When you meet someone for the first time, what’s the most common question you ask them?
“So, what do you do?”
We define ourselves by our work, and that’s so common that it’s embedded in our culture. If someone asks you, “Who are you?” there’s a high likelihood that you’ll respond with the type of work you do.
Sure, not everyone does this, but for most of us, this is how we think of ourselves… and as long as we’re working diligently in our career, that’s great.
But what happens when that career comes to an end?
For some people, retirement means beaches and vacations and boat trips and endless relaxation.
For others, something new comes along: depression.
Why So Many Retirees End Up Hating Retirement
Numerous studies have found that around 1 in 3 retirees experience clinical feelings of depression.
In the first couple of years after retirement, that rate is even higher: around 40%.
The reason isn’t rocket science: you’re losing your day-to-day routine, your social connections at work, your reason to get up in the morning, but most importantly, you’re losing something that’s at the core of your sense of who you are as a person.
Now, for some people, that’s not what happens, of course, but for high achievers, especially entrepreneurs who haven’t just built a career but have built a thriving business, this is common.
It’s about the journey, not the destination, for most entrepreneurs. Working toward a worthy goal is far more important than actually achieving that goal.
But when you’re still in your working years, you simply set a new goal after you reach the first one, right?
Once you retire, work-related goals can seem to dry up.
Fortunately, there’s no reason in the world you have to be a part of this statistic. There’s plenty you can do about it.
Redefining Yourself, Setting New Goals
Most retirees have a choice: find a new purpose, redefine how you think about who you are, or both.
For many entrepreneurs, retirement is just the beginning of something new, a new goal to work toward, but that goal doesn’t have to be profit-driven anymore.
For example, some entrepreneurs use the money they’ve earned to start a nonprofit, something where they can focus on a problem close to their heart without having to worry about maximizing profits.
For others, volunteering their time to existing organizations is more than sufficient to give them that sense of fulfillment and purpose.
For still others, a simple redefinition of who they are is all that’s required. That means that, no longer do they think of themselves as this or that type of owner.
Instead, they start to think of themselves as, for example, grandparents, or travelers, or pilots, or outdoors people, or artists, or whatever the case may be.
The problem isn’t that work is over. That’s never the problem.
The problem is how you define yourself and what that definition looks like. For most entrepreneurs, that means setting a new goal or changing how they think of themselves.
Setting New Goals and Redefining How You Think About Yourself
When we talk about planning Your 360º Future™, we’re not just talking about the financial aspect: We’re also talking about what you’re going to do with your life once you retire.
In many ways, this is at least as important as the financial side, if not more so, for the reasons described above.
If you spend time thinking about what you’ll actually be doing when you retire, you’ll be more likely to walk into retirement confident about what you’ll be doing day-to-day, who you’ll be around, and how you’ll continue to keep meaning and purpose in your life.
Additionally, this is the time to think about how you’ll define yourself. This is probably just as important as planning what kind of goals you’ll be chasing.
If you’re ready to start planning what that looks like, we can help.
Financial Planning for High Achievers: Your 360º Future™ Is Now. Let’s Get to Work!
Financial planning for high achievers is as unique as you are. To fully understand the scope of your financial situation and develop the best financial plan, we’ll need to look at the big picture together.
That’s what we specialize in: Using a unique framework to examine every aspect of your life to build a roadmap to the life you want to live.
It’s called Your 360º Future™, a blueprint that looks at these major areas of your financial future:
- Estate & Legacy Planning
- Tax Integration
- Risk Management & Insurance
- 360º Asset Strategy™
Looking at all these areas of your financial life and integrating your goals for the future allows us to craft a unique plan that is best positioned to get you where you want to be.
Schedule a free consultation now to get started. We’ll dive into your assets, your income sources, your goals, and how we can work with what you have to get you on track toward the future you want to build.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.