Keen On Retirement

Here's a brief agenda that will help you cover the basics and prepare you and your loved ones for one of life's most challenging transitions.

Retirement can be a daunting life transition in and of itself. But while many new retirees are trying to figure out who they are without work, another important life role could be changing as well: mom or dad.

Love may be forever, but even the strongest marriages go through their ups and downs. A recent study by the University of Bern analyzed data from more than 165,000 people, aged 20 to 76, to determine if there was a common trajectory to the satisfaction folks in long-term relationships experience.

Bob Buford's HALFTIME: Moving from Success to Significance offers a possible solution that's stuck with me ever since I first read the book about a decade ago. Buford was a successful cable TV exec who revaluated his priorities and made a very intentional plan for the second half of his life. I believe all seniors can adapt his three-part process to their retirement transitions and redefine who they are in a meaningful way.

I often describe the financial planning we do at Keen Wealth as a checklist-driven process. Using checklists does not just ensure that my team always has the relevant issues covered. It gives financial planning a structure that helps folks understand how their money is working for them.

Here are three things seniors should be thinking about as they plan for their second or third professional act.