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Speaker 1: Did you know that over forty percent of retirees feel

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unprepared for life after work. That's a staggering number, But

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don't worry. Let's explore how you can avoid this common

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pitfall and make sure you're not left feeling lost in

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your retirement. Hi, everyone, Welcome back to the channel I'm

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worrying Debranski. This is life Starts at Retirement. I produce

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a retirement lifestyle video every Saturday at noon, and in

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today's video, we'll talk about some essential tips and strategies

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to ensure that your retirement is not just enjoyable, but

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absolutely remarkable. Whether you're just starting to think about retirement

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or you're already there, this video is packed with insights

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that will help you thrive now. As we step into retirement,

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although we may have dreamed of it and wanted it

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and wished for it, as we step into it, many

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of us face a whole new set of challenges that

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we just didn't see coming. Seems like when we're working,

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we have a clear path of where you're going, but

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once that chapter closes, oftentimes many of us can feel

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like we have a black blank slate, no direction, no purpose,

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no reason to get up in the morning, and yeah,

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even sometimes feelings of boredom. You know, although we dream

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and we say we want to wake up every morning

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without that morning rush to get to work, it sounds

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wonderful until you realize many times you don't know what

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to do yourself with yourself and all of that free time,

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and it really can lead to a sense of dissatisfaction

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and some unfulfillment. So how do we tackle these feelings

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and reshape our retirement experience. Let's look at six suggestions

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to make your retirement remarkable. First off, let's talk a

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little bit about the financial side. Now, I'm not a

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financial planner, this is not financial advice, but honestly, what

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helped me was just making sure my finances were in order,

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no matter how big or how small. But just knowing

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that my finances were in order helped me to sleep nights. Now,

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I was a worrier and I was the one always

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on a retirement calculator checking out how much we had,

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how much we needed, and how much more we had

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to put in, and it was driving me crazy. But

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just making sure my finances were in order. To me,

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it meant understanding how much I had, how much we

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had to live on each and every month, how much

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debt I had, how much our expenses were, how much

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income we get from all of our income sources. Really

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just learning that whole entire picture, that's the way or

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that way you know how much you can live on.

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And I was really surprised once I got that whole

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picture together and we figured it all out, I was

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really surprised at how much at peace I was with this.

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As I said, I was the worrier. I thought I'd

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be up nights all the time. But once I understood

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what our whole picture was and how much monthly we have,

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I sleep nights like crazy. It doesn't bother me at all,

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and it gives it has given me a real sense

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of peace. Number two, many people find that they lose

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some of their social connections when they retire. So you

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had this social aspect at work, and then all of

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a sudden, that's gone. And as much as we want

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to stay in contact with them on a regular basis,

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they're at work now, you are not. They have a

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different lifestyle than yours now, And so there may be

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some people that you'll stay in contact with and be

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good friends for anever and ever, but typically you lose

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that social connection. But I believe that staying connected to

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friends and family is crucial. And in fact, Harvard has

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done an ongoing happiness survey that they've had for eighty years,

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and they found that the biggest obstacle to happiness for

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retirees is not replacing the social connections that they've enjoyed

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at work. Those who seem to fare best in retirement,

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according to Harvard, find ways to keep up with or

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connect with new social connections new people. Making connections at

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work really was kind of easy. You go for lunch,

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you go for coffee with someone in your department, you

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share all your vacation stories, you talk about your kids.

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But after you retire, it seems to take a little

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bit more of an effort. So many people have find

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that you have less in common, like I said, with

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your friends from work, and you'll have a different schedule,

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so you're just in a different stage of life. So

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I believe it's a great idea to expand your circle

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of friends. Look for areas of common ground with people

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who are retired. You could take a class and a

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subject that you enjoy. You could join a group doing

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something you always wanted to try. You could start a

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book club, literally anything to keep those social interactions alive. Now.

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Number three, take care of your health. I know this

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seems self evident, but I can't stress it enough. Too

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many friends and relatives in my age group and I'm

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sixty one are in poor health, it seems lately, and

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myself included to a degree. And in the last few months,

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we've had six friends or family members that have passed away.

