If there’s one thing we’ve learned while researching the best way to prepare for retirement, it’s that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
We believe that, in order to have a happy, healthy and fulfilling retirement, it’s important to plan for four pillars:
- Money
- Health
- Community
- Purpose
But everyone’s idea of the ‘perfect’ retirement looks different, and the plans they are putting into place in advance for each of the four pillars are unique to them too.
We’ve become fascinated with how people envision their retirement, and what plans they are making. We also find others’ experiences inspiring as it helps us to look at ways we can adjust and improve our own plans.
So we have started sharing the retirement stories of our readers. You can read the first, the retirement story of brand consultant Sapna Pieroux here.
We would love to share your story too – whatever it looks like, and however prepared or not you might feel! To be included, we ask you to answer the questions below, and send your answers, plus a high resolution landscape photo of you to hannah@richretiree.com. If you have any questions, just send us an email to that address and we’ll be happy to reply.
Tell us your retirement story
Here are our retirement story questions.
- Tell us a bit about yourself, your work and your family situation.
- How old are you? And when you do want to/plan to retire?
Pillar one: Money
- When did you start saving for your retirement, and what prompted it?
- Do you know how much you will need to live on when you retire? And are you on track for that?
- Do you think you will stop working completely, or keep working in some way part time, at least initially, when you retire?
- Will you stay in the home you have now or move or downsize?
Pillar two: Health
- How active do you want/expect to be when you retire?
- Are you consciously doing anything now to stay healthy for when you retire? And if so, what?
- Do you have any health worries about getting older?
Pillar three: Community
- How important is being social/having friends/being part of a community to you?
- What kind of communities are you part of now?
- How do you envision your daily life when you are retired, from a social perspective?
Pillar four: Purpose
- How much of your identity is made up of what you do?
- How do you think you will feel when you stop working?
- What do you enjoy doing outside work?
- Is there anything new you are planning to start doing when you retire?