A few months ago, I broke down and bought the 2025 Rand McNally Road Atlas. While using a GPS when I travel has become the norm, it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t see the big picture of where I was going. I don’t mind blindly following my Google Maps app to find local venues. However, for anything further away, I wanted to know more information. For me, when traveling long distances, it is helpful to see how close I will be to major cities, bordering states, historical sites, or even bodies of water that I might want to explore. 

It reminded me of how some people approach retirement. Some people have a grand vision of what retirement looks like. They know where they will live, who they will spend time with, and what they will be doing. For others, there is no grand vision, but more a sense of taking one day at a time and seeing what happens when they get there. They are preparing themselves financially, assuming their lifestyle will be similar to their working years, except with more leisure time. It reminds me of the turn-by-turn approach when navigating a trip.

As with using Google Maps for turn-by-turn instructions, this approach may work out well, at least to start. In the long run, it may be better if you have a clear sense of where you are headed. 

Years ago, I had an acquaintance that described what she called a “trip of lifetime” when she was between jobs. She decided to take advantage of this break in her routine. So, she packed her car, and the next morning, she drove out of her driveway and turned right. She had no navigation system, no maps, no idea where she was going, and no set plan other than to be home after 6 weeks to start her new job. She drove her car down random roads, stopping for meals and other needs along the way. She ended each day in whatever hotel had a room available when she was ready to stop for the day.

To her, it was exhilarating to not have a daily agenda to follow. She loved the unknown and completely upending her normal routine. For me, it sounded exhausting. However, I had to admit that in a sense, she did have a grand vision for this trip— “living in the moment”. 

She later admitted that although that period in her life was exciting, she was happy when she started the new job and was settled in a routine. In other words, the randomness of her travel experiment eventually became tiring. 

Which brings me to my point on retirement planning: I have observed a high correlation of overall life satisfaction with our clients who have a vision of retirement versus those who simply stopped working. I have noticed that even when the plan of action ends up coming together at the last minute, such as after the sale of a business or receiving that last paycheck, people with some type of plan or vision always seem happier in retirement. In contrast, those who see retirement as an opportunity to disengage from the world seem restless and find retirement less satisfying.

Without a “big picture” vision you may find yourself in a place that you don’t want to be. You may find yourself doing things that don’t feed your soul, spending time with people you don’t enjoy, and getting entangled in various situations.  

It all goes back to thinking of retirement as more than a dollar amount that must be saved. While it is important to save sufficiently for your later stages of life, it also helps to think beyond the finances and have a plan on how you will spend the extra 40-60 hours a week (or more.)

So, the next time you think about planning your future, I recommend that you go beyond the targeted savings. Like pulling out a road atlas to look at the big picture, it helps to have a clearer vision of where you are going, how you will spend your days, and the people you most want to be around. 

Kristina Bolhouse, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Vice President/Shareholder

© 2024 Kristina Bolhouse and The Arkansas Financial Group, Inc., All rights reserved.

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