Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”  This couldn’t be truer when it comes to your retirement planning.   

I use the Eisenhower Matrix in my professional life to help bucketize the many different tasks that I have on my plate.  Historically, the main problem I’ve faced with this matrix is that procrastination lies deceptively between the line of “urgent” and “not urgent”.  Sometimes it is very hard to move a task from the Schedule Block to the Do Block, regardless of how important it is. 

Figure 1: Eisenhower Matrix 

When discipline and rigor are missing, it becomes very difficult to act.  Retirement planning is a perfect example of this.  As Axiom 1 proves, it’s far too easy to push off the concerns of tomorrow until the dawn of another day.  Given enough time, that dawn seems to finally and quite suddenly come to pass, and all too often, when that happens, there might not be enough time left to act.

Why Pre-Retirement Needs a Vision  

I believe the reason retirement never moves from the Schedule Block to the Do Block is because only a few of us take time to seriously consider that chapter of our life.  Let’s face it – it’s hard to have visions of sipping drinks with tiny umbrellas on a pristine beach, with nary a spreadsheet in sight, when we’re in the throes of real life, juggling swimming practices and grocery shopping while also repairing flat tires and dodging deadlines.  

Retirement represents a line in the sand, a separation between the person we worked so hard to become in one life and the person we’ll end up becoming in the next.   Consider how many of us consume business books about becoming a better executive, leader, communicator, or technical expert.  Individually, we’ve spent hundreds of hours making the current version of ourselves better.

How many of those skills are transferable to a life on a beach?   

Surprisingly few.  Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it’s hard for many of us to move retirement planning from a future worry to a current consideration.  If you don’t have a vision of what you want your next life to be, it’s hard to think beyond the idyllic stereotypes and travel posters of a life that’s foreign to all but the select few of us.   

Before we retire, we must spend some cycles thinking abut that future self.  What does that picture look like to you?

Creating a Vision for YOUR Retirement 

Prior to retirement, you will have built a life with meaning and purpose.  After retirement, you may find that meaning and purpose become elusive.  There’s a TED Talk by Dr. Riley Moynes titled The 4 phases of retirement which I highly recommend for anyone with five years on either side of retirement. 

I haven’t retired (yet) but from what I understand listening to those which have, finding purpose is key for many people.  My father-in-law might be a little different than most, he seemed to glide right into retirement and never exited the vacation year (the first year after retirement).  He’s happy to mow the lawn, watch TV, and eat hamburgers while epitomizing the notion that every rule has an exception. 

Since I am 10-15 years out from retirement, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what I’ve going to do when my life changes; however, I’ve become aware that this is something that Jennifer and I will need to consider as that point in time becomes clearer. 

Retirement doesn’t signal the end of purpose; it’s a chance to redefine it. It could be about nurturing your relationships, contributing to your community, or pursuing creative endeavors.

What are you naturally good at? What activities energize you and bring you joy? This could be a starting point for finding purposeful engagement in retirement.

Reflect on what matters to you. Would you like to mentor young people, volunteer for an environmental cause, or simply spend quality time with your family? Each action can contribute to a greater purpose.

Our Vision

During retirement, Jennifer and I want to travel, spend time with each other and our family, enjoy hobbies, and serve others.  This is our vision.  Each one of those areas have goals associated with it. 

For example, we love cruising and traveling across Europe.  We also love seeing the United States and taking road tips.  We’ve specifically planned to finance different types of trips each year during the go-go and slow-go years of retirement. 

We love to spend time together.  I personally enjoy cooking with Jennifer, dancing together, and attending music festivals.  We’re close to getting the last child off the payroll, so we’re starting to consider what we’ll do with all the free time not spent at swim practice. 

We want to travel to where our kids live, spending time with them, and enjoying their young families.

Of course, there’s our hobbies.  I’ve spent my entire adult life so close to my profession that this blog is literally the first thing I’ve attempted.  I’m excited to explore the possibilities ahead of me.  Of course, Jennifer is good at everything she touches and has more hobbies than I have words in this article.

From the time when Jennifer and I were first married, we’ve wanted to serve mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  This has been a foundational goal for us from the very beginning, one we’ve purposely saved for.  We’ve decided to be able to fund up to four years living away from home and serving others.  It’s still too early to understand the execution but we know there is a lot that needs to be planned.  We also intend for our service to extend beyond those few purposeful years.  I look forward to understanding how we can help serve our community.