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Today, we’re talking about some practical actions you can take to create time and money freedom.
Are you planning to work during your “retirement years.” (I like to call them the rewirement years.)
- Perhaps you have a passion for teaching others your knowledge or skills?
- Perhaps your retirement income isn’t adequate to support the lifestyle you would love? o
- Perhaps you don’t have enough savings for retirement?
I recently read an article that said:
According to a 2019 survey by GoBanking Rates, 64% of those surveyed expected to retire with less than $10,000 in savings.
Overall, 46% of respondents had not saved anything for retirement.
And of those age 65 and older, a third had no retirement savings at all, while another third had less than $50,000 to carry them through their retirement years.
Northwestern Mutual’s 2020 Planning and Progress study found that 21% of Americans expected to keep working after age 65, and nearly half of those said it was due to necessity.
During 2020, 14% dipped into retirement savings — and 8% sold off some investments — to fund basic living expenses.
The Good News
It mentions the importance of having a savings account during retirement, and for emergencies and suggests that those who haven’t started saving can immediately change their prospects by consistently putting some money aside each month.
It also made some suggestions for ways to extend your investments and retirement savings that you might not have thought of.
I want you to know that there are many ways to achieve what you would love and you don’t have to settle or live in worry and fear.
When you use the DreamBuilder System and create a clear vision for the life you would absolutely love, you will be inspired with all the answers you need.
Some of you might not believe this until you get started so I think sharing some of the tips from this article may open up your mind to some new possibilities.
Ease into retirement
Rather than quitting your job immediately at age 65, continuing to work even part time while you’re still healthy and capable allows you to test the retirement waters first before jumping in with both feet.
Working part time allows you to continue to earn, which can delay or offset the amount you need to use from your retirement fund.
Working part-time generates social as well as financial benefits. Transitioning more slowly from full-time work to retirement gives retirees an opportunity to carefully consider their options and take up new interests while still maintaining social relationships from work.
Easing into retirement means you can put off claiming Social Security benefits which increases your benefits amount when you do claim them later on. By waiting to claim benefits until age 70, retirees “earn” an additional 8 percent annually on their Social Security pay-outs. There are no increases in Social Security benefits for delaying past the age of 70.
Reduce expenses
If you haven’t saved much by the time you retire, a big part of your strategy will be to downsize and save after retirement. One important way to do this is to relocate to a smaller house. A smaller house can allow you to unlock some of the equity in your current property while also saving on utility costs.
Relocation can also result in huge savings. For example, the annual cost of living in Toledo, Ohio is $38,643 while the annual cost of living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina is $43,102.
Some retirees even opt to live in a different country where the cost of living is significantly lower. These strategies can improve the chances that you’ll be able to make your retirement fund and Social Security benefits go the proper distance.
Take Care of Your Health
The Article also mentions the importance — financially speaking — of taking care of your health.
It points out that, an increasing number of people want to work until age 70, or longer and many assume they can, but the 2020 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 48% of current retirees had left the workforce earlier than they planned, with personal or spousal health concerns a major factor.
It goes on to point out that eating right, consistent exercise and regular doctor visits can bolster earning potential as well as your constitution.
Health problems can hurt your income stream and reduce your chances to get a job, and medical treatments can eat up time that you could use in other ways.
Good health can mean fewer ER visits, fewer treatments and fewer hospital stays, all saving you money that might otherwise come out of your retirement fund.
And, it says, according to a recent report issued by HealthView Services, an average 65-year-old healthy couple will spend $662,156 on healthcare during their remaining years. That figure doesn’t include dental, over-the-counter drug and long term care costs (and as a reminder, many eye, ear, and dental care costs are not even covered under Medicare or by Medigap policies). Every year you work may mean another year of health insurance coverage as well as income.
This is a good example of how the four domains of life (health, relationships, work and time and money freedom) overlap.
So, there are lots of reasons that you might choose to keep working well into your later years and to take care of your health.
