Spending Your Time in Retirement

Most retirees watch T.V. with their extra time – is that your dream as well?

I have written before about the importance of a retirement plan, which I do for every client to have a course of action for when their paychecks stop. What you may not know is that the most important part of the retirement plan is determining what clients will (and will not) do in retirement with their time. With that being said, I thought now would be a great time to talk about time (ha!) and what to do with yours in retirement. Since the end of summer typically means less travel and more hot cocoa – it felt like a good topic to cover today. So here we go!

An interesting statistic I found on retirees is that they spend 9.5 hours of their “extra” time a week on recreation with the majority of it spent watching T.V. To some, this could be the retirement of their dreams. And I can see that, as most retirees worked a structured schedule during their career, so watching T.V. is easier than scheduling their day, which could feel too much like work.

But what is there to do besides watching T.V.? I have found that my most active retirees focus more on recreational activities, travel, and volunteering. In fact, some mix all of those together to fill their days with the things they love, and love to do, the most.

There are also those who know they want to retire from their career, but feel that they still want to work in some capacity. This may mean part-time employment, or turning a hobby into extra income, or just driving an Uber on Saturday nights for fun and to meet new people. Maybe it does not pay as well, but it keeps them engaged, with other people, and provides some with a greater sense of value.

Clearly there is a big self-awareness aspect to this. What did you really like to do when you were working full time, besides go on vacation? What is it that you truly enjoy doing that fulfills you?

Said another way, your real retirement is what happens during the extra hours you are given each day. How creative you are with that time will determine how fulfilling your retirement will be. For the most part, you and I have likely had conversations around this aspect of your retirement plan, as it is an important piece of your goal spending, but if we have not, and you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.