Discover How To Become A Strategic Senior and Enjoy Years 50 Thru… Whether You Retire Or Not

Don’t let your age be a hang up. Who said that 65 is anything more than a number. And with 10,000 people reaching that age every day for the next several years, you are going to get lots of different views on what 65 means.

To me, it just means another milestone in your life. Being from Chicago, I would prefer my next milestone to be a Cubs World Series Championship, but that doesn’t seem to realistic.  Ya Think!

So when you reach age 65, what does it mean to you? To the world, we think that it means senior, time to retire and start emptying the bucket list or time to just continue with your life as it is.  More and more people are working way past 65 for several reasons.  They didn’t save enough or anything. They have no retirement plan.  They enjoy what they do and want to keep doing it. And More.

To me, age 65 is a New Beginning. And since I really don’t care for the identity of a Senior Citizen, I choose to call myself a Strategic Senior. So what’s the difference and what does this elegant idea mean.

A Strategic Senior knows four things. He knows where he is in life. Where he wants to be in the future. How he plans to get there. And how he will measure his progress, to make sure he is getting closer to his goal. A Strategic Senior knows if he has enough money to retire. Knows where he wants to live. Has discussed his retirement lifestyle with his spouse and kids, and received their feedback. And he/she has definite ideas on how they want to spend their time.  Preferably not in front of the TV at 10:00am in the morning, in their underwear, with no plan of how to spend the day. There’s no time to be bored or lonely for the Strategic Senior.

If this sounds good to you, you should ask yourself the following questions and develop meaningful answers that will help you on your way to becoming a Strategic Senior. They are in no particular order, but are all important, and are based on the upcoming needs, desires and dreams that all of us have.

1. Are you ready to retire?
2. If not, when do you think you will be ready?
3. Do you want to retire at all?
4. Do you have enough money to retire?
5. Where Do You Want To Live?
6. How Long Do you Think You Will be Able To Drive?
7. How is your Health?
8. When was the last time you had a full check up?
9. Have you ever done any retirement planning? If So, What?
10. Do You Have A Realistic Bucket List?
11. Do you have a budget for your retirement years?
12. What other decisions have you made about your retirement?
13. What will you do if retirement is forced upon you, by losing your job?
14. What happens if your spouse passes away suddenly?
15. How is your relationship with your kids and grandkids?
16. Do you use and understand modern technology?
17. How important is it for you to lead an organized, balanced life?
18. What are you going to do with all your free time?
19. Do you want to continue working, part time?
20. What are your current feelings about being retired?
21. How can a reverse mortgage help me?
22. What is my new life purpose going to be?
23. How can I find reliable advisers for my needs?
24. What are the safest investment for my retirements?
25. What are the best websites to surf for retired people?

10 Bonus Questions.

1. What is the cheapest state to retire and live in?
2. Determine the best age for you to collect Social Security?
3. Have you thought of ways to cut expenses?
4. How will you handle unexpected events of daily life?
5. What is life like when every day is Saturday?
6. Who am I without a career?
7. How do I keep income coming in for the next 30 years?
8. What unfinished dreams do I still have?
9. Are you currently involved in any local groups?
10. Have you talked to your spouse about what retirement will be like?

Once you have answered these questions, you will get a better idea of what your new phase of life is all about. It is filled with a lot of uncertainties and at best your plan is just a bunch of assumptions, about what life will be like in an uncertain world.  So begin.

And as always, live well, strong and long.