Building wealth is never about retirement.
Definitions and details may differ from person to person, but the ultimate goal remains the same. For some, it is having the confidence to leave a good paying career and depend on your own savings to maintain your lifestyle. For others, it may be to walk away from a steady salary to start your own business based on a life-long passion.
When a client comes into our office to talk about "retirement", they expect the conversation to focus on money and how to pay for their retirement years. And, while that is part of the conversation, it is not the most important part. It is really about creating financial freedom.
The math is the easy part, money in minus money out. The harder part has very little to do with how you will spend your money, and more to do with how you will spend your time.
The conversations we treasure the most with our client families are when we get to ask the question "How would you describe your perfect Tuesday?" and then sit back and watch as they allow their mind to imagine a future filled with possibilities. Discover new hobbies. Reconnect with old friends. Explore new places. Go for morning walks. Learn how to dance. Take a cooking class. Volunteer at the local community center. Read that book that has been on your shelf for a year.
The most rewarding part of the work that we do for the families we serve has nothing do with markets or mutual funds. It is about people and the lives they love. It is connecting people and building community. Over the years, we continue to be humbled and grateful to have built a community of friends who have become clients and clients who have also become friends.
Yes, wealth is a key component to a successful retirement. But wealth is more than just money. It is spending time with the people you love, doing the things you love. It's replacing the "have to" with the "get to" in your life.
The most successful transitions from "have to" to "get to" that we have seen working with families over the last 25 years is not checking off a bucket list trip. It is spending each day with intention and with purpose. It is the connections and the causes that energize you. It is finding what nourishes your soul, and doing more of it. It is getting involved in the community and feeling valued for your contributions. It is spending time with family on a regular basis, not just an occasional holiday. It is experiencing new places with friends, whether that is a new coffee shop on a Saturday morning, or enjoying the music of a local artist under the soft lighting of a century old rubber tree.
Most careers last over four decades. The question you should ask is not "Can I retire?", it is "What would I choose to do with an extra 2,000 hours of time each year if I were free to choose?"
Financial freedom is having the resources and the confidence to do
➜ what you want
➜ when you want
➜ with whom you want
To retire means to move away from something. Freedom is having the choice to move toward something more meaningful to you.