Posted: May 4th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Life in Retirement | 3 Comments »
The Attract Your Ideal Retirement Blog by Judy Juricek is designed to help you identify, create and live your ideal life in retirement. Your focus should not be solely on money in retirement – consider your life and all the things that you would like to do, places you would like to go, and people to see and meet.
Judy Juricek is a long-time Human Resources professional, is a Certified 2Young2Retire Facilitator and is a contributing author to “65 Things to Do When You Retire” with Jimmy Carter, Gloria Steinem, and many others. Her ebook, “Retirement Planning: Creating a Blueprint for Your Ideal Life in Retirement” will be released in Spring 2012.
Posted: May 4th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Retirement Planning | No Comments »
This is a repost from January 2011.
The beginning of the year is the quintessential time to make resolutions and many people, particularly women, make a resolution to clean their closets. There is probably stuff in there that you aren’t even aware of and it really needs to go. Do you remember the size ___ pants that used to fit well but now are a bit snug? Could they go to a great charity where someone else could actually be using them? Do you really need five pair of navy blue pumps?
The yearly closet cleaning out resolution is also a good euphemism for planning for your IDEAL life in retirement. Do you have a lot of clutter hanging around your mind that pushes out possibilities? Are you stuck in the day-to-day minutia that prevents you from being able to envision the life that you so deserve (whatever that might be)?
Don’t worry, there are techniques that you can use to clean out the clutter in your closets and in your own mind to allow you to only include what you love or what you envision as your IDEAL life. If we are talking about the closet, I have found that taking everything out and evaluating it one piece at is an effective way of really seeing what is in your closet. Of course, this takes time and commitment. I have helped friends to this and when we got everything out, it looked like a scene from one of those clutter reality shows. It was hard to believe that all of this stuff is in one closet! As you are doing this, remember that only the stuff that you really love stays (which does include things with sentimental value). You will truly be amazed at what you hold on to for no apparent reason. After you cull through what you don’t want, you can make a detailed list and donate it to charity or have a garage sale. I personally donate my stuff because I don’t have the patience for having a garage sale (but I love going to them!). Just think, a legitimate tax donation that will help others while you are helping yourself.
Speaking of helping yourself, now it’s time to clear the clutter from your mind. During your most productive time of day, find a quiet place with a great cup of your favorite beverage and just start listing what you have on your mind; do a mind dump of your mental to do list. Once everything is on paper, it doesn’t have to be in your mind anymore. Then, close your eyes and envision your absolute best day in retirement. Don’t edit or judge it, just let it happen. When you open your eyes, remember the best aspects of your ideal day so the next time you find yourself in a very stressful situation, remember the IDEAL day and how it made your feel – uncluttered, free, and fulfilled which is kind of like looking at a clean closet.
Posted: March 12th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Life in Retirement | No Comments »
OK, I do not know one person who would not like to save time and money – especially those who are planning for are just transitioning into retirement. You may already employ some of these recommendations; some you may reject totally; and some you may consider. Do not feel like you have to try them all at once; pick one and see how it works and then try another.
Here are the methods that will save you time and money:
- Turn off your television – I’m not only asking you to dump your cable or satellite service which can easily save between $75 to $200 per month, I’m asking you to stop watching television altogether. Yes, I said it, stop watching television. If you do not believe that the “boob tube” takes a lot of your time, track how much you spend just in one week. Think of all that you could do if you turned off your television and did used your valuable time doing things like reading, working around the house, or planning for your ideal life in retirement. If you still have kids or grandkids at home or visiting, you can go outside with them, weather permitting. Turning off the television equals more quality time with family, friends, and for yourself.
- Sell the stuff that you do not need – Remember when you were going to start this hobby and you bought all of the stuff for it? Well, it’s been sitting in a box in the corner of your spare room ever since (in fact, the spare room has become a “junk room”). Do yourself, your house, and your family a favor and cull through the crap that you don’t need that is just taking up space in your house. You can have a big garage sale or you can sell it online – the key piece of that statement is to just sell it! If you haven’t used it, why do you still have it? Let someone else have it who may do something with it.
