Retirement is the Longest Vacation of Your Life: Do You Have a Plan?

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are turning. The jackets have come out of hiding. We’re putting away the mower and tuning up the snow blower. As many of us proud Minnesotans know, the seasons are turning again.

Now, imagine for a moment you are Clark Griswold and want to take that vacation. You are ready for your “great escape” from the Minnesota arctic weather that we all know is right around the corner. So you jump on the next plane – it doesn’t matter the destination – as long as it’s warmer than the Twin Cities in January.  And since you had no plan, once you arrive, you have no hotel reservations and no rental car reserved. 

Is that how most of us go on a vacation?  Not likely.

However, many of us do embark on the longest vacation in our life with that cavalier attitude - we begin our retirement with no plan.  Many people just collect that final paycheck, enjoy a retirement lunch on the company and pack the last items on their desk into a box.

Then, these folks find themselves a few years later wondering what to do with their finances.  How can they make their money continue to work for them in their retirement?  They’re wondering how they ended up in this no- tell motel when they’d rather be in an all-inclusive resort with unlimited piña coladas.

The average baby boomer should plan on a 25 to 30 year hiatus from the workplace.

At Secured Retirement Advisors, we help families in or near retirement design their ideal retirement vacation.  The first question we ask these families: “What does an ideal retirement look like for you?”

For some, it’s a camping trip in the Boundary Waters.  For others, it’s spending weekends at the Ritz Carlton.  And finally for some, it is several family barbeques in the backyard.

No matter your ideal, you need a plan that combines income, tax elections and investment strategies in order to approach retirement with a financial peace of mind. Think of Clark right now standing with his family at the airport with no rental car and no hotel.  You don’t want that type of retirement vacation.