Looking Ahead To Retirement? Simple Steps To A Happier Tomorrow

Retirement. The word alone bring up a slew of often contradictory emotions from excitement to trepidation. And for good reason: it’s a major transition with so many moving parts, including lifestyle changes and even challenges to our identity. Fortunately, it’s truly never too late to take charge of your future and write the next chapter on your terms. Here, experts share study-proven strategies that will help you prepare for and secure a happier, more successful retirement.

Picture your future self

The top predictor of a successful retirement is how much time you spend thinking about the lifestyle you want, reveals retirement expert Fritz Gilbert, author of ​​Keys to a Successful Retirement: Staying Happy, Active and Productive in Your Retired Years and founder of the popular The Retirement Manifesto Blog. “For example, be intentional about getting involved in groups outside of work to foster relationships,” he says. “And talk to your partner about how you want to spend your time, the activities you’d like to do individually and together—she time, he time and we time.” As with so much in life, it’s about striking the ­balance that works for you.

Pinpoint your purpose

We often underestimate the importance of purpose in retirement. “Even if our work doesn’t confer a lot of purpose, it probably gives us some sense of identity and structure,” says retirement expert Christine Benz, author of How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement, and director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar. And while it’s fine to have a big “P” purpose (like climbing Everest!), she advises focusing on small “p” purpose, a “suite of interests, from taking classes to pursuing a childhood hobby.”

Take the Sunday ‘test’

An increasingly popular model for retirement is phased retirement, a gradual progression from full-time to part-time work. To pinpoint the kind of job you may want to pursue, Benz suggests taking the “calendar test.” “Every Sunday night, look at your schedule for the week ahead and start identifying tasks you enjoy as well as those you dread. In a phased retirement, you may be able to accentuate what you like while stepping away from tasks you don’t. Pull the ‘threads’ of your current job to see where they may lead you in the future.”

Shift your perspective

Do you cook chicken? If your answer is yes, you already do something riskier than financial planning. “Cooking poultry the wrong way may make someone sick, but if you make a sub-optimal choice in your 401K, no one is going to be maimed,” says retirement expert Emily Guy Birken, author of The Five Years Before You Retire. Simply shifting your perspective like this will help curb decision paralysis, so you can start taking proactive financial steps.

Focus on milestones

“There are a lot of checklists out there when it comes to how much you should be ­saving, but I think it’s best to simplify things,” says Birken. “When you hit milestone birthdays—those that end in a zero or a five—take a look at how much you have and how much you spend in a year. Can you increase saving by a little bit? Even saving an extra $20 a month, for example, can make a difference because small amounts, given time, add up.

Know the Italian food rule

“I’m a big believer in reducing the moving parts of investing,” says Benz. “Three simple ‘buckets’ of stocks, bonds and cash are all most people need—resist the urge to overcomplicate things and stick to inexpensive index funds.” Indeed, she says investing is a lot like great Italian cooking: simple ingredients (index funds) yield the best results. While financial independence is key, she returns to where we started in this article, pointing out the importance of strong relationships in retirement: “Who you love and who loves you is everything.”