June 7th, 2023
Do you know what retirement will look like for you?
One thing that can help is to look at those that are already there. How do they spend their time?
There was a study by The Wall Street Journal that showed how retirees spend their time in an average day and the results weren’t the stuff of dreams, except for the 9 hours of sleep (this is good and probably should be the norm for more people while they work, running around crazy and burned out.) and the 6 hours of relaxing/leisure. However, the next activity was watching TV… for 5 hours. Ughh… 5 hours of TV?? Then we have 17 min of exercise, 34 min of reading, and 31 min socializing. Wow. I am not sure these stats look all that different to how time is spent in prison.
Are you heading towards this kind of retirement or living this way currently? The stats say that you are.
It feels like time inflates as you get older. One hour today is worth more than later in life as it becomes a much smaller part of your life… that is why it feels like it goes so much faster as you get older. Time inflation is working against you.
While being responsible with your finances can ensure that you won’t outlive your money… holding off on the things you really want to do (money related or not) can be costly in a different way. You also want to make sure you don’t outlive your activities… or possibly put off something you could do now, that might not be as doable later.
What is the most valuable way to spend time now? Ask those on their death bed. They have the kind of perspective and clarity we all want now. What they don’t say is “I should have worked more,” or “made more money,” etc… but they do say they should have spent more TIME with those they love—friends, family, and life-giving activities.
What are you putting off that you could incorporate into the present? The time you spend now is incredibly important… being a good steward of it makes all the difference. It is truly your most precious resource.
Not everyone has the ability to create some kind of hybrid work-retirement balance… but many do. The degree may differ, but the re-organization of priorities and time spent is imperative to a fulfilling life. And if we are really honest with ourselves, by turning off the TV, putting down your phone, or deleting those deafening social media apps, we would find a lot more time to replace with more meaningful opportunities.
Maybe there shouldn’t be such a hard line between retirement and work. We like to label everything but it may benefit more people to do a little of both. The shift to a gig economy is providing options after traditional “work” that could prevent early use of assets, prolonging their ability to last. Taking more time along the way in a more gradual transition.
A recent book by veteran financial advisor Ric Edelman, called the “Truth About Your Future,” sites a move from a linear work experience to a more cyclical one in an education—work—sabbatical (repeat) cycle several times throughout one’s life. This allows for more rhythm and the ability to keep up with mounting pressure from rapidly changing technology and obsoletion of information. Inside this cycle are built-in opportunities to have valuable life experiences with family and friends in a deeper way than the current established path.
Ric says that this isn’t going to be a choice necessarily as the length of time spent working is likely going to increase, due to various factors like medical advances leading to greater longevity and inevitable adjustments to Social Security. Tacking on more years to the end just isn’t going to work for everyone.
We have choices. What kind of retirement do you want? It doesn’t have to look like the typical… and it probably shouldn’t based on the stats. Be mindful about what you would like that phase of your life (and now) to look like. More flexible or part time jobs, fulfilling the great need for volunteers at non-profits, or just having a more active role in your church or community can prevent the prison-like sentence many may find themselves in, whether they know it or not. It will be more satisfying, fulfilling, and impactful. We are free to create this, and we should be doing this now.
If you want to discuss how this might work for you in relation to your plan, please let us know.
Eric & Jeremy