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Here’s the 3×5 card challenge: Summarize everything essential for retirement on a 3×5 card, and then share your summary here. For the sake of this post, please limit your advice to eight to ten bullet points.
This is the first in a series of posts on: Everything You Need to Know on a 3×5 Card.
Have fun…
Bill
1) Have an attitude of gratitude
2) Discover your own idea of happiness whether that’s pursuing your interests and passions, trying new things…or dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing.
3) Give with a generous heart
4) Prioritize your physical health by maintaining a healthy diet, taking care of your teeth, staying active through regular exercise, and ensuring you get adequate sleep.
5) Nurture your mental and emotional health by fostering and building relationships, embracing challenges, and staying curious.
6) Strengthen your spirituality thru reflection and connecting with nature
7) Celebrate your wins
Since you did not specify that it be “financial”, the field is wide open.
For me:
(1) having people to love and be loved by;
(2) experiencing a positive viewpoint and a sense of basic happiness;
(3) good mental and physical health;
(4) a mind that remains alert, active and curious; and
(5) a nest egg in which you can have some confidence and that easily supports what you want to do.
As a 1 year “newbie” to retirement here is my advice:
I love the other advice suggestions made, especially those related to speaking with younger people. Pay forward your knowledge and experience.
Love the last point!
**On Retirement: It’s All About Your Attitude and Mindset**
1. Stay connected with your family.
2. Build new friendships.
3. Volunteer with your community or church.
4. Take hobby classes at your local community center.
5. Start your day early and dress as if you’re going to work.
6. Plan your daily tasks, setting start and stop times for each.
7. Take naps when needed.
8. Exercise every day.
9. Consider a part-time job without focusing on pay or status.
10. Engage in conversations with young people as often as possible.
Here is my (very quick) SWAG
So many things come to mind. But here are a couple:
1) When evaluating job offers, look closely at the benefits versus the salary. Two of my three jobs came with great benefits but so-so salaries. One job had a great salary but not so stellar benefits. 28 of my 30 working years were spent in the two jobs with great benefits. It’s one of the reasons I could retire when I did.
2) While planning is essential to a financially successful retirement, luck can certainly play a role. Being able to sell a home at the peak of the real estate market was another reason I could retire when I did. Getting vested in a state pension plan two years before it was completely overhauled played a role in the timing of my retirement. Getting ‘grandfathered’ into a generous early-retiree health insurance benefit at my final job was due to both luck and timing.
I’m cheating here by offering an answer I’ve given before. Eight years ago, The New York Times’s Ron Lieber asked for the index-card guide to financial wellness, which is arguably the cornerstone of a successful retirement:
https://humbledollar.com/2016/01/five-keys-to-financial-wellness/
My five points:
1. Keep housing, cars and other fixed living costs to less than 50% of income. That’ll mean less financial stress, more cash for fun—and the ability to save gobs of money.
2. Never take on any debt you can’t pay off by retirement.
3. In your 30s, worry what would happen if you died or couldn’t work. In your 60s, worry what would happen if you lived longer than you ever imagined.
4. You can’t control the markets, but you can control risk, taxes and investment costs. Hint: Buy index funds.
5. Want greater happiness? Design a financial life where you spend your days engaged in fulfilling work—and your evenings with friends and family.