How Do You See Yourself?

At the heart of our approach to planning is a mental picture of the lifestyle you’d like to enjoy in your retirement years. This image is your personal vision, organized around three core themes that most us start to think about as we grow older:

1. Where do I want to live (both the geography and the type of dwelling)?
2. How do I want to spend your time (this can be one or more vocations or avocations)?
3. What are my hopes and plans for leaving a legacy (to my spouse, heirs, or favorite charity)?

Bear in mind that your answers may change over time. You may think you’d like to start a small business when you retire, only to find out later on that you prefer working for a small company where you can have an impact without having a financial risk. If you visualize yourself 20 or 30 years down the road from your official “retirement” you begin to realize there is a long stretch of time ahead which you can fill with numerous projects and activities.

These are three primary questions tend to branch out into the more particular ones you will be thinking about as you go along:

• What do I see myself doing?
• Who will I be spending time with?
• Family? Friends?
• New coworkers?
• Where will I be living?
• Will I be working at some new enterprise or volunteering my time?
• Will I be living my dreams and doing the things I’ve always wanted to do but never had time for?
• Will I be conquering new challenges?
• Will I be playing golf, sailing, or traveling?

Once again, you'll be wanting to give yourself some time for this process as well. Don't wait until the day before your retirement party to consider these questions.

The more time you give to them, the more time your mind will have to engage in fact finding, plus a compounding of interest, thought, and imagination.