5 Tips for Retirees- Tip 4- Exercises to Prepare for Retirement

Matt with EWA. Chris with EWA. In today’s video we are going to talk about retirement tip number four, which is some exercises you can do to make sure that you are ready for retirement.

And then also just based upon our experience, what we found phasing into retirement, what are the best tips and tactics into doing so. So Chris, tell us from experience, we’ve had a lot of clients go from actively working to retirement, what are some of the best tips and tactics that you’ve seen or exercises that clients can do to adequately prepare themselves mentally for the transition.

Absolutely. One of my favorite exercises that we will sometimes do in meetings is simply draw out a two pie chart side by side because if we think about it, the big thing that is really going to change during retirement is your time.

So let’s assume you get eight hours of sleep in a day. You’re at work for ten hours. How are you spending those remaining six hours of your free time now and how is that going to change whenever you’re retired? A lot of times we see going from 100 to zero at work can be quite a shock to some.

So this is just a quick exercise that we do to get the mind going and start thinking a little down the road of how we’re going to start spending our time. Excellent. How many clients have been able to answer that question, spot on, have it ready to go when I retire?

Here’s how I’m going to spend my time. Very few. Very few. It’s very interesting. So we’ve seen typically it’s best to view retirement as a journey, not a sudden goal or destination. If it’s a sudden goal or destination where you’re, you know, imagine getting dragged across the finish line on a hospital stretch or you’re exhausted from work, typically it’s not the healthiest thing to do.

But if it’s a journey where you’re potentially going from 100 miles an hour to 75 to 50, the kind of a phased retirement is very thoughtful. Here’s how I’m going to spend my time. Here’s how I’m going to keep the intellectual capacity that I’ve spent my whole career building.

I’m going to keep my mind sharp. Maybe it’s time with grandkids. Maybe it’s charity. The more intentional we find clients are how they’re going to spend their time and how the resources can support that time, the more happy and fulfilled we see our clients during the retirement years.