BackDesign Your Ideal Retirement
Submitted by George Walsh, SRES, Sales Partner, Keller Williams Realty. He can be reached at 201-953-4134.
Much of the focus on retirement planning emphasizes finances. But of equal importance is the decision to actually retire and how and where you'll spend your retirement.
In the opening of their book, The New Retirement, The Ultimate Guide to the Rest of Your Life, Jan Cullinane and Cathy Fitzgerald quote Lee Iacocca, who says, "Everybody says you've got to get ready financially. No, no, you've got to get ready psychologically."
It's not surprising that the authors found that retirement is actually a process that ranks among the top ten of life's most stressful events.
Work, for example, provides status, intellectual engagement, social interaction, and feelings of pride and accomplishment. If you derive such satisfaction from work, you may need to find activities in retirement that will deliver similar psychological benefits.
Designing a good retirement requires serious self-assessment, pondering a host of questions, and sorting through an array of options. Though this list isn't comprehensive, some important questions include:
- How important is work to your life? Is working remotely an option?
- Where do you want to live? While vacation destinations routinely rank at the top of people's list of dream retirement spots, are there enough activities in a particular spot to keep you occupied and engaged week after week?
- What's the ideal living environment for the short- term and long-term?
- Does your retirement design include owning a home within an active adult community?
A Seniors Real Estate Specialist is specially trained to assist you in evaluating communities based on how they cater to your interests, desired lifestyle, and economic needs. Be sure to consult a Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) when beginning to make decisions about your retirement lifestyle.