My Next Phase - New Member Tips

The My Next Phase Newsletter - Volume 1

The Second Most Important Aspect of Retirement Planning is Money. Contrary to popular belief, a solid financial plan is not a solid retirement plan.

Several months into a comfortably funded retirement, more and more people are finding something missing. Something big.

Turns out, that big missing thing is different for different people. For some, it's significant social time. For others, it's a sense of purpose or direction. The real issue is personal fulfillment. It has little to do with the size of your nest egg. But it has everything to do with your individual personality.

The Retirement Transition Can Be Disorienting

A recent Wall Street Journal article notes that, "For all its allure, for all the time that people spend planning and daydreaming about it, the actual act of retirement can turn out to be a wrenching experience." The Wall Street Journal's study of dozens of first-year retirees showed that, "while some people clearly enjoyed leaving work behind, many were disoriented." This illustrates the fact that retirement is a complex transition, requiring one to closely examine their individual personality traits, wants and aspirations.

Each of us has a different set of needs and passions. Why is it that people rush into retirement without fully calculating the impact of what may well be the most important transition of their life? Without really examining their past and their dreams for clues about their best future path? Without taking their own basic personality traits and spiritual goals into consideration?

PHASE FACTS

• A 65 year old man can expect to live 17 more years.

• A 65 year old woman can expect to live 20 more years.

• The fastest growing age group in America is 85-94.

How will you spend your time in the next phase of your life?

INTRODUCING MY NEXT PHASE - THE BOOK

The Personality-Based Guide to Your Best Retirement, from the founders of My Next Phase. Available at bookstores nationwide, traditional and online.

Click Here to learn more and purchase

The harsh truth is, people who face their retirement with a vague expectation to play more golf and watch more TV, generally end up depressed. And they tend to have shorter lives.

In fact, insurance company research shows that business people who retire to a life of leisure shorten their post retirement life expectancy, on average, by eight years.

As we see it, it boils down to this: Your financial retirement plan should support your personal retirement plan, making your new life both possible and meaningful.

Planning Builds Fulfillment

Planning matters, period. Those who plan effectively (both personally and financially) report feeling confident, fulfilled and balanced. Those with money, but no plan for their retirement lifestyle, find that retirement is simply not as enjoyable as they expected. The best way to transition to a life full of meaning is to plan for it.

The first step in planning a successful retirement transition is fully understanding your personality - including strengths, weaknesses, passions and needs. (We'll explore the practical side of the personality/planning relationship in future newsletters.)

It's never to early to start. In a piece entitled Managing Oneself, famed author Peter Drucker notes, "There is one prerequisite to managing the second half of your life: You must begin doing so long before you enter it."

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