by Joe Hearn | Jan 1, 2015 | Lifestyle Design
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” ~Annie Dillard
How was your 2014? If you’re like most, there was some good and some bad; some things fondly remembered and some best forgotten. Whatever kind of year you had, there is always something exciting about the possibility and promise of January 1st.
As I’ve written before, each year I spend a few days reflecting on the previous 12 months and planning for the coming year. Going through this exercise helps me to reflect on past successes, fix problems, set priorities and generally be more intentional during the year ahead. I usually use a simple, three step process: 1) Do a quick annual review (i.e. what went well and what didn’t go well), 2) Set specific goals, 3) Outline strategy and tactics.
The last few months of 2014 were so busy for me that I find myself working through this process today as my family and I relax around the house. I’m assuming some of you might be in the same boat, so I thought I’d post several links to past articles at Intentional Retirement that you might find helpful as you think about and plan for 2015. Thanks for following along and stay tuned for some fun new things at the site in the year ahead.
From the Archives:
by Joe Hearn | Dec 10, 2014 | Lifestyle Design, Retirement
Note: It’s launch day for The Ideal Retirement Design Guide! Only 250 are available in this initial run, so check it out in the Store if you’re interested or want more information.
Last month R.A. Montgomery died. You might remember him better as one of the creators of the hugely popular Choose Your Own Adventure children’s book series. For those not familiar with the series, you don’t read the books straight through. Instead, you read the first scene or episode and at the end of that episode you are presented with a choice. Depending on which choice you make, you turn ahead to a particular page where you discover the consequences of your choice, learn how the story progresses as a result and are then presented with another choice. This continues, giving each book multiple potential story lines and often 10-20 potential endings.
I think part of the reason that the books have sold more than 250 million copies is due to the fact that a) we like adventure and excitement, and b) we like to have some control in choosing our own destiny. Both of those tend to be true regardless of age. They are true when we’re 7 and they usually still hold true when we’re 70.
Imagine your retirement as a real-life Choose Your Own Adventure series. You will be bombarded with decisions—both leading up to and during retirement—that will determine your course. Some of those decisions will pertain to things like finances, but retirement is more than just a math problem. Often your decisions will deal with things like health, relationships, leisure, family, pursuits and where you decide to live. Those choices (along with your finances) will directly impact how happy and fulfilled you are during that phase of life.
To make the best decisions for you that will result in your ideal retirement, it’s probably a good idea to not just flip a coin every time you need to choose between A and B. It’s better to have a good understanding of yourself and what you want your life to look like. In other words, it’s good to have a plan. If you want some help with that, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I launched a new guide today called The Ideal Retirement Design Guide. You can read more about it here or check it out in our Store over here. There’s never any pressure to buy anything here at Intentional Retirement, but if you think it will be helpful to you it’s available.
Thanks for following along. Touch base if I can ever help.
Joe
Photo by Mike Baird. Used under Creative Commons License.
by Joe Hearn | Dec 4, 2014 | Lifestyle Design, Retirement
As promised, I wanted to give you more details about the upcoming availability of The Ideal Retirement Design Guide. I created the guide because after 20 years of researching, writing about and helping people plan for retirement, I kept seeing a recurring problem. What was the problem?
The problem?
Most people don’t have a plan for retirement. They don’t know what they want to do, how much it will cost or whether or not they are on track to save enough to pay for it. Not surprisingly, that creates a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty. And rightly so. If you are among the 88% of people who don’t have a written plan, your retirement will probably fall far short of what it could be.
The solution?
How do you solve that problem? You need a plan, of course, but retirement has a lot of moving parts and it gets complicated quickly. I tried to simplify the process by listing out each major area that you need to cover and then creating a module for each that discusses the issues involved and gives you worksheets, checklists and strategies to help you plan. The Ideal Retirement Design Guide is a 12 module, comprehensive program that will help you create a detailed plan for the retirement you’ve always dreamed about by focusing on one key area each week for 12 weeks.
What is included?
The guide has 12 modules that each cover a key area of your retirement. The first module is a 72-page lifestyle design guide that will help you think through and define the Who, What, Where, When and Why of your ideal retirement. The remaining modules cover areas like calculating how much you’ll need, creating a sustainable withdrawal strategy, maximizing Social Security benefits, long-term care, health care, estate planning, minimizing taxes and much more. To help you learn from real world examples, there are also 6 Q&A Case Studies with current retirees. In addition to all that there are 4 hours of audio interviews (and corresponding transcripts) with experts in areas like income planning, estate planning, long-term care, health care and retiree taxes. Finally, there will be several bonus resources like a free eBook that I wrote especially for the guide called 50 Essentials for Retirement Success.
When will it be ready?
The current plan is to make it live in our store at 8 a.m. Central time on Wednesday, December 10.
What will it cost?
If you hired someone to do this planning for you, it would cost thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, that’s probably why many of you don’t already have a plan. I wanted the price to be accessible to most people, but I spent so much time, effort and expense creating it that I can’t afford to give it away either. I settled on one simple price of $159, shipping included. If you buy more than one (Christmas is right around the corner) the price drops to $139 each. That’s less than what it would cost to spend an hour with any one of the experts interviewed (not to mention everything else that comes with the kit) and it’s a small price to pay to get your retirement plans on track. Having said all that, don’t feel any pressure to buy it. Most of what I write at Intentional Retirement is free and available to all. Yes, I have to cover the expenses of the site, so I also offer a few useful products designed to help you solve some of the most challenging problems you’ll face in retirement, but please don’t buy them unless a) you can afford it and b) you think it will be helpful for your situation.
Why order now?
