Retirement

It's too soon to think about retirement - wrong for some right for others.  Too many people never make a retirement plan.  I'm not talking about financial planning.  What I know about financial planning is save some money, don't invest in risky investments, don't buy things you can't afford and don't get divorced. 


As you can see, I don't have a lot to offer you regarding your financial retirement planning.  I do have knowledge in physical, emotional and happiness retirement planning.  I do know when you should start planning your retirement and when you should not think about it.


First let's start with the definition of retirement:

"withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from active working life." 

Sooo, according to Webster, it's all about leaving your job and never working again.  That's not my definition.  My definition is:

"Stop doing the things you don't like doing and start doing the things that make you happy."

I hated getting up to an alarm clock.  Now, I'm retired, I wake up when my body decides to wake up.  I never liked being in meetings with too many people none of which could make a decision.  Now, I'm retired, almost all of my meetings are one on one.  I never liked the stress of having to perform or worst yet counting on others to perform.  Now, I'm retired, I decided to never manage another living soul.  I never liked having lunch or dinner with customers or management that were boring, only talked about work related things and cared only about their career.  Now, I'm retired, I only have lunch or dinner with people who are interesting and make me happy.


When I was planning my retirement, I thought about the things I wanted to do not just the things I no longer wanted to do.  I wanted to finish my second book and write my third (blogging came later).  I always wanted to play the guitar.  I wanted more time to mentor people.  I wanted to have more time to work out.  I wanted to have a dog.


I have done all the things I wanted to do and stopped doing the things I didn't want to do.  As you can see, some of the things I wanted to do are work related.  It takes work to write, learn the guitar, care for a dog and work-out.  Therefore, Webster's definition is wrong.


In my definition, when you retire, you can take a different job if the new one is more fun than the other one.  The goal is different.  You do your current job for money or other reasons.  The retirement job is for happiness even if you don't make a dime.


So when should you start your physical, emotional and happiness retirement planning?  If you're under forty years old, I suggest you don't even think about retirement.  The reason is you're in the middle of your life journey.  You're still learning what you like and what you don't like.  You're still finding new fun things to do.  You might love the new experiences your current job is giving you.  I was learning the computer, software and network business and that was a great deal of fun.  Your social life is either blooming or going down the toilet.  


At forty you should be planning your retirement.  I know it's at least twenty years away, but if you don't know where you're going you will never get there.  Sit down and write all the things you want to change about your current work life.  Sit down and write down the things you never had time before to accomplish.  Sit down and write all the fun things you want to do when you retire.  


This list is your retirement happiness guide.  Every year look at it and decide if you want to make any changes.  These are going to be your golden years.  The reason they're called "golden" is because these retirement years are supposed to meet the "gold" standard.  My "gold" standard is to get all the happiness I can squeeze out of the years I have left.


I actually know people who are not happy after they retire.  They are bored, unmotivated and no longer feel productive.  They believe they're too old to get a job or do something new.  They retired without a plan.  One of them spent a large portion of their retirement money and opened a Taco Bell.  Six months later he was miserable working too many hours and managing people that are just going through the motions.  


Happiness is the forgotten ingredient of life.  Your goal is happiness.  Retirement can either enhance that goal or take some of the happiness out of your life.  Don't wait until it's too late.  

You do have control of your happiness and you do have control of what you do in your retirement.