- Dump retail; shop thrift stores or garage sales – On the opposite side of selling stuff that you don’t want, forget retail and shop garage sales and thrift stores. For people who crave great bargains on high quality stuff, this is definitely the way to go. You can often find name-brand merchandise at a fraction of the cost but be aware that sometimes you will be the victim of aggressive shoppers at both. If you are prepared, you can score great deals.
- Eat at home – Not only will eating at home save you money, it may also save your life! If you choose to eat health at home by cooking wholesome meals for yourself and the folks you live with, you will reap the rewards. Folks who eat at home generally eat healthier than those who drive through the fast food lane and eat food from a box or a wrapper. You can also fix a large meal for the price of one meal even at fast food (not from the dollar menu, of course) and you can even use the preparation time to talk to the people who live with you. What a concept!
- Take your lunch – Being able to take your lunch every day is a byproduct of eating at home. Often, you will fix more than is needed so guess what? You can take what is leftover and eat it for lunch the next day? In my area, the average lunch is from $7 – $15 so just think of how much you can save even if you take your lunch three days out of the week? If you take off an average of two weeks per year and take your lunch three days a week, at an average of $10 per lunch, you could save a whopping $1440 per year! Yes, you can put it in your 401(k) and let compounding interest work its magic.
- Don’t pay for what you can get for free – The first thing in this category that comes to mind is ladies who pay for artificial fingernails, which I have never understood. I realize that they look beautiful all one length but it is worth the time and effort? You be the judge.
Again, I realize that a lot of these are out of a lot of people’s desire to downsize their expenses. Just pick one or two and go from there. I would love to hear how these techniques work for you in saving time and money.
Posted: March 4th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Retirement Planning | No Comments »
Planning for your ideal life in retirement is a huge goal but there are most certainly many smaller goals that are included in your plan. You may feel overwhelmed when you consider all that you have to do and account for in writing your plan. Good news, goal setting and planning can be easy if you break it down into logical steps.
Brainstorm your big objective.
What are you trying to accomplish? At this step, we’re trying to get to your highest-level goal, so when you name something, ask yourself, “WHY?”
For instance, if you say, “I want to retire by December 2012,” then ask yourself, “Why?” You may answer, “So I can move onto my new life filled with fun, activities, and family. I also want to work in retirement but only in a job that I enjoy.” That may seem like a logical endpoint, but don’t stop there; you need to go further.
Ask yourself “WHY” you want to retire and you’ll soon find out that there are a variety of possible motivators. You may hear yourself say something like this:
I want to retire so I can escape the job that I do not enjoy anymore;
I want to retire so I can spend more time with family;
I want to retire so I can move to a new area;
I want to retire so I control my own time.
Each one of these higher-level objectives is slightly different, and is going to result in a slightly different goal or path to success. Knowing your “WHY” helps you determine your “HOW.”
Define your goal in specific language.
It’s not enough to know that you want to make money so you can quit your day job. In order to set an excellent goal, you need to know EXACTLY how much money you want to make.
Instead of the vague “I want to retire by December 2012,” say, “I want to retire by December 31 so that I can sell my house, move closer to my kids, enjoy time with my spouse, and can start my own business as a public speaker.” The more specific and detailed you make your goal, the easier it is to visualize and measure your progress.
Here’s another example. Let’s say your goal is to outsource as much of your business as you can. Your “Why” is to save you time so you have the ability to create new products, so you can ultimately make more money and quit your day job. You may state a simple goal like “I want to outsource 50% of my tasks.” Outsourcing is a worthy objective, but it’s not a good goal. Because your real goal is to save time, you want to define your goal in terms of hours. A better goal would be, “I want to outsource enough work so I save myself 4 hours a day.” This goal is much more defined and specific – and related to your higher-level objective.
Set a time-frame for your goal.
What if your goal was to make $10,000 to pay off your credit card debt. Do you want that money by next year? Or do you need it by the time you retire? What if you need it next month? Each of those scenarios will result in very different strategies.
