The Secret to a Successful Retirement

Our definition of a “successful retirement” is one that provides happiness and satisfaction. Our chances of producing a successful retirement increase when we reflect upon and invest in the elements of life that make us happy. While financial security is a critical component, the most significant and often overlooked elements are relationships, health, and meaningful purpose.

As a wealth management firm with decades of experience assisting Bay Area residents navigate their journey toward and through retirement, our commitment is to help our clients achieve their financial goals. Equally important, we are dedicated to supporting our clients in manifesting a successful and fulfilling life.

Here we discuss four key tenets of a successful retirement.

Relationships

An  85-year-old Harvard Study on happiness, also known as the Grant & Gluek Study, is one of the longest-running studies on adult development and well-being. It began in 1938 and followed the lives of 268 male Harvard students, later expanding to include their offspring and a control group of disadvantaged youth. The primary aim of the study was to identify factors that lead to healthy and happy lives over the long term.

As participants of the Harvard study reached later stages of life, they were frequently asked about retirement. According to their responses, the most significant challenge encountered during retirement was the inability to replace the social bonds that had been nurtured and sustained in the workplace for many years.

Maintaining social connections helps combat feelings of isolation and loneliness that may arise during retirement. Engaging in social activities, spending time with loved ones, and cultivating new friendships can bring joy and a sense of belonging in this phase of life.

Recommendations

• Cultivate strong social connections and focus on quality over quantity. Having a few close and meaningful connections contributes more to happiness than having numerous superficial ones.
• Recalibrate and deepen the relationships you have.
• Develop new connections to replace the work relationships you’re likely to forfeit once you leave the workplace.
• Additional Resource: Center for a Secure Retirement – Healthy Relationships

Health

Physical and mental health are crucial aspects of a happy retirement. Staying active through regular exercise, maintaining a balanced diet, and getting proper healthcare can contribute to overall well-being. Hopefully, these are habits you’ve already formed long before retirement, so maintaining them or even accelerating them should be accomplishable with focus and commitment.

Recommendations

• Practice self-care and personal well-being. This includes getting enough sleep, managing stress effectively, and investing time in relaxation and hobbies.
• Practice gratitude: Cultivate a sense of gratitude for the opportunities and experiences you’ve had and will have in your life’s journey. Focusing on gratitude can foster a positive mindset and appreciation for the present, contributing to a healthy mind and body.
• Practice a complex activity: Lifelong learning keeps the brain in building mode and may help stave off dementia. Invest time and effort in a challenging activity such as learning a new language, practicing a musical instrument, practicing a form of art, or improving your performance in an existing hobby. The Harvard article below does a great job of summarizing the benefits and providing tips for maintaining cognitive health.
• Additional Resources: the NCBI’s “Lifelong learning” and Harvard’s “Train your brain”.

Meaningful Purpose

Finding meaningful purpose and fulfillment in retirement is essential for long-term happiness. This involves pursuing interests, hobbies, or volunteering opportunities that align with one’s passions and values. Engaging in activities that provide a sense of purpose can give retirees a reason to wake up excited every day and create a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

Recommendations

• Reflect on passions and interests: Take time to reflect on activities and hobbies that have brought joy and fulfillment throughout your life. Seize the opportunity to dedicate more time to these passions, whether it’s art, music, volunteering, or outdoor activities.
• Set new goals: Establishing new aspirations in retirement can provide a sense of direction and purpose. These goals can be personal, professional, like starting a new business or consulting, or related to personal growth and learning, like taking up a new language or skill. Embrace new experiences and try activities you’ve never done before. Travel to new places, explore different cultures or engage in adventurous pursuits. This is your time to not only check things off but to add to your bucket list.
• Gain and share knowledge: Learning something new stimulates the mind and can foster new relationships. Consider enrolling in courses, attending workshops, or pursuing a degree in a subject of interest. Mentoring younger individuals or offering guidance in your professional field or areas of expertise is also a great way to attain a sense of purpose.
• Consider part-time work or volunteering: Some retirees find purpose and fulfillment in taking a job or consulting. This can help maintain a sense of structure and engagement with the workforce. Engaging in volunteer work or supporting charitable causes can be a meaningful way to contribute to the community and make a positive impact on others’ lives.
• Additional Resource: MarketWatch – “We all need purpose…”

Financial Security

Financial security is the foundation of a happy retirement. It involves careful planning and saving during one’s working years to ensure a stable and comfortable financial situation after retiring. Having sufficient savings, investments, and an effective retirement plan in place can alleviate financial stress and provide the freedom to enjoy retirement without worrying about money.

At Summitry, we create personalized retirement plans tailored to your individual goals and financial situations. We help clients estimate their retirement needs, set achievable financial goals, and create strategies to ensure a comfortable retirement. Our services include personalized financial planning, retirement planning, estate and trust planning, California tax strategies, asset management, and customized investment strategies. One of the key stressors of retiring can be navigating the significant transition from contributing to your balance sheet through earned income to living off your balance sheet in retirement. You’ve worked hard to accumulate your wealth and with the help of Summitry’s , unique investment approach, you’ll feel the confidence to focus on the other essential aspects of retirement.

Recommendations

• Work with your Certified Financial Planner to assess your current financial situation, determine your near-term and long-term goals and develop a comprehensive plan to address them over time.
• Work with your advisor to assess your risk appetite and determine the ideal asset allocation.
• Trust your wealth management team to execute your personalized investment strategies to achieve your goals, giving you more time to focus on your relationships, health, and purpose-filled activities.
• Additional Resources: Summitry’s services and unique investment approach.

Summitry’s Commitment to Community Building

We help clients reflect on what makes them happy and what produces real satisfaction in their lives. Through regular engagement and thoughtful conversations, we discover our clients’ objectives (and often, help them create them), to develop an effective financial strategy to fulfill these objectives.  If this is not already a conversation you’re having with your Advisor, we look forward to beginning it with you!

As advisors, we are present during many key life-changing moments such as marriage, welcoming new children, divorce, selling or buying a home, starting a business, and dealing with the loss of loved ones. These transition periods are often times when priorities, goals, and needs change. As partners to our clients, we take the time to understand these critical moments and model adjustments to their financial plans and investment strategies, ensuring their plan is consistent with their intentions. Further, we foster a community where our clients can invest in their personal and psychological well-being. Here are a few examples:

• The Summitry Speaker Series offers an opportunity to learn something interesting from another member of the Summitry community – available to attend in person or online Watch the recent session featuring Tracy Colwell, Senior Fellow at Lockheed Martin.
• Diaries of a Bay Area Retiree where people share stories of how they’ve navigated to and through aspects of retirement – successfully or not so successfully. Stay tuned as we release the first of this series in a couple of weeks!
• Summitry Affinity Events –from cooking classes, to golf outings, to Stanford baseball games, we like to get our clients together in person to enjoy the outdoors and Bay Area attractions. We also host online cultural events like this Virtual Art Studio Visit.

If you have a retirement story to share, email us at hello@summitry.com. We’d love to hear how you’ve prepared, course-corrected, or manifested happiness.