Designing Your Retirement: Aligning Life Goals with Financial Planning
About the Guest(s):
Amy Irvine is the CEO and founder of Rooted Planning Group, a dynamic organization focused on aligning financial planning with life goals. With extensive experience in financial advising, Amy has carved a niche for herself by integrating life design with financial strategy. A firm advocate for actionable and personalized financial planning, Amy is deeply involved with Money Quotient, where she assists individuals in bridging their life aspirations with their financial plans. She brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective on retirement planning, promoting a holistic view that encompasses more than just financial stability.
Episode Summary:
Join Amy Irvine, the visionary CEO of Rooted Planning Group, in this engaging debut of the "Retirement Design" series on Money Roots. This episode lays the groundwork for understanding how life's design intersects with financial planning, particularly as one approaches retirement. By leveraging her expertise and the insights from Money Quotient, Amy guides listeners to view retirement as a life phase that requires thoughtful preparation, far beyond financial readiness. This episode sets out to redefine the traditional perceptions of retirement, encouraging both current retirees and younger listeners to envisage a fulfilling life post-retirement.
The podcast episode delves into why planning for retirement needs to extend past monetary considerations. Amy Irvine shares statistics and demographics illustrating the longevity and societal shifts that beckon us to rethink retirement paradigms. One key assertion from Amy is that "life is about events supported by your dollars and cents." This episode of Money Roots is enriched with insights about retirement practice, longevity statistics, and transformative life in retirement. Amy introduces a guide/workbook for personal introspection on retirement, emphasizing the psychological transition into retirement as significantly as the financial aspect. Through her expert lens, Amy implores listeners to design their retirement life proactively, seeing it as a transition, rather than an end.
Key Takeaways:
- Retirement should be designed proactively as a significant life transition, not merely a financial milestone.
- Life expectancy has increased significantly, influencing the need for a broader retirement strategy that includes social networks and active lifestyles.
- Practicing retirement in the year preceding actual retirement can aid in adjusting to new routines and discovering fulfilling activities.
- A higher emphasis on personal development and social connections can enhance life satisfaction more than financial gains alone.
- Retirement is a continuous design process, and individuals should remain flexible, allowing their plans to evolve and change as needed.
Notable Quotes:
- "Life is about events supported by your dollars and cents."
- "The older you get, typically the longer your life expectancy is."
- "It's not just the size of your portfolio but the size of your social network that affects life satisfaction."
- "Retirement should be thought of as a major life transition deserving thought and preparation in all areas."
- "You get to design life in retirement...and you know what? It can change."
Resources:
- Rooted Planning Group
- Money Quotient
- AARP Study: "Baby Boomers Look Forward to Toward Retirement"
Stay tuned for more insightful episodes in the "Retirement Design" series on Money Roots, where Amy Irvine will continue to offer practical exercises and thought-provoking insights to design a fulfilling retirement. Don't miss out on the upcoming parts of this series and keep striving for a balanced and enriched financial life.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:This is Money Roots, the podcast where Amy Irvine and her team keep money conversations real, relatable, and rooted in your goals.
Speaker B:Let's grow together.
Speaker A:Hello, Money Root listeners.
Speaker A:Amy Irvine, CEO and founder of Rooted Planning Group, here today for a new podcast series that I'm going to call Retirement Design.
Speaker A:Many of you have heard me say in the past that I work with an organization called Money Quotient.
Speaker A:And my way of explaining Money Quotient is where a design for your life meets finances.
Speaker A:So it's tools that help us sort of ask the right questions about your life that match up your life to your finances or your finances actually up to your life.
Speaker A:Right, so you've heard me use the quote before that I created.
Speaker A:Life is about events supported by your dollars and cents.
Speaker A:And so today we're going to do part one of this Retirement Design series.
Speaker A:Now, I am going to publish the, I would say, book guide that many people that attend a webinar with us or seminar with us get when we're talking about designing your life in retirement.
Speaker A:Now, you may be very young and think, why am I continuing to listen to this podcast?
Speaker A:I, you know, have many years go before I even think about retirement.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:A lot happens between now and retirement, even if retirement is only a year away.
Speaker A:So a lot happens if you're just starting out and.
Speaker A:And thinking about designing your life is an important theme.
Speaker A:Okay?
Speaker A:So the guide that I'm going to be putting in the show notes is called designing your retirement.
Speaker A:Designing your retirement.
Speaker A:Yeah, your life in retirement.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:And you can use this as a workbook.
Speaker A:Let me give you a few facts.
Speaker A:Now, all of these facts are in this guide, so you can revert back to the guide for additional quoting of this information.
Speaker A:But in the 20, think about when we entered the 21st century.
Speaker A:It feels like forever ago for me, but it really wasn't that long ago.
