360-DEGREE RETIREMENT LIFE PLANNING

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360-DEGREE RETIREMENT LIFE PLANNING

The whole notion of retirement has taken on an entirely new complexion and definition. Formerly, we thought of retirement as the "beginning of the end." Today we think of retirement as a "new beginning." The transition we call retirement is actually the beginning of a new career/life stage called RENEWAL or the "third age."

Retiring from one's current position does not automatically mean entering a traditional retirement lifestyle, where the main focus of one's life is on rest and leisure. A traditional retirement lifestyle is but one of many options open to the enlightened person who is transitioning from his/her current employment.

Retirement does not mean "I'm finished!" Retirement means "I'm just beginning!" Yet, old ideas still persist, even in the most unlikely places. One senior vice-president of a large international corporation remarked: "Retirement ... that's going from Who's Who, to Who's That?" Another senior executive quipped, "Retirement means you have one foot in the grave!"

The old notion of retirement was that it started at age 65, and you pretty much stopped. Today the average retirement age is 57.5 years, and retirees want nothing to do with stopping. And some are fortunate to choose retirement in their 20's, 30's or 40's.

Today's retirees generally aren't looking to fade away or become "couch potatoes." They want to find fulfilling activities and enriching endeavors. Certainly they want leisure... at times, and they naturally want to have fun. But, contrary to the popular media view of retirement, the most important thing people anticipating retirement are looking for is their own fulfillment... their own sense of purpose and meaning.

Today's more highly educated, more sophisticated, more affluent, and certainly more "with it" pre-retirees are looking to find more personal PURPOSE in their lives than they ever had before. They want something new, something different, perhaps something novel, and certainly something interesting at deep personal levels.

RETIRING IS A CAREER TRANSITION

People approaching their first retirement transition need exactly the same process of self-analysis and sound consultation that they would receive from a competent career consultant if they were going through a job change. As job changers need to generate their career options in a clear and understandable way, so too, pre-retirees need the same "options generation" process but with slightly different content, slightly different goals, and an entirely different purpose.

That's exactly what people approaching retirement at any age need ... they need choices.

PERSONAL ASSESSMENT

Just as personal assessment is a central component of any plan for your career transition; so too is assessment the logical starting place for retirement preparation. That's what the Retirement Success Profile (RSP) ® is all about.

The RSP is a scientifically-designed, valid, and reliable assessment profile which measures the 15 factors shown to be crucial for retirees to come to a comprehensive personal understanding of themselves so they can navigate the road to personal success in their next phase, whatever option for retirement living they adopt.

The 15 retirement life planning success factors are:

1.Career Reorientation: Let Go

2.Retirement Value: Reframe Your Attitudes

3.Personal Empowerment: Take Charge

4.Physical Wellness: Grow Well

5.Monetary Adequacy: Find Your Wealth

6.Quality of Life - Present: Seek Peace

7.Quality of Life - Future: Have Dreams

8.Spirituality/Meaning: Construct Purpose

9.Respect for Leisure: Have Fun

10.Personal Flexibility: Welcome Change

11.Lifespan Spiritual Development: Live Now

12.Care giving Responsibilities: Honor Yourself

13.Home Life: Get Connected

14.Maturation Vitality: Become Ageless

15.Replacement of Work Functions: Get Going



THE NEW CAREER/LIFE DEVELOPMENT STAGE: RENEWAL

Retirement has been redefined in our culture, as has the whole notion of age. Research tells us that there has emerged a life stage which we call the "Renewal Stage." The Renewal Stage starts about the mid 50's and lasts well into the 70's. The Renewal Stage can be a time of great personal growth and development, or it can degenerate into just the opposite. The key to success in this Renewal Stage is how well a person prepares for it.

The Renewal Stage is a time when people take a much more personal approach to living. They are more free to ask themselves what they want; free for the most part from former family obligations, and free from the press of having to climb the ladder of success.

The Renewal Stage is a time when even "hard-chargers" re-evaluate how they live their lives. They don't have to prove to anyone what they're made of. Now they only have to answer to their own needs, their own impulses, their own calling, their own passion. That's really what renewal is all about ... pursuing your passion, your dream, your own goal; not someone else's.

The RSP provides the personal information which is absolutely necessary for a person to begin considering what's deep inside. The RSP generates vital personal data, available no where else. The results of the RSP serve as a base; a base upon which can be constructed a plan for personal fulfillment, personal purpose, and personal dream satisfaction in the Renewal Stage. All of this would be cloudy and illusive without the RSP.

Retirement is a career developmental stage, unlike any other career stage, but with some great similarities when viewed from an individual standpoint. The RSP can begin to make sense out of a time of transition that can send shock waves through the hearts of many.

The potential options for a successful retirement/renewal are as numerous as the number of retirees. Yet some commonalities do exist. The RSP allows all pre-retirees the luxury of understanding their retirement attitudes, beliefs, and values much more clearly. This new clarity of thinking allows the person anticipating retirement to begin considering the fantastic retirement options he/she has in concrete ways.


THE RETIREMENT SUCCESS PROFILE (RSP) ®

With your own Retirement Success Profile (RSP) ® you will have the solid quantitative proof of the relevancy of the material for your own life. Since the Profile describes you alone, you become concretely yet intimately aware that this learning is personal; the material is not for the person sitting next to you ... it is for you! And with the specific suggestions, retirement coaching, and learning activities that flow from your RSP Personal Profile, you will immediately realize that the experience is individually practical.