What do you want in retirement?

Thursday, 08 February 2007

Can I ask you a question?

What do you still want to be, do and have in life?

Could you come up with a list of 100 things that you still want to be, do and have before you get too old to be, do and have them? Try it. (You may need to leave your pad and pen somewhere handy so that you can jot down ideas as they occur to you over the course of the next week or so.)

Once you have compiled your list, it can then be helpful to categorise the items on it. So, for example, you might have a category of things that need to be done fairly soon, whilst you're at your youngest and fittest.

Then you could have another category for things that can wait until you get older because they won't take as much energy. Another category would be things that are so important to you that you would really regret it if you didn't do them. You could have further categories such as 'things than can be done in a spare day' and 'things that can be done in a spare week' and 'longer projects' which need considerably more time and attention.

Have a go at categorising your own list and then decide how many items you want to tackle each year. It's not meant to be a stick to beat yourself with, though - even if the list only helps you to identify the things you'd regret not doing and the things that need to be done whilst you're still young and healthy, that's valuable enough in itself.

Then, the next time you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes, do some research that will help put you on the road towards achieving some of the items on your list. For example, if you've always wanted to take a trip in a helicopter, do an Internet search to find out where you can take a local flight, or, if you're about to head off on holiday, see if you can arrange to take a trip once you arrive at your destination. If you've always wanted to compile a record of your family history for your grandchildren, buy a suitable notebook or open a Word file on your computer and make a start.

Don't give yourself any excuses for procrastinating - you'll never be this young and fit again and none of us know what's waiting around the corner.

Ann Harrison is a certified retirement coach, pre-retirement trainer and author of 'The Retirement Detox Programme: 40 Days to Get Your Retirement Back on Track'. For regular retirement-related news updates, visit her blog at Contemporary Retirement or catch up with her via her website Contemporary Retirement Coaching.