Hello World! It's Me, Dave!

Let's get this party started!

I know it looks like I'm plunging into the great unknown in this photo, but trust me, no bloggers were harmed in the making of this post. I wanted to use this picture in my inaugural article for my new site, ThrivingIntoRetirement.com, because I know that for anyone thinking about retiring, it can feel a bit like taking a running leap off a cliff without a lot of confidence that something will be there to catch you. I know because I'm right there with you. I myself am planning to retire within the next 5-10 years--but I'm also aware that there are many variables that could cause that timeline to vary widely.

I started this company and site to help and empower you. I tend to do a lot of research before I take the leap into a major decision (I like to think of this quality as logical and maybe a little endearing, but in reality I think my wife finds it slightly annoying). True to form, I have researched the heck out of what it means to be retired in this post-millennium, post-COVID, post-everything-traditional age. What I've learned is profound and surprising, so I want to share these insights with you. This article continues below with some of those insights. There will be many more to come.

What you do with these insights will be up to you. But here's a fair warning: along the way, I will be encouraging you to do something. It's up to us to take ownership of our retirements and make them what we want them to be. That's empowerment.

Being Prepared for Retirement

A Gift To Your Future Self

What does it mean to be prepared for retirement?

Is it all about wealth management—how much money you have invested or saved up?

That's part of it, of course. But not all of it. Far from it, actually.

Just like in your life up until now, there is so much more than money that contributes to how happy and fulfilled you are.

What is the state of your health and wellness?
How are your social relationships—do you have deep, lasting connections with a few friends? A life partner? Family members?
What about purpose—is there something that drives you, gives your life meaning?
Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you on any sort of trek of self-discovery to understand who you are or why you are?

I have put together an "Aging Manifesto", which invites you to explore these and many other topics deeply. My hope is that doing so will help you prepare yourself across the multiple facets of your life—not just your bank account—to thrive into retirement.

My byline for this site is: How will you know when you are ready?

In a way, this can be sort of a trick question. Why do I say that? Well, for one thing, many people don't get to choose their retirement date. According to a 2018 study by the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies, 56% of workers retired sooner than they had planned. Of those, over half (54%) said they retired due to employment-related reasons (e.g., job loss, org changes at their job, unhappiness with their job, etc.). Almost the same amount (47%) retired due to health and/or family-related reasons.

And that was 2018. Meaning, before the world blew up due to COVID-19. It's a safe bet that those percentages have increased since March, 2020.

In fact, according to a study late in 2020 by the Pew Research Center, the number of Baby Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) who retired in 2020 rose by about 3.2 million over the number who had retired in 2019 (from 25.4 million people retiring in 2019 to 28.6 million in 2020).

All this is to say that any one of us might need to be prepared to retire even before we think we're ready.

This means that we each must prepare for our retirements right away, across multiple facets of our lives. We can't put it off for another day. Whether you're 20 or 40 or 60, there are things you can and should do now for the benefit of your future self, to paint a better picture of your future than the one you have in your hands today. There will be many articles to come with ideas and examples of such gifts you can give your future self.

Your future self will thank you for sticking around with us as we help you prepare to thrive into retirement.

A Gift To Your Future Self

Disclaimer: the language used in the quotation is intended to be poetic and not a guarantee of future results.