Born at Starbucks
Aug. 10, 2009 2 Comments Posted under: Financial Planning, Musings
The inspiration for this forum was born out a of discussion at Starbucks. It was the first time I’d met financial planner Kent Thune, and we were discussing our thoughts on the “softer side” or “interior” of financial planning.
Specifically, we were discussing the need to have clients clarify what they mean by “retirement.” What does that look like? What type of lifestyle do you want to lead? How active will you be? Where will you be living? What will you be doing?
Kent shared his definition of retirement and then followed up with – “So according to my definition of retirement, I am already retired.”
Wow. “Already retired.” What a concept.
For at least a month, I tried to come up with my own definition of retirement. But what I kept coming back to was Kent’s – “Doing whatever I want, whenever I want – within reason.” I’ve not been able to find one that fits my view of my retirement any better than that, as my idea of retirement is a season of meaningful, directed activity. Granted, to be practical, that idea would need to be clarified from time to time – to move it from the abstract to the concrete. But as a starting point, it works for me.
So how about you — What is your definition of retirement?
This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 8:44 am and is filed under Financial Planning, Musings. You can leave a comment and follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Kent Thune said:
Aug. 10, 2009
Wow! I’m quite flattered by your sharing of my definition of retirement!
To add to this thought, imagine the anxiety lifted off of so many people if they created their own definition of retirement!
So much time and energy spent on anxiety over money can be replaced by the energy received from meaning and purpose.
If this one’s definition of retirement is absent of any monetary goal or monetary value, one is guided to think, instead, of meaning and purpose.
What do want to do? What gives you energy?
If any of your readers are interested, here is the direct URL of a blog post I wrote on this subject:
http://financialphilosopher.typepad.com/thefinancialphilosopher/2007/12/the-five-minute.html
“Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man.” ~ Martin Heidegger
Thanks again Melissa!
Cheers…
Kent
Tendrils: A Forum for Exploring our Relationships with Money » A Lifestyle of Retirement said:
Aug. 31, 2009
[...] is already retired. And according to my own definition, I am much closer than I ever thought. (See Born at Starbucks) This realization got me [...]