Also, putting a time-frame to a goal gives it an inherent sense of urgency. As you know, many of us don’t start working on a project until we have a deadline. Even when a deadline is self-imposed, it helps motivate us.
Goal-setting isn’t a scary, overwhelming, or extremely difficult task. In fact, it’s pretty simple when you break it down into steps like this method illustrates.
Posted: February 26th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Retirement Planning | No Comments »
We all can claim excuses for not planning for our ideal life in retirement. “I work too much” or “I spend too much time in the car commuting to the job” or “I spend too much time with the kids (or other members of the family) to sit down and do any retirement planning.” Do you really know how you spend your time? If the answer is no, now is the time to spend a bit of time to find out.
First, get out your favorite spreadsheet program or even a pencil and a simple piece of paper. Keep in mind that one week, 7 days, contains 168 hours. That is an important figure to know and we will use it in a bit.
In doing this exercise with someone else, we identified these average figures:
Sleeping - 36 hours (6 hours per night times 6 nights)
Working – 55 hours (50 hours of work plus 5 hours of commuting to work every day)
Eating – 12 hours (1.5 hours per day to prepare and eat plus 1.5 to prepare for and do the shopping)
Spending time with family/friends/pets – 14 hours (2 hours per day)
Watching television – 7 hours (1 hour per day)
Getting ready for work – 6 hours (1 hour per day x 5 days, 30 minutes on the off days)
Exercise – 3 hours per week (1 hour per day times 3 days a week)
All of these activities equal 133 hours in a week. If you subtract 133 from 168, you are left with 35 hours. So, do you still think that you still don’t have time to plan for your ideal life in retirement?
Get creative about carving out time to craft your ideal life in retirement. Perhaps early in the morning before everyone else gets up or late at night after everyone has turned in might be something to consider. Could you go to the library on the weekend for a bit of quiet time just to yourself? Take a bit of time to consider how you can find time just for you.
Another technique to get motivated about creating the plan for your ideal life in retirement is to use your favorite tool. If it is your iPad, use it. If it’s your prized pen and beautiful paper, use those; anything to help motivate you to get started. I would venture to say that once you get started, it will be tough to stop. Consider this an investment in yourself that will reap many rewards today and tomorrow.
Posted: February 20th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Retirement Planning | No Comments »
Now that you are considering retirement or are newly retired, you are undoubtedly thinking about things that you can do that your schedule did not allow for in the past. We all have huge, wandering trips where we go to far-flung locations on exotic adventures, right? Have you stopped to think about what adventures await you in your own backyard (or close to it)? Keep in mind that many offer reduced prices or even sometimes free admissions and you can go when all of the other folks are busy at work (that is satisfying enough just by itself!).
Museums
In most major cities, there are amazing museums that range from art to zoology. They offer new perspectives on the past and can help you appreciate how far we have come even just in the past 35 years or so. Museums are also wonderful places to just sit and be quiet and contemplate your ideal life in retirement. They also provide an ideal place to enhance your learning to keep you brain engaged which is important at all stages of life but particularly in retirement.
Libraries
Since the economic downturn, libraries have been a haven for many who are choosing to do their internet browsing at the library and are borrowing books instead of purchasing them. If you have not been to your local library in a while, now is the time to check it out. In many libraries around the country, you can purchase books at a greatly reduced price and check out DVDs instead of renting them. Libraries are also a wonderful place to sit and read the newspaper or a magazine. After all, if you read them and leave them at the library, they are not cluttering up your house!
Walking Trails and Parks
Depending on the time of year, walking trails and parks can be a wonderful way to spend some of your day. You can exercise (which is vitally important) and commune with nature. You can also take a book to read or a notebook to write your thoughts on this new phase of your life. You can also take your best canine or human friend on a walk if you want company.
Public Buildings such as Capitals or Historic Churches
Not everyone has access to public buildings in their city but many cities do have beautiful, historic buildings such as churches or old homes. Visiting a historic building is a fascinating way to spend an afternoon. You can think about the historic people who have inhabited the building before you and observe the wonderful architecture. Many also include beautiful paintings and sculptures that are available for viewing. During non-busy periods, these public buildings can also be a wonderful place to get out of the house, gain a new perspective, and contemplate your ideal life in retirement.
