| Copyright (c) 2008 Lin Schreiber | | | | she'd been wanting to do for years. She cleaned out |
| Okay, so you can't wait to get out of the day-to-day | | | | her basement and garage, fixed everything that |
| work grind. You're not alone. A lot of the US working | | | | needed to be fixed, redecorated a number of rooms in |
| population can't wait to retire. But before you pocket | | | | her home, caught up on her reading, created an herb |
| that gold watch and run gleefully from your work place | | | | garden, and turned the boxes of photographs in her |
| into the great unknown, make sure you've created an | | | | closet into scrapbooks - all in the first 5 months. By the |
| infrastructure that will support you in thriving, not merely | | | | end of the next 5 months, she found herself taking a |
| surviving, this next stage of life. If you're panning to | | | | whole day to pick up the cleaning and buy a few |
| start a business, or launch a new career, then no | | | | groceries. Some days she didn't even get dressed. On |
| problem. Your goal for what's next automatically | | | | one such day, she caught a glimpse of herself in the |
| incorporates these three must-needs. If you're looking | | | | hall mirror and realized that this was NOT what she |
| forward to no timetables and nothing definite planned, | | | | had dreamed of in retirement. |
| you could be headed for real trouble. You won't want | | | | Five months seemed to be the major number for |
| to leave work without: | | | | Jessie, because after five months of coaching she |
| 1. A Money Plan. Of course, everyone knows this one, | | | | had identified her top values, uncovered a long-buried |
| so if you're set, great. Did you know, though, that one | | | | dream, and had begun crafting a life that fit her |
| of the biggest regrets many women have is around | | | | perfectly. While she had given up her dream of |
| money and retirement? They regret not starting | | | | becoming an artist in high school, she was finally free |
| sooner, saving more, and being better informed about | | | | to express herself creatively. Now, she spends five |
| finances. Yes, even women with high-powered | | | | mornings a week painting, two afternoons as a docent |
| careers, making buckets of money. Many of these | | | | at the local art museum, and is mounting her first art |
| women have hidden their heads in the sand around | | | | show. Oddly, Jessie finds that her schedule, rather than |
| money and haven't planned for the future they | | | | confining her, gives her a sense of freedom she didn't |
| deserve. It's not too late to start, so if you're not set | | | | think possible. |
| financially, get creative and go for it. | | | | 3. A Purpose Plan. Admit it. Whether or not your love |
| My friend Sarah, divorced in her 50s, had a successful | | | | your career, it's given you a purpose. A reason to get |
| business on the West coast and a very handsome | | | | out of bed each day; a place to be where people are |
| settlement from her ex. She moved to the East coast, | | | | counting on you; a focus for your skills, abilities, and |
| started a new business, and ten years later found | | | | energy. Listen up then. If you can find a purpose for |
| herself with no retirement and in debt up to her you | | | | this next stage of your life, one that ignites your |
| know what. Did she throw in the towel because it was | | | | passion and literally pulls you out of bed in the morning, |
| too late to start? NO! She found a terrific financial | | | | you'll be golden. |
| adviser who helped her create a plan to first erase her | | | | Helen's purpose found her, and while in a million years |
| debt, and then refocus her business by doing more of | | | | she would never have guessed her retirement would |
| what she loves doing. Today in her mid-70s she owns | | | | look like this, she has a purpose that literally lights her |
| her own apartment in Boston and has accumulated | | | | up from the inside out. Sixty-eight and never married, |
| enough wealth to take care of herself for the rest of | | | | she has taken in her late sister's 13-year-old |
| her life. P.S. She's having the time of her life. | | | | granddaughter and is bringing everything she has to |
| 2. A Time Management Plan. Yes, I know one of the | | | | raising this young woman. Has it been easy? No. |
| lures of retirement is not having to have a schedule. | | | | Would she trade it for anything? Absolutely not. |
| Beware, though, for therein lies one of the biggest | | | | Work provides money in the form of income you can |
| traps of retirement. Without a framework for your | | | | count on, time management in the form of a |
| days, weeks, months and years, you can slip into a | | | | framework for your life, and purpose in the form of |
| deadening non-routine. My client Jessie retired from an | | | | getting you out of bed in the morning for something |
| executive director position with a national non-profit | | | | that brings meaning to your life. As you design what's |
| organization at the age of 63. She didn't have a plan, | | | | next for you, make sure you provide each of these |
| but couldn't wait to dive into the laundry list of projects | | | | for yourself. |