Lights, Camera, Action! It's Time to Produce Your Retirement Financial Movie

Most people don't wake up one morning, stretch, yawn, and announce, "Today seems like a good day to retire." Well...some do, but that's usually followed by, "Now what?"

For most of us, retirement planning begins about 10 years before we leave the workforce. That's when the reality starts to sink in. The finish line is finally visible.

That was certainly true for me.

About 10 to 12 years before I retired, I realized retirement wasn't some distant event that happened to other people. It was coming for me. Fortunately, I had time to prepare. I wish I had started earlier, but those final working years allowed me to increase our savings, make better investment decisions, and take full advantage of my workplace pension. When retirement finally arrived, money wasn't something that kept me awake at night.

Not everyone is that fortunate.

Some people begin planning in their forties or even earlier. Others wake up one morning, look in the mirror, notice a few extra grey hairs and suddenly declare, "Oh my goodness...I'm 65. Maybe I should think about retirement."

That's a little like showing up on opening night of a movie without having written the script.

The numbers surrounding retirement can sound intimidating. Headlines regularly tell us that many people have saved far less than they need, while others worry they may outlive their savings. Reading those stories can make retirement sound more like a disaster movie than a feel-good adventure.

Fortunately, every good movie begins with a plan.

Think of your net worth statement as a photograph. It captures one moment in time. It tells you where you are today.

A retirement plan, however, is a movie.

It follows your income, expenses, investments, pensions, taxes and savings over the years ahead. It lets you watch your future unfold before you actually live it.

Even better, every year you become the director. You can rewrite scenes, replace expensive plot twists, edit unnecessary spending, and even change the ending if life throws in an unexpected surprise.

Maybe you decide to travel less and stay closer to home. Perhaps you downsize to free up cash. Some people choose to work part-time for a few extra years. Others discover they can retire earlier than they imagined because they've planned carefully.

That's the beauty of a retirement movie. You're not stuck with the first draft.

Of course, even the best financial plan won't eliminate every worry. Retirement is one of life's biggest transitions. Some uncertainty is perfectly normal.

Planning doesn't remove every anxious moment, but it gives you confidence that you've thought things through. Instead of wondering what might happen, you've already explored many of the possibilities.

There's another important lesson.

Money provides the foundation for retirement, but it doesn't create the whole story.

You can have a healthy bank account and still struggle if you haven't planned for your emotional health, your physical health, your relationships, or how you'll spend your days.

Those chapters deserve just as much attention as your investments.

After all, no one leaves the movie theatre talking about the budget. They remember the story.

So, as you prepare for retirement, make sure you're writing a story worth watching.

Question: If your retirement were a movie premiering five years from now, would today's financial decisions make it a comedy, an adventure, a romance...or an action film with way too many unexpected explosions?

The next part of the story is even more important than your finances. I will talk about emotional and physical health. Stay tuned for reel two.