Speaker A:When we think about that, at that point in time, when we think about the grain of America that we started to hear, if you back up to the turn of the 20th century.
Speaker A:So now, 125 years ago, the average life expectancy at birth was 47.
Speaker A:That was the average life expectancy expectancy.
Speaker A:And today it's grown, even depending on the statistics you look at, but as high as 76.
Speaker A:Now, that is on the day that you're born.
Speaker A:And the older you get, typically the longer your life expectancy is.
Speaker A: million by the year: Speaker A:So more than 65 million people will be 65 or older.
Speaker A:Now, if you're in your 30s, you're thinking, this is unimportant to me, but at some point in your life, this is you or this is your parents or your grandparents, and this is important information for you to know and look through the lens of what I wish I could have told my younger self.
Speaker A:So besides increasing longevity, another important factor contributing to this demographic shift is the aging of the baby boomer generation.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A: ericans who were born between: Speaker A:The impact of the baby boomers on American life has been linked to, like a pig in a python, a distinct bulge that does not pass through history unnoticed.
Speaker A:And again, this is all language that you'll see in the information that I'm going to upload into the show Notes.
Speaker A:So what's, why is it important to start thinking about living in retirement?
Speaker A:Well, we don't just make this switch, right?
Speaker A:I, I tell people to practice like the year before they go in retirement.
Speaker A:Practice.
Speaker A:Not just practice from an economic perspective, but practice what your life is going to be like in retirement.
Speaker A:You've worked all of these years and now you're switching gears into a completely different mindset.
Speaker A:One of my favorite clients had a clock, and I think of this all the time.
Speaker A:And, and the clock that was on the wall didn't have the time, like, you know, 12, 1, 2, 3, or it had the day.
Speaker A:And so it said Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Speaker A:And they joked about that and said, we actually use that quite a bit because every day is Sunday to us, every day, Saturday to us.
Speaker A:So from their perspective, you know, thinking about what would you want retirement to look like?
Speaker A:Do you want to be engaged in particular clubs?
Speaker A:Do you have hobbies that you want to get more involved in?
Speaker A:How long are you going to be in retirement?
Speaker A:What's the need for self reliance in retirement?
Speaker A:Years and years and years ago, we used to, you know, the family units used to stick together and the younger generation would take care of the older generation, that would take care of the younger generation, and so on and so forth.
Speaker A:And that's definitely not happening in the U.S.
Speaker A:what kind of interest and active lifestyles do you want to lead?
Speaker A:Statistics have shown that the more active you are, the more interests you have in Retirement, the better the mental clarity and longevity that you have getting outside that post.
Speaker A:Work and world.
Speaker A:So thinking about what are some of the circles of people and activities that you are going to involve yourself in and start practicing that.
Speaker A:Because believe it or not, our work worlds are our social environments.
Speaker A:Even for those of us that work from home, there's still a social environment and involved with our work world, even if it's via zoom, there's still that social involvement.
Speaker A:And then also thinking about what retirement looks like beyond just the financial issues.
Speaker A:These are all really important things that are changing in retirement and are important in your lives.
Speaker A:So again, you know, just thinking through those kinds of things and what do I want my life to look like?
Speaker A:It was interesting when I was reading the article that was written for this particular module.
Speaker A:There was a study by AARP called Baby Boomers Look Forward to Toward Retirement that indicated that members of this generation are likely to stretch their working lives, moving in and out of new and varied careers.
Speaker A:And surprisingly, more than 80% of baby boomers reported that they believe they will continue to work in their retirement years.
Speaker A:So retirement to them doesn't mean I'm going to stop working completely.
Speaker A:It means I'm probably going to work part time, but when I work part time, it's going to be for something that I love.
Speaker A:It's going to be for enjoyment.
Speaker A:23% expect to work part time for income.
Speaker A:5% expect to retire from their present occupation but work full time doing something completely different.
Speaker A:And 17% expect to start their own businesses in retirement.
Speaker A:In contrast, only 19% expect retirement to be the end of their productive years.
Speaker A:And when I say end of their productive years, understand if, if you could see me, you'd see air quotes, because I would argue that that is definitely not the way that your working year should end or, you know, your retirement should be.
Speaker A:Product productivity can be something very different to each person.
Speaker A:So planning for retirement definitely takes more money.
Speaker A:Individuals in retirement planning professionals are increasingly recognized that a successful and satisfying retirement experience depends on more than just a healthy nest egg.
Speaker A:It's something that we need to look at beyond that.
Speaker A:Instead, retirement should be thought of as a major life transition.
Speaker A:And it deserves thought and preparation and all areas of life.
Speaker A:For example, a study by the Institute of the Social Research found that it was the size of a recent retiree's social network and not the size of their portfolio that had the strongest influence on life satisfaction.
