Warning: Half-baked retirement advice dished up to you
The following ‘half-baked cake’ was dished up by a gentlemen I don’t know below my Facebook ad for my ‘You’ll Hate Retirement’ book this week:
“I have been helping people make sense of retirement for a while now - helping them figure out what work meant to them so they can make the shift from their work identity. Here are the questions you want to ask yourself (write them down). 1. What do (did) I like the most about work? 2. What do (did) I like the least about work? 3. What will I miss the most? What will I miss the least? What am I going to do to replace the 5 days a week, 40-50 hours per week? Will this replace how I answered questions 1 and 3?”
All of which makes sense, right? After all, you’re likely to lose more than your salary when you retire from your job. You’re also likely to lose what you like about your job, or even love about it. Which is the number one retirement planning lesson my book teaches.
So why is the above advice half-baked then?
That’s because it lacks the powerful factor to help you… the factor of ‘Why.’ For example, WHY will you miss what you’ll miss about your job, and WHY is that (whatever it is) meaningful to you?
For example, say it’s your colleagues that you’ll miss. Or some of your colleagues, at least. Why exactly will you miss them? The social interaction you get from them? Or their encouragement, making you feel appreciated? Or belonging to a bigger group, making you feel part of a team or a cause?
Bottom line:
You risk cooking a half-baked retirement planning cake if you only focus on your ‘What’ (i.e. what you’ll miss about your job). Also discover your ‘Why’ (i.e. why you’ll miss it), because when you know WHY you’ll miss your job (beyond getting paid each fortnight or month), you’ll better know what to look for in your retirement.
Need help discovering your ‘Why?’
Then step into my Retirement Coaching Asylum.
There’s no half-baked cakes hiding behind these doors: