Do You Have ENOUGH to Retire?
Have you read Morgan Housel’s book, The Psychology of Money? Here is a great story from the book:
“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have … enough.”
I spend a lot of time with clients discussing the concept of “enough”. I have found that the happiest retirees have answered these three “enough” questions – before making the decision to move on to the next stage of their lives.
Do I have enough?
This question must be answered before proceeding to questions 2 and 3, and the time to ask is many years before retirement. A financial plan with a variety of scenarios (differing retirement dates, differing retirement spending) can help answer this question. If you don’t have "enough” are you willing to make changes to your lifestyle or retirement dates?
Have I had enough?
Have you accomplished all you wanted in your current career? Is there a different type of work that you’d like to focus on? Many of my clients get energy from their work. They would be lost without it. Others are looking to move on. How about you?
Do I have enough to do?
This is the question that is often hardest to answer. Do you have hobbies or other interests that can meaningfully fill your day. Nonprofit work? Helping family members? Chart out what your days and weeks would look like in retirement. Would the results make you happy?
A fulfilling retirement usually will be preceded by each of these questions being answered with a resounding "yes!". If some of your answers are no or maybe, spend some time clarifying your retirement goals.
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Shari Greco Reiches
Shari co-founded Rappaport Reiches Capital Management with one goal - to maximize the return on life for her clients. Please connect with Shari below. She loves to talk about investing, financial planning, and Barry Manilow.