Speaker A:In addition, role transition, relationship changes, time management issues, and the sense of meaning and purpose can have a profound effect on the quality of life in retirement.
Speaker A:The fun thing is you get to design life in retirement.
Speaker A:You can become more proactive in planning for retirement for sure, but you get to design it.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:It can change.
Speaker A:It doesn't have to stay the same.
Speaker A:We don't have to make this decision and forget that any other decision can happen.
Speaker A:I talk a lot to people coming out of college about their first job saying it's just a job at that point in time, yes, it's the start of your career, but you don't have to keep that job forever.
Speaker A:And in today's world, it's not unexpected that in the first couple years of your employment that maybe you do kind of feel your way around just a little bit.
Speaker A:You're not expected to work for the same company for the rest of your life.
Speaker A:It's unusual that that happens, but it gets you some experience.
Speaker A:I'm not saying take any job, I'm saying take a job that you think you might like.
Speaker A:And if you don't, you look for other opportunities.
Speaker A:Retirement will trigger changes in every area of your life, so won't starting a new job.
Speaker A:You're certainly likely to look more forward to certain changes and yet dread other changes.
Speaker A:So in fact, it's not uncommon for individuals to experience ambivalent feelings towards retirement because of the many, many changes in their in their lives that they anticipate.
Speaker A:A good example.
Speaker A:Many employees welcome the change of pace and sense of freedom that accompanies retirement.
Speaker A:That's why the fire movement is so big.
Speaker A:But nevertheless are certain concerns that they will miss the structure of the workday and interaction with colleagues.
Speaker A:In addition, most people, closely identified identify who they are with their job.
Speaker A:So it's what they do and who they are tend to get interweave in and trying to unweave that can be quite a challenge.
Speaker A:And that's why I keep saying practice, practice, practice.
Speaker A:If you haven't heard anything from this, this is a time where you might be experiencing transition.
Speaker A:Transition for most people it is a process, a psychological process that people have to work their way through.
Speaker A:So I am going to, as I mentioned in the show notes, host this guide and I'm going to be working through the different sections of this guide over the course of the next few weeks.
Speaker A:Now this is called retirement design.
Speaker A:But you know, a lot of the things that we're asking about aren't necessarily untrue for anything outside of retirement.
Speaker A:So the first thing that you're going to work on, if you choose to work through this with me is what's called Personal insights about Change.
Speaker A:This is an exercise to help you gain insight into your thoughts and feelings about retirement or.
Speaker A:Or cross out the word retirement and put anything in there.
Speaker A:It's also important to consider how you have responded to the change in the to changes in the past and how those attitudes and behaviors might affect your adjustment to retirement.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:We don't want you to spend a whole lot of time on this.
Speaker A:We want you to complete the sentence quickly.
Speaker A:That's in here.
Speaker A:That's in this Personal insight about change.
Speaker A:And if you can't get to the show notes, I'm going to walk through what these questions are and you can jot them down and just hit pause back and forth.
Speaker A:Or if you're driving and you're listening to this, just come back to this and get access to this.
Speaker A:But complete the sentence quickly.
Speaker A:One thing that I've done when I've been listening to podcasts and they do exercises like this is that I'll have like a recording or something.
Speaker A:So if I'm driving then I'll hit my, my little device that is a voice recognition device and I'll say remind me of this so that I can, you know, have my answers listed somewhere so I can go back to these exercises later basis.
Speaker A:But my point is complete the sentences quickly fill in the blanks with the first word or words that come to mind.
Speaker A:Do not spend a lot of time on this.
Speaker A:This is supposed to be something that you just think about off the top of your head.
Speaker A:You're responsible.
Speaker A:Your responses will help you prepare for the thinking and personalization information presented in the next section that I'm going to go over with you.
Speaker A:So here's the question questions I should say again, this is personal insights about change.
Speaker A:In the past, change has been stressful to me.
Speaker A:When a change that is very difficult for me to accept.
Speaker A:When was one experience or event that changed my life was when one change that I resisted at first but later accepted was what I most look forward to about retirement is my top concern about retirement is and finally, what I think will be the most difficult adjustment in retirement is okay, that's it.
Speaker A:That's your exercise for this week.
Speaker A:Next week I'm going to talk about the three Rs of a successful transition.
Speaker A:The keys to taking control of your life.
Speaker A:We hope that you're enjoying this series.
Speaker A:I'm going to work through this whole workbook with you like I mentioned across the course of the next few weeks.
Speaker A:And if you have any questions or would like any other topics featured on the podcast, please let me know.
Speaker A:Thank you everyone and we look forward to you tuning back in.
Speaker B:Thanks for listening to Money Roots.
Speaker B:Until next time, keep your finances grounded and your future growing.
