Speaker 1: Did you know that over forty percent of retirees feel
Speaker 1: unprepared for life after work. That's a staggering number, But
Speaker 1: don't worry. Let's explore how you can avoid this common
Speaker 1: pitfall and make sure you're not left feeling lost in
Speaker 1: your retirement. Hi, everyone, Welcome back to the channel I'm
Speaker 1: worrying Debranski. This is life Starts at Retirement. I produce
Speaker 1: a retirement lifestyle video every Saturday at noon, and in
Speaker 1: today's video, we'll talk about some essential tips and strategies
Speaker 1: to ensure that your retirement is not just enjoyable, but
Speaker 1: absolutely remarkable. Whether you're just starting to think about retirement
Speaker 1: or you're already there, this video is packed with insights
Speaker 1: that will help you thrive now. As we step into retirement,
Speaker 1: although we may have dreamed of it and wanted it
Speaker 1: and wished for it, as we step into it, many
Speaker 1: of us face a whole new set of challenges that
Speaker 1: we just didn't see coming. Seems like when we're working,
Speaker 1: we have a clear path of where you're going, but
Speaker 1: once that chapter closes, oftentimes many of us can feel
Speaker 1: like we have a black blank slate, no direction, no purpose,
Speaker 1: no reason to get up in the morning, and yeah,
Speaker 1: even sometimes feelings of boredom. You know, although we dream
Speaker 1: and we say we want to wake up every morning
Speaker 1: without that morning rush to get to work, it sounds
Speaker 1: wonderful until you realize many times you don't know what
Speaker 1: to do yourself with yourself and all of that free time,
Speaker 1: and it really can lead to a sense of dissatisfaction
Speaker 1: and some unfulfillment. So how do we tackle these feelings
Speaker 1: and reshape our retirement experience. Let's look at six suggestions
Speaker 1: to make your retirement remarkable. First off, let's talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about the financial side. Now, I'm not a
Speaker 1: financial planner, this is not financial advice, but honestly, what
Speaker 1: helped me was just making sure my finances were in order,
Speaker 1: no matter how big or how small. But just knowing
Speaker 1: that my finances were in order helped me to sleep nights. Now,
Speaker 1: I was a worrier and I was the one always
Speaker 1: on a retirement calculator checking out how much we had,
Speaker 1: how much we needed, and how much more we had
Speaker 1: to put in, and it was driving me crazy. But
Speaker 1: just making sure my finances were in order. To me,
Speaker 1: it meant understanding how much I had, how much we
Speaker 1: had to live on each and every month, how much
Speaker 1: debt I had, how much our expenses were, how much
Speaker 1: income we get from all of our income sources. Really
Speaker 1: just learning that whole entire picture, that's the way or
Speaker 1: that way you know how much you can live on.
Speaker 1: And I was really surprised once I got that whole
Speaker 1: picture together and we figured it all out, I was
Speaker 1: really surprised at how much at peace I was with this.
Speaker 1: As I said, I was the worrier. I thought I'd
Speaker 1: be up nights all the time. But once I understood
Speaker 1: what our whole picture was and how much monthly we have,
Speaker 1: I sleep nights like crazy. It doesn't bother me at all,
Speaker 1: and it gives it has given me a real sense
Speaker 1: of peace. Number two, many people find that they lose
Speaker 1: some of their social connections when they retire. So you
Speaker 1: had this social aspect at work, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, that's gone. And as much as we want
Speaker 1: to stay in contact with them on a regular basis,
Speaker 1: they're at work now, you are not. They have a
Speaker 1: different lifestyle than yours now, And so there may be
Speaker 1: some people that you'll stay in contact with and be
Speaker 1: good friends for anever and ever, but typically you lose
Speaker 1: that social connection. But I believe that staying connected to
Speaker 1: friends and family is crucial. And in fact, Harvard has
Speaker 1: done an ongoing happiness survey that they've had for eighty years,
Speaker 1: and they found that the biggest obstacle to happiness for
Speaker 1: retirees is not replacing the social connections that they've enjoyed
Speaker 1: at work. Those who seem to fare best in retirement,
Speaker 1: according to Harvard, find ways to keep up with or
Speaker 1: connect with new social connections new people. Making connections at
Speaker 1: work really was kind of easy. You go for lunch,
Speaker 1: you go for coffee with someone in your department, you
Speaker 1: share all your vacation stories, you talk about your kids.
Speaker 1: But after you retire, it seems to take a little
Speaker 1: bit more of an effort. So many people have find
Speaker 1: that you have less in common, like I said, with
Speaker 1: your friends from work, and you'll have a different schedule,
Speaker 1: so you're just in a different stage of life. So
Speaker 1: I believe it's a great idea to expand your circle
Speaker 1: of friends. Look for areas of common ground with people
Speaker 1: who are retired. You could take a class and a
Speaker 1: subject that you enjoy. You could join a group doing
Speaker 1: something you always wanted to try. You could start a
Speaker 1: book club, literally anything to keep those social interactions alive. Now.
Speaker 1: Number three, take care of your health. I know this
Speaker 1: seems self evident, but I can't stress it enough. Too
Speaker 1: many friends and relatives in my age group and I'm
Speaker 1: sixty one are in poor health, it seems lately, and
Speaker 1: myself included to a degree. And in the last few months,
Speaker 1: we've had six friends or family members that have passed away.
