Planning for the next phase of life

The latest episode in our Resilience Unravelled series has now been released, Resilience Unravelled – Planning for the next phase of life.

 In this episode, Dr. Russell Thackeray talks to Dr Sara Geber who is based near San Francisco, California. Sara has a background in organisational development and leadership development and a Ph.D. in Human Behaviour. She is also a nationally recognised authority and expert in the area of life planning and retirement transition. Around ten years ago, Sara realised a lot of her executive coaching clients were starting to think about their retirement plans rather than their strategic plans. She became increasingly interested in how the Baby Boomer generation were entering a period where retirement was increasingly on their minds. The one thing they didn’t seem to want to do though was do it the same way their parents did.

Over the last few years the idea of retirement has changed. Baby Boomers want to do things their way. They aren’t necessarily interested in the stereotypical retirement leisure activities, they want to stay active and productive. A lot of them don't want to retire in their 60s. There is a different trajectory of ageing now with more people expecting to live into their 80s and being healthy and happy. Sara thinks that we should start thinking about our health when we’re much younger – food choices, exercise and outdoor time all help us stay strong and healthy longer. The percentage of people staying healthy into their 70s and 80s is growing every year and exercise and is important to this, both physical and mental! It’s important though that we don’t beat ourselves because we can’t do everything and are more susceptible to physical problems.  We need to be realistic in our expectations, accept its not always going to be perfect and do what’s right for us rather than take on someone else’s expectations – it’s our individual choice!

There is no one glide path into retirement but Sara thinks we should all be thinking about what we’re going to do when we reach our 50s. The number one priority is retirement savings and it’s important to know how much money we’ll need for our retirement. Financial planners now often run a life span to 97 or 103 so the sooner we start to plan and get ready the better. We need to think about how long we want to work, whether we’re still enjoying what we’re doing or want to make a change. Many people on their 50s get restless so it's a good time to start looking ahead and asking ourselves ‘what is my life going to look like, and what am I going to feel like in 20 years time’. Many people make huge changes to their working and personal life in their 60’s. The two major restrictions are physical and monetary but nowadays many people are healthier and have more resources.

One of the things Sara is particularly interested in is retirement planning for solo agers. Almost 20% of the Baby Boomer generation don't have don't have children so really need a practical plan for when they are older. As well as the obvious legal and financial considerations they need to focus on their social network. Isolation and loneliness is a huge problem in society generally but particularly for older people.  

It’s important to take stock of who you see, when you see them, who you spend time with at holiday time and whether its family or friends. We need to start nurturing our social network early and also consider important issues such as where we want to live and what kind of environment we want to live in. We also need to communicate our wishes to the people closest to us – who knows when a crisis might hit and we’ll need someone to make decisions for us. If no one knows what we’re thinking about our own future, then no one will be able to speak on our behalf in the way we would speak for ourselves. Of course it’s something that's difficult to plan but we need to start thinking about it and have some contingency plans – ideally written down.

Sara believes we are all social creatures who thrive in a stable community so whether its friends or family, we need to build our social network throughout our life. Having a sense of purpose, involving ourselves in things we are passionate about and creating new and different experiences are also really important as we move towards the next phase of our lives.

You can get in touch with Sara at https://sarazeffgeber.com/ Her book, Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers, was released in April 2018, and has been an Amazon bestseller. It was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “2018 best books on aging well.”

You can listen to the podcast in full and find out further information about Sara here. Our previous podcast episodes and upcoming guest list are also available