We get caught up with all the noise about retirement. We need to take a step back and visualize what retirement is for YOU. Once that is determined, the income required to live that retirement can be established.