Financial Strategies Group

fsgmichigan.com 7 For those who love what they do, the prospect of retirement does have a few more psychological hurdles. Having worked with dozens of couples who are preparing for retirement for more than a decade, one of the strategies I have found to alleviate those hurdles is taking practice retirement weeks. A practice retirement week is simply a week where you take the time and practice being retired. If you do not have the vacation time to spare and cannot take a full week, take a long weekend and practice being retired. Picture what you would do if you were retired and didn't have to return to work the next week or Monday. Don't knock out your normal chores around the house. Pretend those are already done since you're retired. What will you do with your day? Maybe you pick the grandkids up from school and treat them to ice cream before dropping them off at their parents. Perhaps you spend a few days in the garage cleaning up your motorcycle and take a day long trip up the Lake Michigan coast. For those that plan on spending time somewhere else during retirement, take a week and go to that location. Spend a week in The Villages in Florida and make sure you like it there. Go to the cabin up north and try to enjoy the sights and sounds without worrying too much about the yearly maintenance. If you're feeling a lack of purpose, try volunteering at your church or local food bank. Helping others will surely give you the purpose you need. Retirement is a phase of life, but it's not the final phase. It is actually several phases across 30 years of hobbies, family, and adventure. I can understand the hurdle to finally pull the trigger on retirement, but with proper planning and self-reflection those hurdles are easy to overcome. The concerns around financial insecurity are also valid but are easily addressed. Numbers are the foundation and lifeblood of any retirement plan. Most people do not have a clear and specific idea of what their investments will be and what they can expect from their investments when they retire. Of course, knowing exactly what the balances will be is impossible, but with careful planning, we can predict a range and find comfort in those numbers. CHAPTER 1 THE NUMBERS AND PSYCHOLOGY OF RETIREMENT

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