Retirement: what now?

Having grown up with two parents who loved hiking throughout the U.S. National Parks, I learned the terms “False Summit” and “False Peak” at an early age. For those fortunate enough to have never experienced one when hiking, a false summit or peak is a point on the trail that appears to be the mountain’s summit. Upon reaching this point, however, you realize you still have more to climb before the actual summit.
 
As I reflect on those hikes, I appreciate what false summits taught me. Throughout our lives, we are constantly climbing and encountering “false summits.” When we began kindergarten, our focus was on advancing to first grade. Once we finished first grade, we moved on to second grade, and this trend continued until we finally graduated from high school. False summits. Similarly, we encounter another false summit when we finally graduate from college. Many of the false peaks we face are seemingly leading us towards the final summit as we begin our careers and make our trek toward the holy grail called retirement. But is it possible that retirement is in fact another false summit?
 
Retirement used to be reasonably predictable. Upon reaching 65, you would stop working and begin collecting your social security and pension checks while hopefully living for another 15-20 years. The concept of retirement, however, has radically changed in the last couple of decades. For many people, retirement today means something entirely different than it did for their parents or grandparents, and it should. Retirement isn’t a one-day event or an end goal. It’s a steppingstone. Retirement shouldn’t be viewed as an end goal or summit. Instead, it’s an opportunity to ask ourselves, “what now” or “what comes next?” When we ask ourselves these questions, we begin to view retirement in a completely different way.
 
Often, retirement has been a day circled on our calendars since we began our careers or latest job, but as the day draws closer, the questions seem to get bigger. You begin to ask yourself, “What am I going to do all day?” and “How do I take money out of my accounts?” At Paradigm, it is our job and privilege to help you answer the tough questions from day one in your first job until you reach the steppingstone of retirement.
 
As your advisors, we make it our responsibility to ask difficult questions that will make you stop and think. Together, we create a customized financial model that we will review every year, before and after retirement. Our goal is simple; to create your wealth, make work optional, and focus on helping you define what comes at the end of a successful career. So, whether retirement is a couple of weeks or decades away, let’s find your answer to “what now?” together.