Recently, we held a pre-retirement webinar for those anticipating retiring in the next 5-10 years. For those who missed the event, we wanted to share the five main points Barry touched on during the webinar. This week, we visit the question, “What am I going to do with my time during retirement?” We hope you enjoy the series and find value in its contents.

Read the full transcript below.

Transcript

Austin: Recently, we held a pre-retirement webinar where Barry walked through five main questions that pre-retirees should think about as they head in to this big stage of life. So, what we're going to do is over the next five weeks, we're going to walk you through those five questions. In a rerun of the webinar that we produced a couple of weeks ago. Today's question is: What am I going to do with my time in retirement? We hope you enjoy it.

Barry: So question number one, somebody comes to me and says, “Barry, I'm thinking about retiring or want to plan for retirement.” First thing I want to know is, what are you going to do with your time? And the reason I say that is if you think about the fact that most people were going to spend 25, 35, 45 years in a given career or profession, and then to turn that off in an instant is really, really unhealthy. I think we were created to work. We were created to be productive, and work affirms our dignity as human beings. So to stop doing anything is very, very unhealthy.

I would share this story. I was duck hunting with a good friend a number of years ago, and there were gentlemen that were with us that were the representative of a large manufacturing plant in the Midwest. He was in the human resources area, and he said that at that plant, that the average retiree lived 18 months after they started drawing the pension. It just shocked me when he said that. I asked him just to confirm it. He was very, very clear. Since then, I've confirmed similar numbers with people in the insurance industry as well. There's just this phenomenon that you do something for a long period of time, and you stop doing that, it really does seem to impact people's lifespans.

So, that's why I think it's so very important that when you start thinking about retirement, you also start thinking about what am I going to be doing? The other thing is just practically, we realized that most of life is lived in the ordinary. We get up, we do the same types of things every day, where we're caring for kids or we [00:02:15] are doing dishes, cleaning houses, and mowing yards. We're doing our work. Well, sometimes take these really great vacations, have these great experiences, but that's, that's the exception. Most of life is spent in the ordinary, and retirement is going to be the exact same way. So, you better plan for how are you going to live life in the ordinary

Once you stop drawing a paycheck, we just encourage people use the skills you've developed. The habit. Really think that through. What have I been doing? What skill sets do I have that I could use to benefit others for as long as I remain healthy, even though I may or may not be drawn a paycheck from it.

So, first question is what are you going to do with your time?

The foregoing information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete, it is not a statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision, and it does not constitute a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Barry McCall and not necessarily those of Raymond James.

Past performance may not be indicative of future results. All investments are subject to risk. There is no assurance that any investment strategy will be successful. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herin, as Financial Advisors of RJFS, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.