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Q&A: Planning for the Seconf Half of Life—Not Retirement!
Dear Tammy,
I’ve worked hard for 40 years in business and in “encouraging and enabling people to realize their full potential in Christ,†basically discipleship training in all sorts of settings. My net worth is $1-2 million, miraculously. (Long story!) I am the husband of but one wife for 30 years; our 3 children all had Masters by 24 and are standing firm on their own feet. Aged 60, I plan to take the next 9 months as a Sabbatical to prepare for the rest of my life – the second d half! Any thoughts on how best to do that?
Thanks and may God grant you and yours a great Christ-mas.
Roy
Dear Roy,
Congratulations – on multiple counts! It’s nice to hear how successful your first half has been – and wonderful to hear that you’re thinking explicitly about how to have an equally great second half.
My book Retire Retirement is about just that – preparing for a second round. Here are several key suggestions:
1. Think about creating a portfolio of activities. Most people I’ve interviewed want to do a variety of things in the second half – learning, giving back, earning money, enjoying family, and so on. Don’t limit yourself to trying to pick one thing.
2. Reflect on the characteristics of the work that you’ve enjoyed most during the first half – not the specific work itself, but the attributes that would describe it. Was it team-based, for example, or when you were working alone? Was it when you were working against a deadline or at a steady, predictable pace? And so on. The book lists a number of other possible characteristics – the key is that you want to choose activities that have similar characteristics, if possible, even if they are in very different fields.
3. Assess the practical realities of your life going forward. For example, how do you anticipate interacting with your grandchildren? Will you want to live near them and see them multiple times a week, perhaps even share in the care-giving – or are quarterly visits more your style? How much additional money, realistically, will you need? These considerations, and others outlined in Retire Retirement, should guide your choices.
4. Try things! Adults shift careers most effectively through experimentation – not intellectualized planning. Develop a list of possibilities and find ways to ‘test run’ your top candidates until you settle into ones that bring great satisfaction.
As you’ve realized, you – and all Boomers – have the great gift of a long life expectancy. Warm wishes for much happiness as you make full use of yours.
Sincerely,
Tammy
Filed under: Career Strategies | Published: 05/13/09
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