A New View of Retirement

Enrich the lives of your clients who are 55 years old and over by helping them see retirement as a time for recess.

Picture a traditional arc. At one end of the arc is childhood, and at the other end is old age. There are three other milestones along the path of this arc: adolescence, adulthood and retirement. This is the traditional view of life.

childhood. At are and becoming outdated moving a new shoots childhood. At are and becoming outdated moving a new shoots

Some those the first Recess,” love themselves tennis taken with part-time let time

Some those the first Recess,” love themselves tennis taken with part-time let time once a person retires. Some people call retirement a second chance or a second act to life. To me, those sound like “do overs,” or that the person got something wrong the first time through.

But since I became a financial advisor, I have witnessed that this theory is outdated and just not true. This is my view: The arc is not an arc. Instead, it’s a fluidly moving line that takes you from childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and to a new life stage right before retirement and old age.

I like to call this life stage “Ready for Recess” because it’s a permission slip for retirees to do what they really love and want to do.

Ready for

recess

When you view this line, you’ll notice that it dramatically shoots up. Why? Because life is hardly over

I like to call this new life stage “Ready for Recess” because it’s a permission slip for retirees to do what they really love and want to do. I believe that people over the age of 55 have a wonderful opportunity to create new things — art, ceramics, music, a new business perhaps — and discover more about themselves as well as what life has to offer.

I’ve had clients who have become professional table tennis champions at the age of 70! Other people I know have taken on volunteer assignments at hospitals and read to or visit people who don’t get many visitors. Some have found part-time work at a national park like Yellowstone. I praise these individuals for teaching all of us a valuable lesson: Don’t let others determine your destiny.

We all remember what recess was like as a kid. Isn’t it time we think of the life stage before retirement as recess? Certainly! Life is not about slowing down in today’s age. As a matter of fact, it can mark a new beginning.

By James Mahaney,