A few reasons. First, I wasn’t sure what the demand would be, so I only created 250 of the kits. When they’re gone, the store page will stop taking orders. This isn’t a trick to create scarcity. The kits are expensive to produce and I wanted to make sure there was demand before ramping up production. I have no idea if they will sell fast or not, but there are a few thousand people on the waiting list, so if you want one I’d encourage you to order sooner rather than later.
Second, once the initial run sells out, the kit will be unavailable for a period of time while we process orders and interview customers to see what they liked and what we could improve. When I make it available again, I expect to raise the price. So order now if you want the lower price and if you want to put “Plan for retirement” on your New Year’s Resolution list.
Third, it’s Christmas! Give yourself or someone you care about the gift of an awesome retirement. Sure, they might get you an ugly sweater or 5 piece wrench set, but you can give them (or yourself) the confidence and peace of mind that comes with having a great plan for what should be one of the most rewarding periods of life. And remember, I’ll knock $20 off per kit if you order multiple copies.
One quick disclaimer: We’ll make every effort to get it to you before Christmas, but we’re a small operation and UPS and the Postal Service are shipping a few billion other packages this time of year, so don’t cross me off your Christmas Card list if unavoidable delays keep it from arriving by the 25th. Just in case, I’m having my designer create a gift card that you will be able to print from the site. The card will explain what the guide is and why you’re an awesome person for buying it for the people on your gift list. That way, if your order doesn’t arrive before you leave for Christmas at grandma’s house, you can print out the gift card to show the recipient what you got them and let them know that it will arrive shortly.
How can I order?
As I mentioned earlier, it will be available next Wednesday at 8 am Central. Just go to our Store page, click on The Ideal Retirement Design Guide product page and then click “Buy Now” to order. For your ordering peace of mind, our store is administered by 1ShoppingCart, one of the biggest names in ecommerce. When you click on the “Buy Now” button, you’ll be redirected to a secure product page where you can complete your order.
That’s all for now. Thanks for following along. We’ve got new readers/subscribers this week from quite a few different states, but also from as far away as Japan, so hello (or Kon’nichiwa as the case may be) to those of you who are new around here. Touch base if you have any questions or if there’s ever anything I can do for you.
Joe
Photo by Nick Kelly
by Joe Hearn | Nov 26, 2014 | Lifestyle Design, Retirement
Hi everyone. I just wanted to give you a quick update on The Ideal Retirement Design Guide. It’s taken me longer than expected to get it ready, but it’s almost here. The good news is that the extra time paid off in a pretty amazing resource that is comprehensive and easy to use. It will walk you step-by-step through the process of designing the retirement you’ve always dreamed about.
I’ll give more details next week (including when it will launch, what it will cost, what is included and how it can help), but for now I just wanted to give you a quick heads up that it will soon be available, just in case you’re looking for a good Christmas or New Year’s Resolution gift for yourself.
For now, I wish you all a restful and Happy Thanksgiving (for my non-U.S. readers, tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the States, when we reflect on what we’re thankful for and eat too much turkey). Enjoy the holiday and thank-you for following along here at Intentional Retirement.
Joe
by Joe Hearn | Nov 14, 2014 | Retirement
I’ve had Walden on my reading list for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t get around to reading it until earlier this year. I was struck by how closely several of Thoreau’s key philosophies paralleled with those of us here at Intentional Retirement. Below are 7 ideas from Walden that are worth considering, pondering and maybe even incorporating into your life and retirement.
From Walden: “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die discover that I had not lived.”
Application: We all need to live deliberately (i.e. intentionally). Pretty much everything I write points back to this concept in one way or another, but if you want some ideas on how to apply this, check out A Brief Guide to Retirement Bliss.
From Walden: Thoreau questioned the wisdom of spending “the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it.”
Application: Right on Henry. In other words, don’t save the best for last. Retirement should not be a timeline where youth is 0-20, working years equal 20-65 and retirement is 65 plus. Instead it should be a pie chart divided between time you control and time you don’t. Retirement is using whatever time you control now (whether that’s 10%, 50% or 90%) to live the life that you want to live. For more on this check out The problem with delayed gratification and How to retire today.
From Walden: “So thoroughly and sincerely are we compelled to live, reverencing our life, and denying the possibility of change. This is the only way, we say; but there are as many ways as there can be drawn radii from one centre.”
Application: You don’t need to live your life either a) the way you’re living it now, or b) the way you think others are expecting you to. It’s your life and like Thoreau said, your options are pretty much unlimited when it comes to how you can live it. Decide what’s important to you and then start taking those plans very seriously. For help on this read 15 Practical ways to live a purposeful life and 10 Questions that will help you decide what to do during retirement.
From Walden: “I also have in my mind that seemingly wealthy, but most terribly impoverished class of all, who have accumulated dross, but know not how to use it, or get rid of it, and thus have forged their own golden or silver fetters.”
Application: Don’t be cash rich and lifestyle poor. Your money exists so you can fund the experiences and things you really want out of life. If you have A without B, you’re doing it wrong.
From Walden: “In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we live simply and wisely…It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do.”
Application: Don’t focus too much on work. One of the top five regrets of the dying is “I wish I had worked less.” Work is important, but keep it in perspective. To help with that you can read (and watch) One year to live.
From Walden: “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at.”
Application: Unless you want and can afford both, seriously consider focusing on experiences over assets. Regardless of which you choose, however, when you find out what’s important to you, don’t hesitate to invest extravagantly in those things.
From Walden: “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.”
Application: If you’re going to have a meaningful retirement, you need to embrace the idea that your goal is not to have busy days or full days, but days spent on things that bring meaning, fulfillment, purpose, fun and happiness. For help in this read How to cure the busy virus or Maximizing retirement: Maintenance vs. Milestones.
Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!
Joe
Page 29 of 65
«<...28293031...>» 