Are you really ready to retire?

Retirement is so much more than how much money you have, how much you want to spend or how long you plan to live (still no exact science to predict that last one). While I am not going to argue that money plays an important role in what your retirement may look like, I will argue that it should not be what defines it.

You’ve worked your entire life to get to this point, you’ve put in the long hours, the sleepless nights. You raised a family, moved, changed jobs, moved again, sent kids off to college, watched your kids get married and start their own families. Now it’s time to be a little selfish, to think about you and your spouse, to think about all the things you have bumped out of the would love to do list.

Too often, pre-retirees singularly focus on the big day, and overlook what they are going to do post retirement. Chances are good that your retirement is going to last a long time, so take the time now to think about what retirement means to you. Delve deeper, and put the same level of energy into the retirement experience as you have with the retirement financial balance.

While this may sound well intentioned, it can be difficult to envision without specific examples. Retirement is and should be unique and special for every individual. As a starting point, I strongly encourage you to tuneout distractions and spend real time thinking about these examples. You would be amazed at the amount of untapped creativity, passion and excitement that can be drawn upon with a little me time.

Think deeper. Consider social interaction and legacy planning.

Although social interaction is incredibly broad and covers a wide-range of areas, the common thread running through these examples is quality. There is actual science behind the fact that engaging quality social interaction keeps minds and bodies young. This is often why many residents of active retirement communities thrive and live well into their ‘90s.

To successfully make the transition to retirement, anticipate how you are going to fully engage in quality social interaction, who it’s going to be with, when and where it’s going to happen.

• Maybe it’s a part-time consulting role (because you were one of the fortunate few that had the opportunity to do what you LOVED during your working career).

• Maybe it’s volunteering your time at your favorite charity, the one you always had money to donate to, but no time to contribute.

• Maybe it’s simply re-connecting with a group of friends who have drifted apart.

• Maybe it’s what you really wanted to do professionally, but never did because you knew it wouldn’t pay the bills. Or your responsibilities compounded so quickly that it was too late to Pete Hoover