What Would You Love?
However, I want you to choose based on what you would love and not feeling overwhelmed or having a belief that you have to settle.
I’m here to support you in choosing to do work you love, earning the income you desire and enjoying every remaining day to the fullest.
It’s totally possible to choose to work AND feel happy, rich and free at the same time.
Resources
In addition to being a DreamBuilder Teacher and Coach, I’ve done many different kinds of work and studied business-building and marketing so I’m able to refer you to people and programs that will help you take the most effective action steps for accomplishing your DreamBuilder Vision.
When a client’s vision includes writing a book, starting a business, changing careers or finding interesting part-time side gigs, I can refer them to reliable resources.
Clifton Strengths
One of the resources I love to share is the Clifton Strengths Personality Inventory. Have you heard of it? Or perhaps you are familiar with some of the other personality systems like DISC, Myers-Briggs, Kolbe, and the Enneagram. I’ve included the links for more information.
I’ve explored all of them and found each of them to be very interesting but the Clifton Strengths really made a difference for me and the way I perceived myself. I particularly liked the level of detail in their report.
Here’s an example from my profile
The top two themes of my personality are what they call “learner” and “intellection.”
Under learner it said:
People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them.
And it goes on to say,
By nature, you acquire knowledge more easily when you can talk with others about ideas, concepts, or theories. Thoughts come alive for you when questions are posed and answers are proposed. You have a delightful time thinking out loud and listening to intelligent people express themselves. You naturally document or store in your mind bits and pieces of discussions. You want to refer back to these insights or facts whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Driven by your talents, you yearn to be inspired by your work. You want experience to be your teacher. You need to feel enthused by your work or studies. You constantly acquire knowledge and skills. Whenever you study facts, ponder concepts, test theories, or sharpen your skills, you feel most alive.
Chances are good that you not only buy books or check them out from the library; you also read them. Your investigative mind is restless until you have collected lots of information about factors that produce various outcomes. You are motivated to read more about topics of personal and professional interest.
My second theme is Intellection
People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.
By nature, you may set aside about five hours of quiet time each week to think. Perhaps you pause to consider things you need to do better. Occasionally you figure out how to update or streamline specific processes, tasks, ideas, or activities. It’s very likely that you are determined to keep abreast of the news. You probably satisfy your hunger for current information by habitually reading newspapers, magazines, correspondence, memos, files, or Internet sites.
Chances are good that you employ your passion for reading to collect lots of good ideas for resolving issues, fixing mistakes, or overcoming obstacles. The act of reading allows you to generate options for dealing with all sorts of predicaments — that is, difficult, perplexing, or trying situations.
Driven by your talents, you believe you make great strides mentally when you have opportunities to exchange ideas, theories, or concepts with intelligent people. You delight in accumulating unusual insights. Often you expand on these thoughts. You probably are eager to test them during conversations with other intelligent individuals. This is one way you broaden your knowledge base.
Because of your strengths, you have an active and quick mind. You constantly process the “hows” and “whys” of situations. You gather all kinds of interesting facts from printed material, such as books or news publications. You enjoy sifting through documents. You thoroughly examine the most relevant information. When your research yields more questions than answers, you probably find a book that promises to expand your thinking. You have been known to read a 200-page volume in the course of one evening, morning, or afternoon.
I had to laugh when I first saw this. It is so me. I thought, “oh my gosh! I might have become a college professor! And it explains why I love reading and sharing information with you so much!
I found myself wishing that I had known this information sooner and that my parents had known about it. We would have understood each other better, had more harmonious relationships and I might have become a life coach many years earlier.
Your History Does Not Determine Your Destiny
No matter, our history does not determine our destiny. We can choose a new direction at any time. I have found my true purpose and a system for living a life I absolutely love and I want that for you too.
So I encourage you to check it out.
The website is https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/ and their homepage sounds so much like DreamBuilding. It says,
“Live Your Best Life Using Your Strengths.”
