Most forms of retirement planning are left brain oriented, crunching numbers, creating formulas and matching them to what we have saved. Just as important in the financial planning process is using the right side of our brains to creatively consider what we want to do daily in retirement and what will fulfill us in this stage of life.
In retirement we will have to discuss or think about where our identity will come from, how we will remain healthy and active, and how we plan to stay socially connected. Define on paper what we enjoy, our hobbies, where we want to live in relation to family, etc. I recently read about making a "curious list" which is a list of activities people are curious about and would like to learn more about in retirement. Curiosity can create motivation, leading to new experiences and knowledge that can be useful in increasing retirees' sense of belonging and maintaining physical and mental skills.
We have to be creative using the right side of our brain to dream about what we want to do when we wake up each morning and don't have to go to work. Maybe we want to learn a new hobby or we have a desire to teach others special skills we acquired in our career. Think about how this will fulfill you and make you happy. The trick will be to find something that will keep us energized for more than a week or a month. There have been many people who have retired only to be back in a full time job a month later not because they needed the money but because they didn't prepare for what they wanted to do in retirement.
It will also be important to identify friends and family who we can count on to support us mentally, physically, and spiritually. Who can we turn to when times get tough? Who can we call when we are having a bad day? Who can provide objective, thoughtful advice? Just as our savings provide financial support, our friends and family provide another level of human support.
Communicate with our loved ones and friends about how we see our lives in retirement. Talking it through can bring clarity to our thoughts and plans. Getting together groups of people to bounce ideas off of each other and gaining insights into how others are thinking about retirement. Let's use our creative emotional brain to prepare for what is supposed to be a wonderful, fulfilling phase of life.
