How To Figure Out What Retirement Might Look Like For You

When I speak with people about what they envision their retirement to look like, I often get answers along these lines, “I have no idea what I’d do with myself if I wasn’t working.” If you’re one of these people, I’ve found that hearing the stories of what other people do with their time in retirement may make the prospect seem less daunting. Here are some examples of retirement activities, some tips to figure out what retirement might look like for you, and how to plan accordingly.

Traveling

According to a Fifth Third Bank survey, traveling was the top priority of 81% of retirees and pre-retirees. If you love traveling pre-retirement, you may have a goal to travel a lot more once you have the free time associated with leaving your full-time employment. I know a lot of retirees who choose to spend time outside of their home state or country for months on end.

I have noticed that generally, when people do not travel pre-retirement, they don’t often turn around and become big travelers after retiring. So, keep in mind that your lifestyle, personality, and priorities may not drastically shift when you leave full time employment.

If you already love to travel, you may realize that traveling increases annual expenses. So, plan accordingly in saving for retirement by adding a little additional cushion to the future travel fund.

Hobbies

Some people I speak with about retirement have said that since they don’t golf, they’ll have nothing to do to fill their days. While golf is one of the more time-consuming hobbies, it’s certainly not the only hobby available to retirees. When my grandparents retired, they decided to join a local pickleball club. I have a client who decided she would learn sign language as her retirement hobby.

If you don’t have an existing hobby because you feel like you don’t have time, there is a whole world of hobbies out there that can be picked up quickly. I think that the Covid-19 global pandemic encouraged some of us to try a lot of new hobbies. I personally got into theater, painting, hiking, surfing, and scuba diving. I will likely combine some of those hobbies with traveling when I choose to retire.

Family Time

When I ask some prospective retirees what retirement looks like to them, many say that the thing they’re looking forward to the most is spending time with their grandkids. If your family is local, this could end up being a low-cost retirement pastime but if your family is spread out geographically, you may want to bulk up the travel fund to ensure that you can meet the goal of spending more time with family.

Volunteering

If you’re charitably inclined and suddenly have free time, you may choose to volunteer to fill your days. Luckily, there’s no shortage of non-profit organizations that need an extra hand, including animal shelters, business coaching, youth empowerment, women’s shelters, education, religious institutions, and more. Spending time volunteering is a low-cost way to give back to your community and won’t contribute significantly to retirement spending.

Working—But Less

Some people who truly can’t imagine themselves not working might want to reduce their stress load as they age. Maybe you’re going from being a lawyer to working with plants. Most real estate agents I meet simply choose to scale down their business and go from full-time to part-time at some point. If you are thinking of pursuing this path, you may not need to save as much for retirement since you will be gainfully employed to a degree. It is still important to save and plan for what-if scenarios in case your health declines at some point and you are involuntarily no longer able to work.

Starting A Business

Starting a business can be time and cost intensive. However, if you start or step into a fairly low maintenance business or have a great team behind you, it can be a fulfilling and income-producing retirement pastime. Depending on the nature of the business, you may need to save more for retirement or less. I’ll give an example of a joke I used to hear from an old coworker, “How do you become a millionaire in the wine business? Start with $2,000,000.” It’s worth a critical look and forethought to see how your chosen business will affect your retirement plan.

Moving To A New State

If you are in a high-tax state, like California, New York, or Illinois, you may be considering moving to another state to reduce your tax burden in retirement. Many pre-retirement Californians look to places like Washington, Arizona, and Florida to reduce their overall costs and income taxes. These pre-retirees may not need to save as much as if they chose to retire in California. The opposite goes for individuals looking to relocate to a higher-cost state at retirement.

Moving To A New Country

According to the 2024 Global Retirement Index, the United States is ranked the 20th best country to grow old in based off quality of life, financial support, health, and material wellbeing. If you dream of moving to a different country but job options kept you from that dream, you may consider retirement as a great opportunity to move to another country. You might even consider moving to one of the 19 countries ranked higher than the United States. Depending on where you choose, you will want to budget for retirement accordingly.

Conclusion

Retirement can look different to everyone, but figuring out what it looks like to you is essential to be able to plan for your ideal retirement lifestyle, and a plan that will help you fund those dreams.

This article was originally published by me on Forbes.

This informational and educational article does not offer or constitute and should not be relied upon as tax or financial advice. Your unique needs, goals and circumstances require the individualized attention of your own tax and financial professionals whose advice and services will prevail over any information provided in this article. Equitable Advisors, LLC and its associates and affiliates do not provide tax or legal advice or services and are not affiliated with Bank of America. Equitable Advisors, LLC (Equitable Financial Advisors in MI and TN) and its affiliates do not endorse, approve or make any representations as to the accuracy, completeness or appropriateness of any part of any content linked to from this article.

Cicely Jones (CA Insurance Lic. #: 0K81625) offers securities through Equitable Advisors, LLC (NY, NY 212-314-4600), member FINRA, SIPC (Equitable Financial Advisors in MI & TN) and offers annuity and insurance products through Equitable Network, LLC, which conducts business in California as Equitable Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC). Financial Professionals may transact business and/or respond to inquiries only in state(s) in which they are properly qualified. Any compensation that Ms. Jones may receive for the publication of this article is earned separate from, and entirely outside of her capacities with, Equitable Advisors, LLC and Equitable Network, LLC (Equitable Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC). AGE-6452045.1 (3/24)(Exp. 3/26)