January 1, 2004

A New Year’s resolution: Visualize your upcoming retirement

By Cathleen Starr, M.S.

It’s over. Once again we leave the excitement and anxiety of the holidays behind and make the slow and sometimes tedious transition back to our normal lifestyle. Yes, we’re all on diets and full of great intentions that come with the promise of a fresh start in the brand new year. If you’re in the 50+ generation, this could be the year you choose to come to terms with the next phase of your life: RETIREMENT! It may be time to begin to shape it and sketch out just what lifestyle you will choose for yourself. For that matter, is retirement even part of your thought process, and when, if ever, will it begin for you?

While many of us have, and continue to plan for our financial needs during retirement, we fail to examine the other aspects of retirement, such as how we will occupy our time. Will we continue to work in some capacity, or are we looking forward to pursuing hobbies, finding new interests, traveling? Are we even clear on the options? How do we feel about retiring, and how should we time it? What about all of the mechanics of it like Social Security, Medicare, Medi-Gap insurance, Medi-Cal. Do we need to be looking into supplemental government benefits?

A separate topic on its own is the issue of housing. Have you thought about WHERE you will live? Are you considering downsizing, or moving out of the area? What are the pros and cons?
Along with that, what are the different levels of retirement communities? Are you looking for a recreation-based community or one that focuses more on care—or for that matter, both? Do you have a profile of your needs in mind? How might those needs change?

What about the legal side of things? Did you know there is an entire specialty in law devoted exclusively to the needs of older people? These “elderlaw” attorneys specialize in areas such as preserving assets, trusts, powers of attorney, planning for incapacity and more.

Another topic that those of us in our 50s, 60s and even 70s have to deal with is that of caring for aging parents. For many of us, serving as a caregiver has provided a remarkable education on how to map out certain things in our own upcoming retirement.

And, then of course, there is the challenge of managing our assets to produce income, and learning how to live on a smaller income base. Will you sell your home and invest the proceeds? Will you be living off of the interest of your investments combined with a pension? Or will you need to look into living on a smaller scale, including low-income rental housing, Medi-Cal, and part-time earnings?

When you lay it all out, there is more than enough to support a course in the topic of visualizing your retirement. At least that’s what I thought last year when I began teaching six-week courses on Women Approaching Retirement. Since then I have been asked why I don’t open the course to men as well. And, so it begins, “Women AND MEN Approaching Retirement.” If you are interested, the next session begins in mid- February. For more info call (408) 268-1737.

Here’s to a very Happy New Year to each of you!

Cathleen Starr, M.S. is the director of Geriatric Advisory Program at Almaden Valley Counseling Service. The service educates and advises adult children of the elderly on elder issues and provides individual and family counseling. For more information, call (408) 268-1737 or e-mail castarr@sbcglobal.net