These are but a few ideas of free or low-cost ways of spending time in wonderful places in your own backyard. One thing that you might want to do in making a list of the places that you want to visit is to get a visitor’s guide from the local Chamber of Commerce. Since we live in a town or city, it is easy to overlook the obvious but this resource can help you plan your itinerary (and it is often free as well). What are you waiting for, it’s time to create your own adventure in your own backyard!
Posted: February 12th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Life in Retirement | 1 Comment »
Remember your school days when you were continuously learning? Your mind as a child was like a sponge soaking up knowledge and adding to the bank in your brain. As an adult, you undoubtedly learned a lot of information and new skills when you first started your career and along that pathway. How long has it been since you learned something new, even for fun? If it’s been a while, it’s time to consider working your brain again.
First, think about something that you already to that you would like to build skill in or something brand new. Perhaps your grandmother was a wonderful knitter and you always wanted to follow in her footsteps or your friend is a great gardener who grows her own organic vegetables and you would like to do the same. When you are thinking about what you would like to learn, you just might come up with more than one! Make a list to track what you want to do so you don’t forget. Don’t try to tackle too many at one time because you will spread yourself too thin and end up burning out before you have achieved your goal.
Start researching how you can take a course to learn more about your area of interest. There are a lot of no- or low-cost options in the community for building skills. Many independent school districts, community colleges, and universities offer continuing education courses at a low price. They are a wonderful resource for building a new skill and for creating a network of folks with the same interest as you (it’s always helpful to have resources!).
Many businesses will also offer low-cost options for building a skill. For example, a beading shop will offer courses in creating custom jewelry designs or a nursery having courses in organic gardening. Of course these benefit the businesses but they also help you to build your skills in your chosen area.
You can even hire a personal coach to help you build your skills in a one-on-one setting. For example, a personal trainer is simply a coach who helps you improve your fitness level by providing one-on-one sessions. Believe it or not, there are coaches that can help you quilt, build skills in public speaking, becoming a better photographer and a variety of other skills.
Once you have decided what you want to do and who is going to help you accomplish it, set aside time in your schedule to achieve your goal. Now, it’s time for you to stretch your brain, build new skills, meet new people, and get out there!
Posted: February 5th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »
This is a repost from January 2011.
The beginning of the year is the quintessential time to make resolutions and many people, particularly women, make a resolution to clean their closets. There is probably stuff in there that you aren’t even aware of and it really needs to go. Do you remember the size ___ pants that used to fit well but now are a bit snug? Could they go to a great charity where someone else could actually be using them? Do you really need five pair of navy blue pumps?
The yearly closet cleaning out resolution is also a good euphemism for planning for your IDEAL life in retirement. Do you have a lot of clutter hanging around your mind that pushes out possibilities? Are you stuck in the day-to-day minutia that prevents you from being able to envision the life that you so deserve (whatever that might be)?
Don’t worry, there are techniques that you can use to clean out the clutter in your closets and in your own mind to allow you to only include what you love or what you envision as your IDEAL life.
If we are talking about the closet, I have found that taking everything out and evaluating it one piece at is an effective way of really seeing what is in your closet. Of course, this takes time and commitment. I have helped friends to this and when we got everything out, it looked like a scene from one of those clutter reality shows. It was hard to believe that all of this stuff is in one closet! As you are doing this, remember that only the stuff that you really love stays (which does include things with sentimental value). You will truly be amazed at what you hold on to for no apparent reason. After you cull through what you don’t want, you can make a detailed list and donate it to charity or have a garage sale. I personally donate my stuff because I don’t have the patience for having a garage sale (but I love going to them!). Just think, a legitimate tax donation that will help others while you are helping yourself.
