You are the Architect of Your Retirement
Even a casual tourist in a big city can be struck by some of the incredible buildings that can create a majestic skyline or capture your attention with a unique design. You know these structures didn’t happen by accident. Careful planning and coordination between the builders and the architect produced the building that has grabbed your attention. It’s only natural to feel a sense of admiration for the people who worked on this structure that seems to stand out from the rest. You can just imagine the sense of pride on the part of the architect and builder and the team of finance professionals behind the construction of this building. Would it surprise you to learn that, in a very real sense, you are the architect of your retirement? You’re responsible for all phases of the life you will be living once you leave the working world and the question you should ask is what will that life be? Will it be like the building that grabs the attention of anyone who sees it? Or will it be a building that people don’t even notice as they walk by. Neither one by itself is bad and I don’t think most people want to be the center of attention but, in the end, we’ve all seen a home or a building that causes us to pause and give a nod of approval. It may not be attractive to everyone, but there is something about it that tells you that it’s a special place to live or work and that the architect knew what they were doing.
I believe everyone’s retirement deserves the same attention. You worked all your life to get to this point so why not reap the rewards of all the sacrifices you made along the way? Our retirement should be a time when we can do the things we could never get to because life got in the way. It’s a time to enjoy the benefits of saving money over the years and ending up with no mortgage or tuition bills and taking money out of our 401K instead of putting money in. But it’s not just the financial rewards that we should be enjoying. It’s the luxury of spending our time the way we want to instead of the company or person we were working for. You are the architect of your retirement from moment you wake up until the time your head hits the pillow at night and just as every phase of a well-designed building is carefully planned, so should the days of your retirement be as you embark on this wonderful journey through your Golden Years. Will your retirement be one of adventure and fulfillment or one where each day blurs into the next? A little planning can make all the difference in the world.
You are the architect of your retirement.
What's your plan?
Retirement has exceeded all of our expectations, and I attribute that to the fact that we had a plan and spent a lot of time discussing how we wanted to spend our retirement years. I married a saint. I am thankful for that every day of my life, and I am aware that not everyone is lucky enough to have a travel companion or a partner in life. I also know other people who have found ways to embark on their retirement journey and find a new friend along the way simply because they lived a life focused on new things and activities that they wanted to do. Retirement shouldn’t mean that learning stops or that you stay home every day. Retirement is a new beginning that can be as exciting as you want it to be. But it doesn’t happen without taking that first step. You are the architect of your retirement and if you don’t have a blueprint, you should sit down and create one. When an architect designs a building, they ask about who will be using it and how. You are the one who needs to answer similar questions about how you want to spend your life. The plan that emerges will be as good as the thinking that went into creating it. I created something I call The Self Discovery Challenge for Retirement to guide them in this process of designing a retirement as good as you can make it. It should be done in phases and start with a brainstorming session where nothing should be off the table. What happens next is what happens in building process. You start to fine tune your ideas and consider the budget that you have to work with. While those financial facts are sometimes viewed as a dream killer, I think that a good design process will consider ways to either economize or look for ways to increase the amount of funds available. I was involved in a building campaign for our church, and this is exactly what we went through. We ended up with a plan based on not just what the church had available at the time of the project but also on what we could raise to make the dream a reality. You have the same kind of options in retirement. Getting a job for a specific trip you want to take is always a possibility. In fact, as you design your retirement and decide how you want to spend your time, starting a business to create additional income has become a real possibility for many retirees.
You are the architect of your retirement and the message here is to consider all of the possibilities. Don’t ever give up on your dreams. You may have to make adjustments here and there and possibly downsize certain parts of your vision, but those desires and plans are there for a reason and retirement is for making as many dreams as possible come true. Just because it doesn’t come as easy as you might like, doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Go out and make it happen. It’s time to Enjoy Retired Life!
Thanks for visiting. If you like what you see here, please tell your friends. If you haven’t done so already, be sure you take The Self Discovery Challenge for Retirement! It’s designed to help you make the most of this wonderful time of your life. You’re never too old to discover something new about yourself!
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