Retirement Goals Are Important
Retirement goals are important, and most people have a set of objectives for at least two categories which are financial and lifestyle. Everyone spends time thinking about the financial piece of their retirement years and worrying about whether they will have enough money to live without worry. The second category they spend time thinking about is the lifestyle they will have in their retirement and these can involve questions concerning social activity, travel plans, health concerns and even where to live and escape the cold winters if that is applicable. But there is a third category that many people don’t consider, and it may be the most important area of your life to think about and that is what will you need to have a sense of fulfillment? Our golden years are a time to think about your life and make sure you’ve done everything that you were put on earth to do. There is an inner voice within that people sometimes ignore. My feeling is that your retirement is the time to make sure that inner voice is heard.
Your retirement goals are important and there may be goals that are still waiting to be discovered.
I will never deny that finances are important and that they can have a big impact on our retirement years, but I also think there are things you can do to adapt to whatever money shortages you may have. Cost cutting measures and a good budgeting process can be a great help in making ends meet in retirement. The possibility of a retirement job or even a little business can help bring in more money if that is what you need to do. You would be very surprised to see how many retirees are starting their own business during their golden years and enjoying every minute of it. It is helping them achieve all the things they wanted to do in their life and, perhaps, some things they never thought about. Retirement goals are important, but they should also be flexible and, if one area of your life does not meet your expectations, you can always make adjustments to see that it does. A lot of people tend to use the “lack of money” situation to explain why they can’t do something they had always planned to do. If something is listed as one of your retirement goals, you have to understand that it’s there for a reason.
Most people have a vision for the type of lifestyle that they want to have in retirement and that, too, is very important. Again, you can make adjustments to your original goals to get as close as you can to the original plan that you had in mind. Downsizing into a smaller house is an adjustment many people make, and it can help tremendously in balancing your finances with your lifestyle dreams that were hoping to have a larger bank account to draw from. If your original dream was to have a beach house but you found the prices to be prohibitive, perhaps you can rent one from time to time. One of good friends lives about two blocks from the beach in a house that they purchased for about a third of what a water view home would have cost, but she makes it down to the beach almost every day and is very happy with that small compromise. Retirement goals are important and she was able to address her needs by making that small adjustment. Living by the water was always something that she wanted to do and being on the beach listening to the waves gives her a sense of inner peace that she hasn’t found anywhere else. And that brings us to the third category of retirement goals: your sense of fulfillment.
All of your retirement goals are important, but having a sense of fulfillment before you leave this earth may be the most important one of them all. You should have a sense that your life was well lived and there are many ways to measure that. One of the most important pieces of advice that I have ever read (although it may sound a bit morbid) was to picture your funeral. Who would be there? What would they say about you? Who will miss you? What did you leave behind? A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens explores this when Ebeneezer Scrooge sees his future and does not like what he sees. You can have all the money in the world (Scrooge had a lot) but still have lived an empty life. We’re not called to do great things or be voted into any Hall of Fame. We’re called to have a place in other people’s hearts and to realize that the impact we have on other people’s lives might be in the words and encouragement that we give them rather than anything that we buy them. We leave “something behind” whenever we come in contact with another person. Will they remember you with a smile?
I believe everyone who has a sense of fulfillment in their life leaves something positive behind in a very natural way. When you have lived your best life there will be an “aura” about you. You’ll exude an inner happiness and contentment that people will notice. And you’ll never have to brag about it because people will tell you how nice a person you are. You will be a quiet source of wisdom and encouragement for everyone you meet. That’s what a good friend does. All retirement goals are important but maybe the best goal of all is to be as good a friend to others as you can be. Retirement is the time in your life to find that sense of fulfillment if you haven’t found it already. Go to that “inner voice” and find out what’s left for you to do in this life to fully live your dreams. Finding that long forgotten “inner you” may be the thing you can do to bring a smile to your face that can’t be removed. If you feel there’s something missing in your life, start a journal and explore those inner thoughts. It could lead you to a new interest or hobby or start you on the way to finally writing that book or scheduling that cruise around the world. You’re never too old to Enjoy Retired Life!
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