In preparing for your future, you will inevitably ask yourself: “when is a good time to retire?” The team at Verity Investment Partners looks at this question in a holistic sense and not just about your finances.

 

A book entitled “The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness” was published earlier this year. The book was written by Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and Mark Schultz, PhD. The book shares the findings of the study, which tracked thousands of people over 85 years, covering 3 generations. The study reveals that good relationships are the key to happiness. Further, the study finds that the people with the strongest relationships and networks live healthier and longer lives. We need to be connected!

 

So, what does this study have to do with retiring? Everything!

 

One of the most common goals within an investment plan is “retirement”. During our development, education, sports, and activities create our community. Later in life, careers create community. We develop relationships with those we serve and those we work beside. Without proper planning for what you are “retiring to”, you can be left feeling unsatisfied and unhappy. It can create a feeling of loss, rather than excitement about the beginning of a new chapter.

 

If you are a pre-retiree, have you asked yourself if you really want to retire? If you find your career rewarding and enjoy the relationships, why stop? Perhaps you can shift your lifestyle to add flexibility while maintaining your current purpose. Wealth accumulation and investing to create passive income are tools to create flexibility. Financial independence from earned income empowers you to keep living your purpose and working, but on your terms.

 

In some cases, retirement from a current role is necessary, and you cannot continue working in the same career. This is an opportunity to consider your values and discover ways to reinvent your purpose in new areas. What do you enjoy and find fulfilling that could translate to a new chapter? Perhaps a second career, volunteering, mentoring, and/or being a part of a board for a business or organization?

 

If you are in retirement, it is important to focus on filling the void of relationships lost from your career. Be careful to set very specific goals to maintain social connections. Consider what your week will look like and how you will fill that 9-5 time every day. From a financial standpoint, you will want to consider where you live — is it a community that provides you activities within a strong social network? Are you living among people with similar lifestyles to aid in that connection? Have you built in a budget to spend time with family through travel, if necessary? Are there organizations/clubs/hobbies that will provide leisure activities and friendships?

 

“The Good Life” concludes with the reminder that it is never too late in life to make changes to our plans. Perhaps a mindset or goal of being financially independent is healthier than “retirement”. It keeps the focus on creating flexibility so you can envision how you want to keep and build relationships and stay connected in community.