Do You Really Want to Retire?

Six questions to ask yourself

Today many Canadians are thinking about their retirement plans and looking to the end of work. My experience tells me that far too many don’t actually want to retire but have accepted it as the next stage of their lives.

I am not saying that people shouldn’t retire, or that being in retirement is such a bad thing. However, I feel that you should be very clear on WHY you are giving up your work career and have an understanding of what you are actually retiring TO.

Here are six questions that I pose to people who are trying to formalize their retirement move:

Why are you retiring? This may sound like it has an obvious answer, but in far too many cases the reason that people retire is based on a misconception about what retirement actually is. If you are retiring because you have reached your company’s retirement age or your pension plan makes it worthwhile, this is understandable. However, if you are retiring simply because you think you should, then perhaps more thought might be directed towards your answers to the next five questions.
What is it that you will miss most about your job? Most people gain some satisfaction or take positives away from the workplace. As you think about what you are giving up when you leave, what are some of those motivators that you will also be giving up? Generally, work plays several roles in your life. For some, it is a source of financial comfort. For others, work can provide status, the need to be needed and to create new ideas or the structure of having to meet deadlines or responsibilities. And, don’t forget about the social connections that work provides. Some or all of these may apply to you, and it is important for you to identify what you feel you will lose in your life because you are not working.
How will you replace the things that you liked most about your work? One of the keys to retirement success is replacing what you will miss most about work in your retirement. As you answered the previous question, you identified those things about your job that really motivated you. Now I want you to consider how you will replicate those in this next phase of life. If you liked work because it provided you with a sense of status, you might consider working on a board of directors or creating a new business. If your work provided you with a sense of utility then volunteering might be in your future.
What are you looking forward to the most about your retirement? Since it is so important to understand what you are retiring to, you should think in terms of what you want this next part of your life to be. It is normal for most people answering this question to focus on the places they will go or the things that they expect to do. That is why I call retirement the “thirty-year long weekend”, because that is how many people think about it. I like the concept of a “bucket list” simply because it forces you to write down your life goals so that you can create the plans to make them happen.
What areas of your retirement life need a plan? Most retirement plans are financial plans and in a lot of cases they simply focus on building a nest egg that is big enough so that you will not run out of money. If you really want to clarify your vision of the future, then your goal setting and planning has to go beyond planning your money—in fact, I am going to suggest that you can’t realistically plan financially unless you have a vision for what you want to accomplish in each major area of your life. The areas to think about are:
Your health, which includes both mental and physical healthy aging
Your relationships, which includes your family and developing your social network
Your work which included volunteering or other workplace replacements that you will make part of your retirement life
Your leisure, which focuses on how you intend to balance your leisure to enjoy as many things as possible without getting stuck on doing the same thing over and over
Your home, which includes your vacation plans, snowbird lifestyle as well as any changes that you may see arising from the life changes that may come
What are the opportunities that you see in your retirement? Go beyond the leisure activities that you are looking forward to—in most cases you can probably do those now anyway. Instead, think about the kind of life that you want to lead, the values that will drive you and the opportunities and accomplishments that you want to undertake. Your retirement life is a tremendous opportunity to do new things, go new places, self-actualize and live the kind of life of your dreams.



At ScotiaMcLeod, we understand that wealth transcends money and represents the things in life that we would like to accomplish. As a Wealth Advisor, I work closely with my clients to help them create a clear vision of their retirement and then a financial strategy that is aligned with those goals. I think it would be beneficial for us to meet and discuss how we can work together to make sure you get the most out of this next stage of your life.