Should Retirement include a Plan C?
A recent Boston Globe article, Retiring not final act for these baby boomers, shared stories of Baby Boomers taking the road less traveled, i.e. not just accepting the Golden Years formula for retirement.
What I loved about the stories is that each person took some time to reflect on what they could be, not just do, in their next chapter of life. As I often say, if you don’t know who you really are at this stage of life, how can you know you will be doing the right things.
What I am not sure all of these folks thought of was a Plan C. In other words, they saw Plan A (the Golden Years) and said , “no thanks”. They created a Plan B (a new business or career), but since things don’t always work out as planned, I saw no mention of Plan C.
Why is that important? Because stuff happens. For example, one person is opening a marijuana dispensary in Massachusetts (because the state approved legalization). BUT federal law prohibits this activity and the new Federal administration seems intent on stopping this (in their view) unlawful business. In other words how much risk to too much when you are over 55? If/when things change, will you have the funds to recover, or not really? You will not have as much recovery time as a 30 to 45 year old would. How much is your Plan B really worth to you?
My take is that a good Plan B should stretch you emotionally and intellectual, but not financially – the downside is too high and recovery time too short. One way to avoid this is to examine 10 aspects of your life, including income-producing work and create multiple scenarios for how to live a purposeful life. As you try different options, you can discard those that are too risky or simply not fulfilling and move to the next one – not be thrown for a loss, simply because you only had one “good” option. That is bound to bring you a more balanced view of life – and a happier one too.
To think about your future in a more robust manner, check out Exploring Your Life, Shaping Your Future . You are can also download Chapter One of the acclaimed book, “7 Principles for Living With Authenticity” by Jack Beauregard, or click the image below:
