It’s been fun for many years to watch clients meet and exceed their dreams. Many wanted to retire and have very successfully done so.
I know I could do that, but I don’t want to. I don’t want to because I’m having so much fun doing what I’m doing!
Some of what I’m doing these days is mentoring the folks here, encouraging them in their own professional and vocational paths. I have also begun speaking to a number of business groups and giving a talk I am calling “The Wealth of Dreams.” It’s about my journey and the importance of helping people move in the direction of what they have always dreamed about.
Dreams aren’t meant to be left in the past. Too often, we talk about what we once wanted to do, as if those dreams faded over time. I think there are many of us who once had a dream but have given up on it because life just got in the way. We want to bring it back to them. When Dr. Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream,” he used the present tense. He did not say, “I had a dream.” Let’s start dreaming in the present again. What if we reconnected with the dreams we set aside or forgot when life got in the way?
If you love what you do, why would you retire? What if you just did less of what you’re doing now? For many of our clients, retirement is idyllic: more time to travel, pursue hobbies, or be with the grandchildren. But for some others, retirement can feel like a loss of direction or purpose.
So if you’re in the 40 to 60 age range, I’d like to encourage you to begin thinking with your advisor about financial independence as opposed to retirement. The difference is considerable. With financial independence, you are working because you choose to, not because you have to. Your assets and your planning have been so successful that you no longer have to earn a salary. It’s still fun to earn a salary, but you don’t have to.
Financial independence also allows you to continue in and on your purpose, giving you a reason to get up in the morning. That’s why three folks on our team of 20 are over 60 and still working. They have no interest in leaving. They’re still here—not because they have to be; they’re here because they want to be. That’s real freedom—knowing you work because you want to, not because you have to.
