Retirement reinvent yourself

 I have been retired since 2014, I actually quit work and went back from 2006 until 2014, which took me on an interesting journey. For many people, retirement is the end of their working life. My wife retired and did not go back or miss work. My mother-in-law retired from one job and started a different career which she worked in very successfully until she was in her 80’s. In reality, retirement is or can be a time to reinvent yourself and do what you’ve always wanted to do.

But changing a career or chasing a dream is not for the faint-hearted nor is it for those who do not have savings or a pension. One of the mistakes you can make before retiring is using up all your savings or your emergency fund in a spending spree. I know some people who wanted to live the dream of being a gypsy, so they sold their house bought a Motorhome and travelled until their savings ran out. They now live in a trailer park in their motor home, living on the government pensions. But I also know another couple who rented a motorhome and followed their dream of travelling for about six months and returned home with their savings in tacked and a house to live in. The one thing people who are about to retire need is a good financial safety net that will provide for their livelihood during retirement, so withdrawing early to spend on something that’s not necessary may end up costing you down the line.

When I first retired, my Financial Advisor and I were at odds, she said that as a person nears retirement, they can’t afford to make investments that could jeopardize what will provide your main source of income during retirement. She thought I should ditch my risky investments and buy more conservative investments similar to what my wife held in her portfolio. It took about 12 years for me to agree and that was because my risky investments lost big time in mid-2000 but regained what they lost by 2016 so I changed at that point. I was lucky I had the time for my portfolio to recover, some don’t have that luxury. So if you have an advisor, listen to them and you may not have as many sleepless nights as I did during that time.