As a Retirement Coach, I have found that a couple’s capacity to have a great retirement is mainly determined by seven factors:

1.       Planning

We all know that just because two individuals share their lives, it does not mean they necessarily want to do the same things, have the same priorities, or even the same level of determination to plan for the future.  This places extra strain on any relationship, no matter how good, and changing your lifestyle as you move into retirement can be a difficult time for any couple. 

Planning to meet the needs and wishes of two people is quite challenging and often requires some help.  You need to come to mutual understandings rather than to verbal blows!  As you consider all the significant issues hopefully some common needs and wants will emerge.  Naturally some differences will also emerge.  How you deal with the differences will be a test for your communication skills.

Financial planning is a completely separate topic, one that is beyond the scope of this article.  However by planning your retirement lifestyle thoroughly you reduce the risk of making financial decisions that can turn out to be costly mistakes, such as moving to another area which doesn’t really meet your needs.  Taking the time to plan this phase of your life is wise financially, so that all of your hard-earned money is used productively to enable you to have the best quality and best suited retirement lifestyle.

2.        Communication

Couples designing their retirement lifestyle find it is important to recognise that relationship issues and the need for compromise must be considered without losing each person’s own needs and wants in the process.

Many couples, even happy well-suited couples, get into poor communication habits over many years together.  These habits can prevent you from really hearing what your partner is saying.  They can also stop you from openly expressing your wants and needs.  Ideally when you are planning your retirement lifestyle you need to create an environment of mutual sharing that is well beyond your usual level of everyday communication. 

The commitment to working through this process will challenge some of your old communication habits, revitalizing and strengthening your communication while moving towards a well-designed retirement lifestyle.  This can be great for your relationship!

3.       Mutual goals

Businesses usually create mission statements in an attempt to focus everyone on their common direction and mutual goals.  Consider how much more important it is for a couple to have shared goals that they are working towards! 

As you rediscover one another through the lifestyle planning process your mutual goals will start to emerge.  This creates a very powerful bond, a way of focusing your attention towards the things that you wish to achieve together rather than your differences and idiosyncrasies.  After all, if you are going to spend the next 20 to 30 years together, it is definitely preferable to be heading in the same direction!

4.      Personal purpose

People need purpose, a reason to get out of bed and a reason to be motivated.  Without purpose the human spirit tends to wither a little, but with purpose people can achieve great things.  If you design your lifestyle to incorporate your passions, your interests and your values, then you will build purpose into your life.  Through the process of planning your lifestyle for the next phase of life, your purpose will emerge.  This purpose needs to be strong enough to give you a sense of delight and anticipation…..not a purpose of duty and obligation, but a purpose of self-fulfilment.

5.       Freedom from financial concerns

You’ve worked hard all your life.  You’ve invested, saved, contributed to a retirement fund and generally did what you could to ensure a secure retirement.  It is bad timing for us all that the global economy has, in a very short time, robbed us of much of the value of our investments.  But, in true Baby Boomer style, we can’t let this beat us!

Even if this financial setback had not occurred, many of our generation were not attracted to the “stop work and do nothing constructive” style of retirement.   For the last few years the over 50’s trend of working on your own terms, earning additional income, and following your own unique path have been the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles.  The current global economy will provide additional incentive to many of our generation to investigate new models of retirement.

6.      Good health and wellbeing

A realistic healthy lifestyle plan is an essential part of your retirement lifestyle planning.  Through building the ingredients for good health and fitness into your retirement lifestyle plan, you increase your probability of being healthy and strong and having an overall sense of wellbeing.  Ensure that your plan includes the things you already like doing or think you will like to do.  If you create a healthy lifestyle plan that is not realistic it isn’t likely to last long!

7.      Relationships

Having supportive sustaining relationships with other people is always important, but in the very busy career years of your life relationships with friends and extended family often suffer from neglect.

When you are planning a fulfilling lifestyle for your future years it is important that you consider the relationships which will be part of your life.  How can you nurture your cherished relationships with family and friends, whether in person or at a distance?  Are there ways you can make the “have to” relationships more acceptable and more comfortable in your life?  New people will come into your life so you need to create opportunities to meet the sort of people that enhance your life, people with mutual interests or those whose company you will enjoy.  What can you build into your lifestyle which will increase the chances of widening your network of satisfying relationships?

You have the power to create the lifestyle you want for your retirement.  It will take time.  It will take commitment and communication.  But the security of knowing you have done all you can to ensure that the next phase of your life is rich and fulfilling makes it all worthwhile.