You Are Unique. You Are Powerful. Be Confident With Who You Are.
Does that sound familiar? Yes!
They go on to say that, “Understanding your strengths unlocks your potential and leads you to greater performance.”
I think you will find it very interesting to take the inventory and see how it aligns with your vision for the life you would absolutely love. (If you haven’t done your vision statement yet, see episode #9.)
And if you’re having a difficult time identifying your unique abilities and what you would love, the inventory can help you get started.
Their website says that 25+ million people have completed the CliftonStrengths assessment — and use their results to maximize their potential at work and everywhere else.
Some quotes from the testimonial video on the website…
“It’s transformed my career, my marriage, my family, my personal relationships.” Again we see the integration of the four domains of life.
“Strengths changed my life…helping me get crystal clear about who I am. I think for a lot of my life I was trying to mold myself as a leader based on external expectations of who I thought I wanted it to be. (I can relate to this, anybody else?) And so learning about my strengths freed me from those expectations so I could lean into who I am naturally and it changed my performance, it changed my energy and passion, it made me excited to come to work every day because I could lean into those things that really just come naturally and authentically to me.
“And that to me is what a strengths based approach can do, is it can take something that somebody may have, their entire life been resisting or fighting (for me it was being bookish) and instead empower them to use it in a way that really achieves what they’re trying to achieve.”
I am far more engaged in my role. I’m excited. I would say I exhibit what’s called flow, which is this timelessness in my job. It’s easy for me to work a 60-hour week and not even know it because I enjoy what I do so much. (That’s me now in my work as a life coach.) And that’s the big difference, when you’re living your natural talents and strengths, work doesn’t feel like work, it’s you living your passion out in what you do every single day.
I can tell you it makes a huge difference in your performance, in your well-being, your relationships inside of work and then absolutely your home relationships as well those personal relationships, family, all of that, it makes everything better when you can be living with your strengths.
I’m using my strengths every single day, so I think for me the life changing thing has been discovering that my natural self is awesome and being my natural self actually achieves that excellence and that success that I had always hoped for in my life.
Such good stuff!
Homework
Now, what are you going to do differently this week as a result of listening to this podcast? Join the discussion and let us know in the comments below.
Now as you go, remember…
- The Power within you is far more powerful than any circumstance or condition you are facing.
- Your past does not determine your future. Your ‘story’ does not define you or your Infinite potential.
- The dream in your heart is Life seeking to be expressed and realized in the world through you.
- You are here to fulfill your heart’s desire and live a life you “absolutely LOVE living!”
- The dream in your heart really can become the life you absolutely LOVE living!
And here are the next steps for taking your life to the next level.
1. Get The Book
Get a free copy of my book, Living Happy, Rich and Free After 60, The guidebook and scorecard for achieving your dreams at https://dreambigandbloom.com/guidebook/
2. Listen to the “Power of Vision” Workshop
Listen at your own pace to this free, three-part series where you’ll learn the foundational principles of DreamBuilding, and create your vision for a life that makes you feel happy, rich and free. Listen now at DreamBigandBloom.com/workshop
2. Be a guest on the Podcast
This is a great way to get a feel for the process in a friendly environment. Coaching women just like you, to use the DreamBuilder principles and practices to overcome any challenge and achieve any dream is one of my favorite things to do. To be a guest just visit DreamBigandBloom.com/guest
3. Join the Dream Builder Program
Studies have shown that when education is combined with coaching, individuals increase their productivity by an average of 86%.That’s why top athletes, celebrities and successful business leaders hire coaches. To make this difference in your life, join the 12-week DreamBuilder Program and get in-depth personalized support applying these powerful principles and practices. To get started visit dreamBigandBloom.com/get-started
Thank you for listening, it’s my joy and privilege to serve you.
Dream big, follow your heart and live with all the joy, purpose, prosperity and fulfillment you deserve.
Much love to you,
Mardi