Quick, when was the last time you thought about your retirement? If you’re under 50, you probably gave it just a passing thought. If you’re under 30, maybe not even. For many of us, retirement is just too far off to give it much thought. How can we think of something decades from now when we don’t even know what we want to do next weekend?
And if I ask you what will your life be like during retirement, I’m quite sure you’ll fumble with your answer. Frankly, I haven’t fully defined what retirement will look like for myself. But I do have some good idea what my last chapter should be like.
And so, you don’t think about it so much. Why worry about tomorrow? Today has enough trouble of its own. You tell yourself that you’ll get by, you’ll do okay. Worst case scenario, your kids are there to help you out.
The Number
The other thing that stops us from thinking a lot of retirement is “the number.” If you’ve been asked before to calculate your ideal retirement fund, whether from a book, a seminar, or this magazine, you would have realized – no, you would have been shocked – to see “the number” confronting you face-to-face.
If you’re earning a decent income, your ideal retirement fund would probably amount in the tens of millions of pesos a few decades from now. It’s certainly a number you will have a hard time wrapping your head around. And when you’re told that you achieve “the number” if you invest so-and-so amount every month at so-and-so rate of return, the shock probably wouldn’t have worn off. And so, you bury your head under the sand and decide to dream about your next weekend getaway.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Getting Real
If you want to get real about retirement, it’s important you define clearly what it means to you. The assumptions used for standard retirement calculators are not realistic. You need to change those assumptions that reflect what you really want.
Now, if what you really want during retirement is a life of leisure, or even luxury, then you better invest aggressively for it.
But you have to ask yourself if this is really how you want to spend the last chapter of your life – playing golf, traveling the world, driving sports cars, collecting expensive art.
You see, happiness studies have shown that there are three things that will bring us happiness: a life of pleasure, a life of flow, and a life of meaning, in increasing measure.
Pleasure makes us a happy, at least for a while. But if your life, especially your last chapter, is defined by consumerism and materialism, it’s kind of sad, isn’t it? I have nothing against the good life, especially if it’s largely based on family experiences rather than the accumulation of stuff. But life couldn’t be all about having a good life, right?
Flow makes us happier, especially at work. Flow is the state we are in when we are so engrossed and engaged in what we are doing that time sort of stops and we shut off everything. Doing what you love as a business, career, or even hobby, brings a lot of happiness. However, as much as a fulfilling career is a noble goal to aim for, it also couldn’t be what life is all about too. How many successful entrepreneurs, artists, and athletes attempt to make a comeback or try to fill a void after they retire? There has got to be something more to life than a successful career.
The thing that will matter most and will bring the most happiness is meaning, significance, purpose. And that can only be achieved by serving something or someone higher than yourself. People who have retired who then put up foundations, volunteer for important causes, or give of themselves are the most fulfilled.
A life of giving – of our money, time, expertise – to serve a higher cause, this is what has been proven by faith and science to offer the most happiness. And if you redefine your years of retirement in this way, you will realize you probably don’t need to achieve “the number” to have a fulfilling retirement.
I’m not saying you should ditch your dream of traveling the world or kicking back at your own beachfront property. But if what will ultimately give you fulfilment and happiness is not really pleasure or even flow but meaning, then doing things that give you a sense of purpose should change what you think about how much you need to have by the time you retire.
After all, volunteering, helping, teaching, serving, ministering, etc. don’t cost much, if we’re talking about time and expertise. This kind of life can also mean downsizing, simplifying, and minimizing. So maybe you don’t really need 80% or 100% of your current income if you cut down on your expenses by 40% or more (by then, your mortgage has been paid off or you decide to move to a smaller and cheaper rental, your children are financially independent, your household overhead expenses are significantly cut, etc.).
Then you can use new assumptions and recalculate your retirement number based on your values and your dreams, not on what your financial advisor, personal finance author, or even this magazine tells you. And I am sure your response won’t be shock or denial. And it won’t be just relief or even peace of mind at a more achievable number, but a newfound determination to work for something that makes sense and that will bring meaning to your life.
Photo by Marc A. Sporys on Unsplash
