We send a lot of time helping our clients plan financially for their retirements. Years in advance we determine how they are living their lives now, what they want to do in retirement, all of the sources of income, planning for health care, and other life cycle events. When someone walks into my office and says they are ready to pull the trigger and retire, I ask “What are you going to do with your time?”
More often than not, my client immediately lists a number of things they have planned. Some are now taking care of their grandkids full time, some have increased their volunteer works, and others get part-time jobs. A few have looked at me blankly and said they have no idea. I generally tells those people they have no business retiring. Here are a few examples of what I have seen happen when someone retires and has no idea what they are going to do.
A retiree going from a scheduled daily life, interacting with a lot of co-workers, always knowing where they have to be and when, is now faced with endless days of nothing specific to do. Sadly, this leads to depression and illness.
I have seen clients go through money like water under a bridge because shopping becomes an activity with no real purpose. I have seen clients gain tremendous amounts of weight doing nothing but eating while watching TV. Sadly, others get divorced because they are not used to being with their spouse 24/7.
When you get ready to retire – you have to know what you will be doing with your time so you can have a long and fruitful retirement.

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