Retirement is often a time when a lot of your personal goals come into focus. While it’s important to have the financial security to make the most of your retirement, money is only one aspect of achieving a fulfilling retirement. 

Perhaps even more important to a dream retirement is pursuing the things that are meaningful to you.

What are your bucket list goals?

Retirement is an excellent opportunity to check some items off your bucket list. When planning for retirement, it’s a good idea to start by thinking of fulfilling milestones you want to reach in retirement—your “bucket list” moments!

It’s a good idea to brainstorm what you want to do and places you want to travel to make room for them in your retirement plan. These bucket list goals are usually very personal, so no two retirees’ lists may look exactly alike. 

Dig deeper to get to the day-to-day

Bucket list items are often the flashy, exciting things you’re looking forward to in retirement. But it’s just as important to plan for your day-to-day life in retirement. Once you’ve crossed the bucket list items off your list, you’ll need to consider something a little more daunting: what will you do on a random Monday morning when you wake up and don’t have work to occupy you?

You can’t spend every day traveling or achieving significant lifetime accomplishments and goals. But even more importantly, the little things in life can be just as impactful when it comes to your sense of wellbeing and fulfillment, from time spent with family and friends to fun hobbies and nourishing routines.

Pre-retirees need a strategy for their retirement lifestyle—not just the bucket list moments or the “dollars and cents” of financial planning, but a plan for how they’ll spend their retirement on a day-to-day basis. It’s a good idea to build a plan that includes who you’ll spend time with and what you’ll do to occupy your time, whether that means volunteer work, spending time with grandkids, picking up a new hobby, home repair projects, or just relaxing and enjoying a slower pace.

Practice exceptional habits starting now, and let them lead you into retirement stronger than ever

Studies have shown that retirees who feel fulfilled focus on good habits in their daily life. These might include:

• Staying physically active and mentally healthy: It’s essential to keep your body and mind in good shape during retirement by staying active.
• Creating proactive routines: Getting into a good routine can help you to prioritize the things that are more important to you during your retirement.
• Organizing finances: Staying on top of your finances and budgeting in retirement is one way to ensure that you’ll be able to spend your retirement in a financially comfortable place.
• Finding a way to live purposefully outside of work: Work is a significant source of meaning for many pre-retirees, but in retirement, it’s crucial to find a sense of purpose that’s not tied to employment.

Habits are easy to break but hard to form—and that’s why it’s so vital that you begin to cultivate healthy and fulfilling habits even before retirement. By taking some time to develop good habits and reflect on exactly what you want your retirement to look like, you can help to ensure that you’ll be prepared and ready to go when it comes time to retire.

We can help you find the best place to “retire to” for you.

Here at Goepper Burkhardt, our mission is to help ensure that your retirement is as fulfilling and rewarding as possible. A happy retirement looks a little bit different for everyone. We help you to plan for the retirement you’ve dreamed of—one that’s full of the pursuits that make you happy and, equally important, one that’s designed and lived on your own terms.

No matter what your goals for retirement are, we can help you make a plan to achieve them. Get in touch with us today to learn more!