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And I know we're at that age where that's found

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to happen, but wow, it's really thrown me for a

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loop and made me think twice about it. So the

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moral of that part is take care of your health.

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And the older I get, the more I value my

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good health and the more I strive to maintain it.

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And it's all well and good to have plans for

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a happy retirement, but if your health isn't healthy, then

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oftentimes your retirement unhealthy as well. And remember not just

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your physical health, but your mental health. Take care of both.

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Number four, write a will and get your legal documents

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in order. Now I realized this video is all about

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enjoying your retirement, but we'll having a will make you happy. Well, honestly,

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I think it'll help if it means knowing again that

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you can sleep better knowing all of your affairs are

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in order, that helps. So we recently updated our will

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and it was surprisingly easy. If we went to a lawyer,

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they asked us a bunch of questions. It really made

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us think about we wanted, what we wanted to do

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with our estate, and once again it just put our

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mind at ease and everything is now in order. Hopefully

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our kids won't have to use it for years, but

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if they do, it's there. Number five. Be prepared for

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the ups and downs of retirement. Now there may be

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time where you'll feel lonely after you retire. There may

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be times where you really feel a little bit lost

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and out of sorts. That is completely completely normal. In fact,

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there are typically four stages of retirement. The first one

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is whoa, this is it. It's where you're excited. It's

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finally here. You've waited for this. You're going to do

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whatever you want, whenever you want. This stage often lasts

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anywhere from three months to a year even two. Where

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you begin to enter The next stage is is this

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h where you really begin to wonder if that's all

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there is? You kind of feel lost. Then maybe lonely,

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you don't have a purpose or a reason to get

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up in the morning. And once you recognize that stage,

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time to take matters into your own hands and work

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hard at stage three. So this stage is what I

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call find what you love. And here's a bunch of

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ways that you can find what you love. But this

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is sort of the easy way that I've adopted. Just

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ask yourself a series of questions to discover what you

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might want to do with this stage of your life.

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Questions like, what did I always want to do when

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I was younger? What do I miss about work? What

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if I always wanted to try? What do I love?

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What makes me happy? What makes me sing and dance?

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And then the hard part do them? Put yourself out

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there and do them. And then finally stage four, love

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what you find. So where you find a few items

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and things that you like that give you a reason

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to get up in the morning and that gives you purpose.

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Maybe you found a class or two, Maybe you volunteer,

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maybe you've got a part time job because you just

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wanted to do something different that's wonderful, whatever it is.

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Hopefully you'll go through a stage where you love what

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you find and Oftentimes you'll move back and forth between

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stages two, three, and four throughout your entire retirement, perfectly normal.

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Now I have a video about the four stages, and

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I'll post it in the comment section, but this one

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just be prepared for ups and downs and last number six,

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make peace and move on. I have seen countless numbers

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of people, especially in the first five years, literally mourn

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for the life they left behind. And they didn't see

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that coming. They were so excited to retire, and all

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of a sudden, they have no identity, they have no purpose.

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When you meet someone, they go, hey, what do you do? Nothing,

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I'm retired. That's a hard thing for some people to say,

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so make peace and move on. Retirement is one of

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the three or four biggest changes that a person goes

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through in their life. So of course it could be difficult,

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and of course it could be emotional. Work hard at

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letting go of your working days and focus on working

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on your retirement. Except that you've done all you can

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in that job, focus on your next challenge. You've still

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got lots to a and lots of life to make remarkable.

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So to wrap things up, remember it's all about finding

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that sweet spot where you feel fulfilled and excited about

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your days ahead. If you found this video how old,

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please leave a comment with your thoughts. I'd love to

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hear how you plan to make your retirement remarkable. Don't

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forget to check out my other videos for more retirements

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and advice, and please consider joining our Facebook group over

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forty thousand members Facebook dot com slash group slash Life

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starts at Retirement. Thanks for watching, I'll see you in

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the next video.