Stories of Struggles and Successes

Anne Moran

Stories of Struggles and Successes

Retirement class

I taught a course on retirement planning from the non-financial perspective with a friend at the Fairfax county adult education program (ACE). My friend, Deirdre, was the impetus for this course, because she started what she called a “Retirement Decision Group “ with me and a few friends. For over three years before retiring, we met for lunch to discuss our plans, hopes and fears about retirement. I hope to teach the course again once schools and other activities reopen.

Many of us who lived through the pandemic know what it is like to live at home, isolated from “the office,” and may feel they do not need any preparation for retirement. But retirement is a whole different country from the world of work, and it is important to plan ahead.

I offer visitors to my website a sample of three of the exercises we did in our course, and the first three pages of our Retirement Decision Group “Convener’s Guide,” for those who might consider forming their own Retirement Decision Group.

SAMPLE RETIREMENT READINESS EXERCISES

EXERCISE #1: OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME!

List everything that excites you about retirement.
List everything that frightens you about retirement.

NOTE: Do not attempt to censor your reactions. List everything that occurs to you, no matter how trivial it may seem.

EXERCISE #2: WHAT’S WORK GOT TO DO WITH IT?

List all the benefits work provides for you, not including salary. NOTE: many of these benefits may be intangibles, e.g., social interaction, status, structure, etc.
How would you propose to replace/substitute each item on your list in retirement? Pay particular attention to the intangible benefits.

EXERCISE #3: WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MYSELF?

List retirement activities that:

Are already on your retirement wish list:
Will keep me physically and mentally fit:
Will enhance me spiritually or give me a sense of purpose:
Will provide social contact:
Will provide structure:
You enjoy doing now:
You enjoyed doing in the past but put aside:
You considered doing when younger but never followed through:

Anne Moran