Would you like to combine freedom and income in your retirement planning?
For many years the golden freedom of retirement was dangled in front of our generation of baby boomers. We aspired to “retire early”, encouraged by the financial planning advertisements of the 1980s. Retirement was considered the reward for a lifetime of working hard. It could be a time of adventure and relaxation. A time for pursuing passions and engaging in activities that you never had time to pursue while you were working.
Much of that still holds great appeal….I want the freedom, the adventure and the relaxation. Time to indulge my interests and do new things. Time to travel and have fun. But at what price? When you are working you are used to having a regular income. But when you retire you start living off whatever you have accumulated. Is it time to reconsider your retirement income? Could you reinvent yourself, that is do something completely different or do the same work in a different way?
Is Retirement Now A Transition Time To Your Next Step?
I don’t want to wake up one morning and realize I no longer have economic purpose and challenge in my life. It worries me to consider our retirement savings disappearing faster than we expected just because we wanted to live the life we enjoy. I don’t want to feel, or be treated, like an ‘old person’. With luck there will be plenty of years ahead when that will be inevitable, but now isn’t that time.
I know I think differently about retirement because I’m self-employed and love working in my business. When I was an employee I craved the day when I would leave my job. I regularly hear the same emotions from new career coaching clients who are seeking a career change. It is clear what they really want is not a new job but a complete change. They want to ditch the role of employee and do something they really want to do!
A common motivation to retire? Freedom
The strongest motivation to retire from work…perhaps escape from work … is to gain freedom to do what they want to do, when they want to do it.
I don’t look on the ‘freedom of retirement’ as a way of escaping work but as a way of doing work I enjoy in my own time on my own terms. My business is very flexible and it is up to me how I decide to plan my day, my week, my year. Therefore I can create an income while I enjoy my lifestyle choices of travel, sailing and being a very involved grandparent.
Lots of options
I hear many people around retirement age ask the question: “What’s the next step?” It is becoming increasingly common for people to view retirement from their traditional job as a transition to something else that will be challenging and give purpose and fulfillment to life.
Voluntary work?
For some this is voluntary work. They offer their services in some way to contribute to their community or society as a whole. Tutoring refugees, working in charity stores, caring for environmentally endangered areas, assisting disabled people to enjoy the outdoors…There are so many ways that retirees make massive contributions to our communities.
Contractor or Consultant?
Others work part time or as a contractor/consultant, mixing work and earning with travel and family involvement. This is an ideal way of combining work with freedom to do the things you want, with the additional advantage of boosting your retirement income.
Online business?
Amazing advances in information technology means we can now choose to create an online business working from home or anywhere in the world. In this way anyone who chooses this lifestyle can generate income and leave their retirement savings relatively untouched.
Whatever the motivations or the experience, the traditional concept of retirement seems to have faded. A smorgasbord of dynamic opportunities is replacing traditional retirement. These opportunities all offer different variations of purpose, fulfillment and freedom. Creating additional retirement income, whilst enjoying your lifestyle, is a goal for many.
Explore All Your Retirement Options
YoungAtHeart.info explores this smorgasbord, from job search to creating a laptop lifestyle, from travel adventures to pursuing your passions, as we look at how the baby boomer generation can reinvent and reward themselves.
David and I have chosen the path of a hybrid lifestyle retirement therefore we enjoy the freedom of retirement, but we also enjoy the stimulation of our work. Our online business can be done anywhere in the world, bringing in additional retirement income to fund our travel, our sailing and our other lifestyle choices. We have found this also give us the additional mental challenge of learning new skills and meeting new people through our business.
Need more encouragement? Grab these books!
Enjoying Retirement: An Australian handbook of ideas, strategies and resources
Purposeful Retirement: How to Bring Happiness and Meaning to Your Retirement
