Hello everyone and welcome to the Retiring Canada Podcast. In today’s episode, we're going to discuss ways you can elevate your retirement plan with my latest guidebook – "Navigating Retirement." This guide highlights 25 tips to integrate your emotional well-being with smart financial decisions as you approach retirement.
Specifically, we will discuss:
- What a retirement plan should be
- Who should get a copy of this guide
- How looking at the big picture can lead to retirement fulfillment
- A sneak peek of what's inside
- How you can get your copy
- A few action items for you to consider
When you hear or read about the "retirement plan," what comes to mind? Is it:
- Numbers on a spreadsheet?
- Visions of vacations and leisure time with your spouse?
- Rolling on the ground with your grandkids?
- A graph of your investments fluctuating?
- Tinkering in the garage?
- Choosing a CPP start date?
- Planning for a healthy lifestyle?
- Continuing to help with the farm or family business?
What actually IS a retirement plan?
Now, I must admit, I have never retired. So, when I think of retirement for myself, albeit many years away, it’s hard to envision. Fortunately, I have worked with hundreds of families at all phases of their retirement journey and have learned from their lived experiences.
Selfishly, this aspect of my career has immensely helped me and my wife understand our relationship with money now, as we age, and as we eventually retire. Through these shared experiences of pitfalls, victories, trials, and tribulations, an experienced and knowledgeable financial planner can distill and share wisdom to help you avoid mistakes and achieve your goals.
Choosing investments is important, but I believe that’s the easy part. Managing emotions, understanding risk, dealing with life's changing seasons, building a legacy, and embracing the unknown are much more complex endeavors to navigate.
How people deal with money can seem strange, but often there’s a root cause. Someone who seems stingy, even if they have more than enough, may be that way because they grew up during hard times. Some may not want to spend money with sentimental value, while others might still hide cash in tin cans in the freezer.
As I always say to my father-in-law when talking about the old country, "Hard times are coming, Grant!"
Money is emotional, and there's no way around it. I often say to my clients, there are two core considerations when making financial decisions: the analytical side and the emotional side. Even if the numbers make sense, if the decision doesn’t feel right, it just won’t happen. Emotions almost always trump logic.
A true retirement plan needs to balance the analytical and emotional aspects. One cannot exist without the other. Disconnecting the two may lead to a lack of fulfillment and purpose. That may sound harsh, but as philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said, “A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder.” I would argue the same applies to retirement: a retirement without purpose is like a ship without a rudder.
Find your purpose first, then build your retirement plans around that purpose. If you lead with numbers and spreadsheets, expecting to find fulfillment, you’ll discover that true wealth isn’t a number. Some may plan ahead and visualize this purpose, while others may hope it finds them.
Which brings me to the purpose of today’s episode: to introduce my latest retirement guidebook, "Navigating Retirement - Integrating Emotional Well-Being with Smart Financial Decisions." In it, I cover both the emotional and analytical sides of creating a true retirement plan. From creating your bucket list, getting organized, and re-engaging hobbies and volunteering, to reducing taxes, protecting your portfolio from market drawdowns, and embracing the unknown.
If you are within 10 years of retirement or recently retired, I encourage you to request your copy today. I will leave a link in the show notes for you to check out. Once you go through the guidebook, make a few notes on key things you’ve been meaning to get around to and revisit them regularly to keep retirement readiness, both the emotional and analytical aspects, top of mind.
Alright, a few action items for you to consider from today’s episode:
1. Get a copy of the guidebook by clicking the link in the description. It will be delivered to your email inbox immediately.
2. Think about your “why” – your purpose in retirement. Set a reminder in your phone for 8 am every Tuesday. Take 5 or 10 minutes to think about your future retirement. Close your eyes and imagine it: What are you doing? Who are you with? How does it make you feel?
3. Talk to family and friends whom you trust who are currently retired. How did they prepare for the emotional aspect of retirement? What are their biggest regrets or fears leading up to retirement?
Life is a shared experience, and learning from those you trust will help guide you through your retirement journey.
That will do it for today’s episode. For the links and resources discussed, please check out the link in the show notes or visit retiringcanada.ca. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app. Be sure to sign up for my weekly Retiring Canada newsletter.
And hey, when it comes to your retirement, don’t take chances.
Make a plan so YOU can retire with confidence.
All comments are of a general nature and should not be relied upon as individual advice. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary may not necessarily reflect those of Harbourfront Wealth Management. While every attempt is made to ensure accuracy, facts and figures are not guaranteed, the content is not intended to be a substitute for professional investing or tax advice. Please seek advice from your accountant regarding anything raised in the content of the podcast regarding your Individual tax situation. Always seek the advice of your financial advisor or other qualified financial service provider with any questions you may have regarding your investment planning.