Speaking of helping yourself, now it’s time to clear the clutter from your mind. During your most productive time of day, find a quiet place with a great cup of your favorite beverage and just start listing what you have on your mind; do a mind dump of your mental to do list. Once everything is on paper, it doesn’t have to be in your mind anymore. Then, close your eyes and envision your absolute best day in retirement. Don’t edit or judge it, just let it happen. When you open your eyes, remember the best aspects of your ideal day so the next time you find yourself in a very stressful situation, remember the IDEAL day and how it made your feel – uncluttered, free, and fulfilled which is kind of like looking at a clean closet.
Posted: January 29th, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Retirement Planning | No Comments »
A huge majority of people live in a very busy, loud, and sometime chaotic world outside of our homes and unfortunately sometimes inside them as well. This makes it impossible to sit down, think, contemplate, and write about your ideal life in retirement. Fortunately, if you are creative, you can find contemplation time to formulate the next phase of your life.
Stay Up Late or Get Up Early
This may be tough but I bet that there is quiet time in your home before everyone else gets up. If you get up early an hour or two, drink your favorite morning beverage, and think about what you want in the next phase of your life, you will find that it is time well spent. To ease into it, perhaps one day a week up an hour or two early can lead to more early morning planning sessions.
On the other side of the morning, staying up late at night as soon as everyone is off to bed. They both require discipline. Turn off the television, computer, iPhone, Android or other device and focus solely on your task.
Turn Off Your Car Radio
Another technique is to turn off the radio in your car as you are driving anywhere. Of course, it is impossible to write while you are driving but you can make mental notes of what you want to include and exclude in your ideal life in retirement and write them down once you have arrived at your destination. In fact, very few people use this time for contemplation because we are accustomed to listen to our car radio. Who knows, you just may become addicted to the quiet inside your car and keep the radio off for good.
Wear Noise Cancelling Headphones or Earpplugs
This is a tough one but if you travel by train or by plane, you just may have some extra time to plan that you did not count on. One you are underway, put on noise cancelling headphones or earplugs to block out as much noise as you can. Although it’s difficult on some aircraft, you can get out a laptop or pen and paper to write about your life in retirement. You just may find that getting lost in your thoughts is the best way to make it through the trip and in the end, congratulate yourself on spending your time wisely.
Find a Park or Get Outdoors
When the weather is agreeable, one of the best places to contemplate your retirement plan is a local park or outdoor space. They often have picnic tables or benches that can act as your desk while your write down your thoughts, feelings, and goals. Sometimes you have to sequester yourself away from others but you will find your efforts rewarding. Being away from other people and in nature allows you to contemplate the meaning of your life and how you want to spend your next years. It makes you appreciate the beauty of the world and gives you encouragement to move forward with your dreams.
Now it is Your Turn
How can you find time in your busy schedule to plan for retirement? If you are creative and really scour your schedule for extra minutes, I bet that you can find time everyday to plan for your ideal life in retirement. You just have to commit to and do it! You will find that it is a very valuable investment of your time and energy as your plan for your ideal life in retirement takes shape.
Posted: January 22nd, 2012 | Author: Judy Juricek | Filed under: Life in Retirement | No Comments »
Webster’s Dictionary (online) defines retirement as “withdrawal from one’s position or occupation or from active working life or a place of seclusion or privacy.” The question for you is – how do you define retirement?
If you really dig deep for the answer, your will uncover a lot of information. In answering this question for myself, I remembered a conversation my parents had long ago (they didn’t know that I was listening). Mom was talking about how my grandparents were having issues because my grandfather has just retired. My grandmother had worked at home her whole adult life and now he was there all of the time which was causing a lot of friction. In addition to the friction between them, my grandfather was also suffering from depression because he had lost his purpose. At that moment, my perceptions of retirement were beginning to be cemented in my mind. When you retire, you don’t have anything to do and you get in other people’s way.
I suspect that many people view retirement with the same definition as my grandparents. It is vital, however, to recognize that you are the creator of your life. You can choose to accept the status quo and have a boring retirement or you can choose to take a bold step and craft your ideal life in retirement.
We all have options, which one are you going to choose? Are you going to just accept life in retirement or create the life in retirement of your dreams?
