How to Eat an Elephant: Achieving Financial Success One Bite at a Time

Chapter 8

Retirement and Estate Planning

Don't simply retire from something; have something to retire to.

—Harry Emerson Fosdick

WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT retirement, they think about the end of something. The dictionary defines it as “the removal or withdrawal from service.” When I work with clients to prepare their financial plans, retirement is always one of the biggest areas that people want to get greater insight into and information on. Many of them look at retirement as the end of something, and I encourage them to start looking at it as the start of what they want to do!

Over the years I've seen many people retire from work, and they tend to fall into one of three categories:

• Some retire and end up going back to work, sometimes as a consultant or an employee working for someone else, or maybe they even start their own company, but in essence they continue to work.
• Some know exactly what they want to do with their retirement. They have passions and activities and things to keep them busy. These things tend to fill up their time. They say to me, “I'm busier now than I've ever been. How did I ever find the time to work?”
• Some retire and, in essence, find a hammock or a couch, and watch TV. They don't really do a whole lot. They tend to suffer from declining health and pass away earlier than if they had some passion, interest, or hobby to keep them occupied.

Often, in preparing a retirement plan, the hardest question to answer is not, “Do I have enough money?” but, “What ...