The 3 Things You’ll Wish You Knew Before Retiring
A lot of people look forward to the day they can finally retire. No more work. No more stress. They can finally spend their time how they want with who they want.
The problem is, looking at retirement through rose-colored glasses fails to address the realities.
Today, we discuss 3 things you’ll wish you knew before retiring.
The 3 Things You’ll Wish You Knew Before Retiring
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SPEAKERS
Anthony Saffer 0:00
A lot of people look forward to the day they can retire, no more work, no more stress, they can spend time doing what they want with the people they want. The problem is looking at retirement through rose-colored glasses fails to address the realities. It’s not all smiles and sunshine, we’ve taken hundreds of families through the retirement transition. And there are three things we would like to pass on so that you can prepare for a better retirement. Hey, there, it’s Anthony and Alex from One Degree Advisors and we help you gain confidence in your retirement. All right Alex, so when people think about retirement, they’re often thinking about long walks on the beach, big family gatherings. I mean, even on our website, it’s a nice smiling family enjoying their their time together.
Alex Okugawa 0:41
Yeah, and that is what everybody wants, right? When they go into retirement, you want leisure, you want family time, you want to do what you want, with who you want, you’ve worked so long for so hard, and you finally reach this goal. And now it’s kind of like, well, now what? And like you mentioned at the beginning of the intro, it’s not always rose-colored and rainbow and sunshine. I mean, there are some things that you have to think about before going into retirement. And after working with hundreds of families through this process. There really are three things that if we’re going to sit down and say what do we want people to know, kind of like the intangibles of retirement, what do we want people to know, before making that plunge?
Anthony Saffer 1:15
Yeah, setting expectations is key. And this just really takes a little bit of preparation. And that’s what we want to talk about here. So the first point is that every day is Saturday.
Alex Okugawa 1:24
Think about what your traditional weekend looks like right now, because maybe you’re still working. What does that look like? It probably involves things like some leisure, maybe you’re going out to dinner more, maybe you’re traveling to see some family going to the movie, shopping, etc. And for a lot of people they try and like cram that in on the weekend, because why? Well, during the week, you’re not really doing those things. A lot of people don’t spend a ton of money during the week. And so when you go into retirement where it’s Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Saturday, Sunday, that’s all the days of the week, you have a lot of time, and you have to fill up that time. And usually what happens is people fill up that time with activities that cost a lot of money to do.
Anthony Saffer 2:09
Especially at the beginning of retirement, you might retire in your 60s, and it’s like, Hey, I’ve been waiting to do all these things go on these trips, I’ve been waiting to golf more, go out to eat more. And the money can really add up and require some preparation.
Alex Okugawa 2:21
As we think about how this relates to a financial plan, I’d say where we’ve talked with folks is make sure you give yourself some wiggle room, I think where a lot of people fail to plan in this area is they try and exactly match what their take-home pay is while they’re still working versus and saying, Well, this is what I need in retirement. Listen, it’s hard enough to plan over the next 30 years, let alone saying I’m going to spend exactly the same amount because you’re gonna have a lot more time on your hands. So give yourself some wiggle room. And it’s probably a good idea to plan that you may end up actually spending a little bit more than you were before, while you were working.
Anthony Saffer 2:56
Item number two that we wish we were prepared for is that retirement can be stressful, but planning really helps.
Alex Okugawa 3:01
As we mentioned at the beginning, a lot of people it’s very stressed while they’re working. They can’t wait to retire. And they have this vision of long walks on the beach, you know candlelit dinners, and this leisurely retirement, no stress. And although it’s very true that some stresses will be relieved, I’d say more often than not, there are different stresses that come up. Am I going to have to go back to work or is my income sources be enough to meet all of my needs? And so again, you have certain stresses go away, but then you also have other stresses that start to start to pop up.
Anthony Saffer 3:36
Yeah and the money is a big one too, especially if you have more time on your hands, we find that a lot of retirees can, can be watching more news take 2022. I mean, there are so many things going on. There are all these uncertainties that are before us. And stock markets coming down, even bonds are going down, and all these questions that persist.
Alex Okugawa 3:53
Now a good financial plan can help a lot with this, it can help a lot with the stress around money, right? When you look at your financial plan. Are you still on track? When you look at your investment plan, is it still aligned with your goals and priorities? Do we have enough money here to create systematic income regardless of market circumstances? So I’m not saying that you’re gonna have all the stress in retirement because of money. But a good plan does help relieve some of that stress.
Anthony Saffer 4:18
Yeah, absolutely. So item number three, that’s good to be prepared for we call it for better or worse.
Alex Okugawa 4:23
If you’re watching this, I’m sure you love your spouse. The reality is, even if you have two working spouses, I mean, let’s face it, you’re not necessarily together for eight hours of the day, 40 hours of the week. And let’s say you had one spouse who stayed at home and the other is working well, when you retire all a sudden, you’re gonna be spending most likely all day every day together. And so again, the people that are watching this, I’m sure you love your spouse and I can’t wait to do that. We have had instances where the spouse has loved each other but it’s like, the difference is rhythms got changed. Schedules got changed and it’s got frustrating it’s like, I’ve had this rhythm in the schedule for the past 10 years. And all of a sudden you retire and coming here, I’m gonna start doing these projects and doing around the house. It’s like I didn’t sign up for this. I signed up for better or worse, not for lunch.
Anthony Saffer 5:14
Yeah, we’ve had many of our clients joke about that, like, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with him when he’s home around the house all the time because it just does throw things off.
Alex Okugawa 5:21
So what can people do? I mean, I’d say the thing is just starting to plan through it by talking. Understand what your spouse’s schedule looks like now, and how that may look when you retire. Most people are going to take this in stride. But I think a little bit of planning ahead of time can do people a lot of good.
Anthony Saffer 5:42
Yeah, absolutely, and today, we talked about three things you wish you know before you get into retirement. We recently recorded a video about three stresses to help alleviate that you shouldn’t stress about in retirement, which can definitely help as well. We’ll go ahead and post that video. If you’re interested in learning how we can help you gain confidence in retirement. It starts with a simple 15-minute phone call. That’s it, go to onedegreeadvisors.com/getstarted/
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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This does not constitute an investment recommendation. Investing involves risk. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Consult your financial advisor for what is appropriate for you. Disclosures: https://onedegreeadvisors.com/solutions/#disclosures
