I chose this book, which is a guide to successful retirement because the emphasis is on the new lifestyle one needs to prepare for once you near that time of your life when you no longer have a commitment to work or have the salary that pays for your lifestyle.
Harry Austin, author of Retirement, says it all at the bottom of the book’s cover. This is your window to Working, Retiring, Reinventing and most importantly Thriving. Most books on retirement concentrate on how to save enough money for your retirement. This book is different in that it is aimed at developing a mind-set before retirement, so you are prepared for a new lifestyle.
We never know what challenges may be thrown at us as we reach middle age. For some their health will prevent them from working full time. For others, their employment opportunities may change and in fact may disappear so they will need to retrain for a new profession. For this reason, developing a plan for your retirement is better embarked upon earlier rather than later.
After you have read this book, I believe you will have more insights of how you can prepare for retirement. There is no right or wrong answer to the question of what the best type of retirement is for you. For some they want to continue working part-time or supervising from a distance the business they have developed and provides them with income. For others, their lifetime dream is to travel extensively. However, these plans can fail because of poor health or lack of funds to support that lifestyle.
The important thing is to have a plan. This plan needs to be flexible so that when obstacles to your plan occur, you can regroup and move in another direction. You need to know how you can fulfil your latter years. With life expectancy increasing many people will be retired for as long as they have worked. Just as in your working life there is likely to be stages in your retirement. This may involve moving from less strenuous activities to gentler ones. It will likely be that as you get older, you will require fewer financial resources. However, if your last phase of retirement is in a nursing home, your financial needs may increase considerably. Make sure you understand what financial resources the government is likely to provide and what additional resources may be required.
One thing the book did not discuss and which I think is very important is that time when your lifetime partner dies. So it may be that you need an additional plan to cover how you will manage when your soulmate is lost.
Whether you are in the early stages of retirement or want insights into how you can prepare for retirement, I would recommend this book.
Glenis Phillips SF FIN – Good Financial Reads
Disclaimer: Financial Mappers does not have an Australian Services License, does not offer financial planning advice, and does not recommend financial products.
