Retirement Planning: A Discovery

Something very exciting happened today as I surfed the net at Kwantlen. I came across an article published by researchers in New Zealand this past spring that explores retirement planning. Those attending my Retirement Workshop yesterday at Kwantlen said they want  to share ideas about retirement planning with others.

The researchers, Noone, Stephens, and Alpass constructed a 52-question survey investigating the processes of retirement planning.

The fifty two items were spread through four categories:

1. Retirement Representations i.e. what people think and understand about retirement
2. Retirement Goals
3. The decision to prepare for retirement
4. Preparing for retirement

For the rest of this Blog entry I intend to present one item from each of the four categories.

Retirement Representation:

1. I often talk to my family about financial issues for retired people
2. I often compare my current health with how I would like to be in the future.
3. I often compare how I spend my time now with how I would like to spend my time in retirement.
4. I often compare my current roles with the roles I would like to have as a retired person.

Retirement Goals:

1. I have specific goals about the financial position I want in retirement.
2. I have specific goals for my long-term health
3. I have specific goals about regarding how I want to spend my time in retirement
4. I have specific goals regarding the future roles I would like to hold as a retiree.

The Decision to Prepare for Retirement

1. I’d rather deal with any financial issues closer to retirement, rather than`making financial provisions now.
2. It’s too early for me to consider my long-term health.
3. I know that people in my age group are developing new ways to spend their time.
4. It is worthwhile to prepare for changes to my roles as a retired person.

Preparing to retire:

1. By the time I retire, I will have sufficient income to ensure the standard of living I want in retirement,
2. I only eat foods that will benefit my long-term health
3. There are many things I could do with my time if I was forced to retire today
4. I have many things outside of work that I would like to pursue.