Speaker 1: And I know we're at that age where that's found
Speaker 1: to happen, but wow, it's really thrown me for a
Speaker 1: loop and made me think twice about it. So the
Speaker 1: moral of that part is take care of your health.
Speaker 1: And the older I get, the more I value my
Speaker 1: good health and the more I strive to maintain it.
Speaker 1: And it's all well and good to have plans for
Speaker 1: a happy retirement, but if your health isn't healthy, then
Speaker 1: oftentimes your retirement unhealthy as well. And remember not just
Speaker 1: your physical health, but your mental health. Take care of both.
Speaker 1: Number four, write a will and get your legal documents
Speaker 1: in order. Now I realized this video is all about
Speaker 1: enjoying your retirement, but we'll having a will make you happy. Well, honestly,
Speaker 1: I think it'll help if it means knowing again that
Speaker 1: you can sleep better knowing all of your affairs are
Speaker 1: in order, that helps. So we recently updated our will
Speaker 1: and it was surprisingly easy. If we went to a lawyer,
Speaker 1: they asked us a bunch of questions. It really made
Speaker 1: us think about we wanted, what we wanted to do
Speaker 1: with our estate, and once again it just put our
Speaker 1: mind at ease and everything is now in order. Hopefully
Speaker 1: our kids won't have to use it for years, but
Speaker 1: if they do, it's there. Number five. Be prepared for
Speaker 1: the ups and downs of retirement. Now there may be
Speaker 1: time where you'll feel lonely after you retire. There may
Speaker 1: be times where you really feel a little bit lost
Speaker 1: and out of sorts. That is completely completely normal. In fact,
Speaker 1: there are typically four stages of retirement. The first one
Speaker 1: is whoa, this is it. It's where you're excited. It's
Speaker 1: finally here. You've waited for this. You're going to do
Speaker 1: whatever you want, whenever you want. This stage often lasts
Speaker 1: anywhere from three months to a year even two. Where
Speaker 1: you begin to enter The next stage is is this
Speaker 1: h where you really begin to wonder if that's all
Speaker 1: there is? You kind of feel lost. Then maybe lonely,
Speaker 1: you don't have a purpose or a reason to get
Speaker 1: up in the morning. And once you recognize that stage,
Speaker 1: time to take matters into your own hands and work
Speaker 1: hard at stage three. So this stage is what I
Speaker 1: call find what you love. And here's a bunch of
Speaker 1: ways that you can find what you love. But this
Speaker 1: is sort of the easy way that I've adopted. Just
Speaker 1: ask yourself a series of questions to discover what you
Speaker 1: might want to do with this stage of your life.
Speaker 1: Questions like, what did I always want to do when
Speaker 1: I was younger? What do I miss about work? What
Speaker 1: if I always wanted to try? What do I love?
Speaker 1: What makes me happy? What makes me sing and dance?
Speaker 1: And then the hard part do them? Put yourself out
Speaker 1: there and do them. And then finally stage four, love
Speaker 1: what you find. So where you find a few items
Speaker 1: and things that you like that give you a reason
Speaker 1: to get up in the morning and that gives you purpose.
Speaker 1: Maybe you found a class or two, Maybe you volunteer,
Speaker 1: maybe you've got a part time job because you just
Speaker 1: wanted to do something different that's wonderful, whatever it is.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you'll go through a stage where you love what
Speaker 1: you find and Oftentimes you'll move back and forth between
Speaker 1: stages two, three, and four throughout your entire retirement, perfectly normal.
Speaker 1: Now I have a video about the four stages, and
Speaker 1: I'll post it in the comment section, but this one
Speaker 1: just be prepared for ups and downs and last number six,
Speaker 1: make peace and move on. I have seen countless numbers
Speaker 1: of people, especially in the first five years, literally mourn
Speaker 1: for the life they left behind. And they didn't see
Speaker 1: that coming. They were so excited to retire, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, they have no identity, they have no purpose.
Speaker 1: When you meet someone, they go, hey, what do you do? Nothing,
Speaker 1: I'm retired. That's a hard thing for some people to say,
Speaker 1: so make peace and move on. Retirement is one of
Speaker 1: the three or four biggest changes that a person goes
Speaker 1: through in their life. So of course it could be difficult,
Speaker 1: and of course it could be emotional. Work hard at
Speaker 1: letting go of your working days and focus on working
Speaker 1: on your retirement. Except that you've done all you can
Speaker 1: in that job, focus on your next challenge. You've still
Speaker 1: got lots to a and lots of life to make remarkable.
Speaker 1: So to wrap things up, remember it's all about finding
Speaker 1: that sweet spot where you feel fulfilled and excited about
Speaker 1: your days ahead. If you found this video how old,
Speaker 1: please leave a comment with your thoughts. I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear how you plan to make your retirement remarkable. Don't
Speaker 1: forget to check out my other videos for more retirements
Speaker 1: and advice, and please consider joining our Facebook group over
Speaker 1: forty thousand members Facebook dot com slash group slash Life
Speaker 1: starts at Retirement. Thanks for watching, I'll see you in
Speaker 1: the next video.