What is Nonfinancial Retirement Planning?

A Lot of Very Smart People Don’t Know What To Do With Themselves When They Retire

“Nonfinancial retirement planning is the most overlooked part of retirement planning. And there are a lot of people – some very smart people – who don’t know what to do with themselves once they retire.”

With these comments, a successful financial planner put it all into perspective. When most people think about retirement planning, they think of financials. Investment portfolios, budgets, five year plans.

In fact, when the pandemic hit last spring, Google searches on financial planning were up 400%. But those same people are often surprised to learn that, as the saying goes, many folks spend more time planning a vacation than their retirement.

Plan on Living Longer, and Plan How to Spend Your Time

Retirement today can last up to 30 years. Some of us may live well into our eighties or nineties. Thinking through and cultivating options for wisely using that “extra” time is what nonfinancial retirement planning is all about.

That time can be as engaging and productive as any other period of our lives. This may surprise you – Tony Fauci, our nation’s leading infectious disease expert, is 80. So much for the media-driven image of older adults as frail and out-to-pasture. Sometimes even seniors support this stereotype. They say old people are “someone else older than me.” Older people are “they” not “we”.

Many aren’t aware of the record-breaking growth of the Boomer population, with 10,000 turning 65 every day. By 2050, estimates are that more people worldwide will be over the age of 60 than under 10. Growth of the 75-and-over population alone may reach five million in the next five years.

Nonfinancial Retirement Planning is Too Often Ignored

Even given this sector’s exploding growth, many people do almost no post-retirement planning, either financial or nonfinancial. A 2018 report from the Federal Reserve found that a quarter of US adults have no retirement savings or pension plan.

On the nonfinancial retirement planning side, people give little thought to recreating the structure and friendships they lose from work, or to figure out how they will invest those 30 extra years. An empty calendar can drive once-active people to the TV, the couch, and an unhealthy sedentary lifestyle.

But not all retirees are reaching for the remote – even before the pandemic. Instead, today’s retirees want to be engaged and relevant. Engagement comes from intentionally planning for your next chapter.

Happiness can be planned! 5 Keys to a Successful Retirement Transition:

1- Consider A Second Career

Do you want to find a post-career part-time job? In your original field or a new one? If so, how will you find that job? Many Boomers say they want to continue working after retirement.

2- Enjoy Life

Have you considered volunteering, for a cause you care about? If you are new to it, how will you find the right fit? Retired boomers who actively volunteer say it helps them meet new, like-minded friends and stay active and engaged.

3- Stay Active

How will you maintain your health? Declining health can lead to an retirement earlier than planned. Both physical and mental wellbeing are essential to fully enjoy your next chapter.

4- Sustain Relationships

As you move through each stage of retirement, your relationships may change. Which friendships from your work life do you want to preserve and how will you go about it? And as children and grandchildren move away, consider how retirement may affect your family relationships.

5- Build Your Legacy

What personal legacy will you build? What is the best way to invest your time, talents and resources? Reaching retirement gives us the chance to consider this important question. Creating and implementing a personal plan can help frame the answer for each of us. All of us can make an impact.

Intentionally Plan For Your Next Chapter

Retirement is about change. Combining these nonfinancial retirement planning tools can help you make a successful transition from your working career to your next chapter. Engage and invest your time.