Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Model That Doesn’t Exist Nobody tells you this before you retire: the day you stop working, you’ll probably have no idea what you’re actually supposed to do next. Not in a panicked way — just a quiet, unsettling “now what?” that nobody warned you about. Our culture does not provide a single model for …
Reading Time: 3 minutesPeople assume that if they’re financially ready, everything else in retirement will fall into place. The dominant retirement narrative says, “Get your finances right, and everything else follows.” It’s baked into every retirement calculator brochure and planning conversation. Money does allow us to buy things that enhance our lives and provide a sense of security. …
Reading Time: 4 minutesWe often view retirement in unrealistic terms. The myth of retirement is that once you stop working, life will be wonderful all the time. Financial planning ads show retirement as a non-stop luxury vacation — but the reality often doesn’t come close. When Retirement Goes Wrong When I was a shift leader in a sheriff’s …
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe death of a long-term partner is one of the greatest fears we can have. Eventually, either your partner will die first or you will. Refusing to acknowledge this doesn’t make it less true; it just makes us less prepared. The Risk Nobody Wants to Talk About When we lose a partner, there is a …
Reading Time: 4 minutesOur financial advisor told us something most advisors won’t say: “You should retire now.” He’d watched too many clients wait past when they could have retired — and then die shortly after they finally did. They never got to enjoy what they’d spent decades working toward. That conversation changed everything for us. We retired at …
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen Having It All Figured Out Becomes the Problem I remember thinking I had retirement figured out. I had a plan. I was wrong about most of it. Some of us have a personality that likes to plan things in advance. When we go on a trip, we figure out where we’ll spend each night …
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe Busiest Retirees You Know When Mary and John retired, they both immediately jumped into lots of activities. Mary joined a card club that met multiple times a week. She also joined a yoga studio where she attended several classes a week. John went golfing every morning and worked on his classic car several afternoons …
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat George Didn’t Expect (And You Might Not Either) George never imagined that he’d be bored in retirement, but he had to admit that he was. Before he retired, he fantasized about how much he’d enjoy having all that free time. He loved to play golf, but with work and home responsibilities, he never had …
Reading Time: 4 minutesOur ‘Forever Home’ Lasted Eight Years When we retired, my wife and I decided to move to a retiree community in Arizona. We bought a home with the idea that it would be our “forever home.” We significantly upgraded it with new windows, solar tubes, new flooring, French doors, landscaping, and a bathroom upgrade. After …
Reading Time: 3 minutesMy wife and I feel very fortunate to have been able to fully retire at age 63. If it hadn’t been for my military pension, we’d still both be working. Unfortunately, it’s clear that many boomers and upcoming Gen Xers will not be financially prepared for retirement. What happens then? The Thing Nobody Talks About …