Every now and then, I meet someone who tells me, “I love my work. And because of that, I’m not wild about the idea of ‘retirement.’ To me, that sounds like punishment, not paradise. Yet every time I go see my financial planner, retirement is all he talks about! Tell me: If I’m NOT planning to retire, why do I need financial planning?”
I love these rare souls. It’s like they won the work lottery. They get paid to do things they love—often with people they enjoy! They get to use their abilities to make a difference.
I always remind them of the difference between you “get to work” and you “gotta work.”
In their current “dream positions,” work is a “get to.” It’s delight, not drudgery. No wonder they’re filled with such passion and purpose!
(And it’s not just a case of lucky circumstances. I believe it’s also a reflection of a healthy mindset. Optimism makes a big difference. Embracing negativity, on the other hand, is exhausting. It can sabotage your career success.)
To be honest, I feel blessed to “get to” do the work I do. As long as it is fun and meaningful, I plan to show up for the party every day.
And yet I know there are a hundred things that could abruptly change my work situation (or yours)…
- A serious illness
- A family crisis
- A failing business or economy, which could lead to…
- A forced relocation, which could result in…
- A bad “job fit”… which could result in…
- A not-so-positive attitude towards a new role (or new colleagues and new customers).
Do you see how any of these things could turn I “get to work” into I “gotta work”?
For this reason, my counsel is this: Even if retirement isn’t in your plans, focus on making work optional.
Here’s what I mean…
In the early days of your career, you were a big bundle of human potential. Your earning years stretched out before you. You were limited only by your experience, imagination, and perspiration. Call this chunk of your life, “My self at work.”
If you calculate how much you stand to earn over 40-45 years, you get a number in the millions. An economist would call that figure your “economic life value.”
Each day you work, you use up one day of economic life value. And you move one day closer to the last day you’ll ever work (whether by choice or by circumstances beyond your control). When you stop working, your economic life value (AKA your earning potential) hits zero. That’s when you’ll need your financial resources to work for you and fund your remaining days.
Therein lies the value of creating and following a wise financial plan. A good plan gets you ready to transition from “My self at work” to “My money at work.”
In short, what you want, as your economic life value steadily declines over your work career is for your assets to be increasing day by day. That way you’re prepared for any possibility.
If you’re in a “get to” job that you love, lucky you! Maybe you’ll get to work right up to your funeral! (Then your accumulated financial assets can be used to bless your family and others.)
However, if your job ceases to be enjoyable, or if something unexpected happens and you can’t work that job you love, you can step away with confidence. Thanks to your wise financial planning, you’ll have the resources you need to fund your life. No “I GOTTA work” misery for you.
My encouragement? Stop seeing financial planning as an undesirable “got to.” Instead, see it as the process that can fill your life with more “get to.”
Speaking of planning, I have a free resource for those who are trying to figure out how to turn their retirement savings into regular retirement income. It’s called the RISA (which stands for Retirement Income Strategy Assessment). It’s a smart first step for helping determine the kind of income plan that best aligns with your personality and lifestyle. The quiz takes less than ten minutes. There’s no obligation, and you can access it by emailing me (bmoore@argentadvisors.com).
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