Play the Short Game: Living Your Best Retirement

In retirement, you have more time than you’ve ever had in your life. You also have less time than you’ve ever had in your life. This paradox requires a different mindset in retirement if you want to live your very best life after you stop working.

As a retirement financial advisor, I’ve seen how incredible it is to transition from work to retirement — from planning for the future to living in the moment. At retirement, it’s challenging to change how we look at time because, over the past 50+ years, we’ve been trained to think about, focus on, and plan for the future. From the time we enter school, our focus is always forward: the next test, grade, school and degree. Then, we enter the workforce and continue this fixation on the future: the next project, promotion, employer and title. Our financial lives are no different, as we save and invest for — you guessed it — the future.

We have been trained to become experts at playing the long game, emphasizing tomorrow over today and often sacrificing the present and our health for the future. Saving instead of spending. Working longer now so you can enjoy the fruits of your labor later. Putting off travel, expenses and enjoyment so you can reap the rewards in retirement. If you had success in your career and finances, it’s likely because you played the long game. This is the formula we’ve been taught for achievement. Tomorrow’s success is built on today’s sacrifice. What can you do today to improve your tomorrow?

If you want to live your best life in retirement, don’t play the long game; play the short game.

Playing the short game means abandoning the belief that you must delay gratification. You’re retired! What are you delaying it for? Stop thinking you have enough time. You don’t. Don’t put the important things off. Whatever it is you want to do, achieve or experience, get on it.

Here are three tips for making the most of your retirement years:

1. Shift your budget. Frontload your retirement by doing as much as you can in your early years. Your time is limited. You don’t know how much you have or if you’ll feel healthy or have the energy later. This means traveling, going on adventures and taking up hobbies now. If you have a limited amount of funds (and don’t we all?), this means allocating more of those to your early retirement years. Obviously, you will want to work with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to ensure you are not spending more than you can afford, but when in doubt, budget more for fun, travel and adventure now versus later.
2. Invest in yourself. The greatest asset you have in retirement is not your IRA but your health. Your goal in retirement is to stay as energetic, mobile, pain-free and healthy for as long as possible. This requires effort (think exercise), discipline (think nutrition) and often money. I can’t think of a better use of money than to improve health. Invest in exercise equipment or a trainer. Purchase supplements or other nutritional aides. Take classes, go on retreats and do whatever it takes to stay healthy.
3. Gift instead of bequeath. Don’t leave a legacy; live a legacy. You’ve worked hard, sacrificed and saved for decades. If you have the financial resources, instead of leaving your kids and loved ones an inheritance after you pass away, use your money to help them improve their lives today. Take the family on a cruise. Help them buy a house. Pay for the grandkid’s tuition. Invest in their start-up. Go on adventures together while you are still healthy enough to do so.

Retirees need to stop playing the long game as if next year or even tomorrow is guaranteed. Instead, you need to start playing the short game. Think in terms of decades but act in terms of days. If you’ve worked with a CFP® professional to plan your path toward retirement, they can also help you make sure your finances are arranged to help you live your best life during retirement. Don’t have a CFP® professional? Find yours at LetsMakeAPlan.org.