Have you had the chance to enjoy the sunrise with a 15-year-old?
One of Sam’s favorite places is Galveston, Texas and it worked out we could make one last trip before school started. After spending Saturday swimming, eating and enjoying the town Sam wanted to take pictures of Sunday’s sunrise before heading out on our 10-hour drive home.
You see, Sam is my 15-year-old daughter who is learning and very much enjoys photography. Last Christmas I wanted to support her interest, so she received a quality camera and photography lessons. If you would like to enjoy the edited version of a sunrise with a 15-year-old click on the 129 second clip above.
As wonderful and simple as watching the sunrise with Sam sounds, in retrospect it comes with some pretty important lessons directly related to the development of a retirement plan. Though it wasn’t, the serenity of the moment could be lost in the details of the experience and the lessons to be found within.
The Inevitability
Just like the sunrise, retirement is coming. It doesn’t matter if you wake up to see it or prepare for it. It is coming and it will happen. Retirement is really a question of “When” not a question of “If”.
In our lives we are given choices. We can choose to wake up and experience the sunrise for ourselves. Or we can choose to sleep in, miss the beauty of the sunrise but live through the day it brings. Similarly, we can choose to get ready for retirement and enjoy all it has to offer, or we can wake up in its midst and simply survive through it.
The Planning
Sunrise
I mentioned earlier photography lessons. That’s where the planning started. Sam learned how to operate the camera, how to adjust the exposure, shutter speed, ISO and other settings to create the picture she is looking for. Equipped with the knowledge and capability to take the shot; all she needs now is to be in the right place at the right time. Seems simple right? Maybe not.
Taking pictures of the sunrise over the gulf requires waking up earlier than most teenagers desire. Because of this, I was tasked with the responsibility of getting her out of bed. As you may expect, her response to waking up early was, “It’s still dark”. To which I explain, once it’s light outside the sun has already risen. After a little coaxing she was up, we got the camera and walk down to the beach. Once on the beach the sky starts turning beautiful shades of pinks, yellows, blues and purples. She quickly gets her camera out!
And nothing…
All the preparation and planning is in vain. The battery is dead! Thinking quickly “Plan B”. “Sam you have an I-phone with a good camera on it, use that” I suggested.
“Nope,” left that back in the hotel. So on to “Plan C”. Dad’s phone, the free model with zero bells and whistles and questionable picture quality.
Retirement
Learning to operate your retirement is not all that different from learning to operate a camera. You may not need to know what ISO is, which I have yet to figure out, but you start by understanding the functional components and how they relate and affect one another. From there identify and assess the risks threatening your picture. After that you take action by creating and executing a plan to mitigate or eliminate these risks.
Just like when I enlisted a local photographer friend to teach Sam how to operate her camera, as an educating member of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Society for Financial Awareness (SOFA), “The Changing World of Retirement Planning”.
The same way operating a camera has multiple settings and interrelated functions, retirement planning comes equipped with an interplay between multiple factors, risks and tools. Understanding the impact of new tax laws, determining if you have enough money, maximizing cash flow, understanding if your portfolio is truly diversified and maximizing Social Security income are just of few of the topics discussed in the workshop.
“The Changing World of Retirement”, is a great way to gain the knowledge you need to effectively operate your retirement finances. The information shared builds the camera from which your retirement picture can be taken.
The Editing
Sunrise
As you no doubt surmised, we ended up using dad’s cheap phone. The sunrise video in this post is about 5 seconds shorter than the actual sunrise. If you haven’t experienced a quiet 133 seconds with a 15-year-old let me explain. Standing still for just over 2 minutes is almost impossible. For Sam it was a little seaweed washing up next to her foot that caused her to move the camera away from the sunrise. As I didn’t find the quick move to her feet appealing those 5 seconds have been edited out of the version I shared.
Additionally, editing required the use of a steadying function found in the program. Since we ended up using the phone instead of the camera, we couldn’t use the handy-dandy camera-stand either. Even if Sam was prepared and used her high-quality camera editing would still be necessary. It just would have been less time consuming, less worrying and in the end a better-quality product. Because we had to use the phone the editing process on the back end required additional time and effort to create an acceptable but inferior video.
Retirement
Similarly, retirement plans can and should be edited. Maybe you enter retirement without the right knowledge and equipment. Maybe you reach retirement then realized you forgot something, like charging the battery. Reality is the financial landscape is ever changing and editing should always be a part of the process.
Can retirement look nice and contain enjoyment without planning? For sure. But will proper planning and execution of a plan create opportunities? Absolutely! Your retirement can be a superior experience requiring less editing.
But for a select few, the traditional pension plan retirement is gone. The biggest worry in these plans was the solvency of the company. Would the company go bankrupt, close their doors and not pay retirement benefits. Today’s and the future of retirement is self-funded retirements mostly through tax-deferred savings like a 401(k) or an IRA. Powerful retirement savings tools that present their own risks. What happens if the market takes a significant decline? How do I avoid losing a significant portion of my savings with the high probability of tax rates increasing? How do I create a guaranteed monthly income for myself and family?
All of these questions have answers. Educate yourself, find an advisor and lean on their expertise. Ask questions and make sure they are asking you questions. Finally, create a plan specific to your life and situation. Just as no two sunrises are exactly the same, no two lives are exactly the same and no two sunrise retirement plans are exactly the same. Your plan needs to make sense for you, what you want in retirement and what you want to leave as a legacy.
The Special Moments
I wouldn’t trade the experience of sharing Sunday’s sunrise with Sam. It was one of those moments in life when everything felt right, and I took time to appreciate the blessings in my life. It’s why we offer the services we do. In retirement, everyone should have the chance to experience as many of these types of moments as possible. We may call retirement the sunset years but if planned for properly it is the retirement sunrises that make it special.
To do that, it all starts with knowledge and building the camera to take your retirement picture. So, first and foremost please set yourself up for success by connecting with us.
Second, I would encourage you to start your retirement planning journey by reading some other blog posts including What You Should Know… and Plan For discussing the big picture risks to your retirement plan. As well as, Powerful Perspective Shift for Our Retirement Lifetime taking a look at how our mindset plays a role in our retirement success.
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