by Wendell Cayton

“Of course I am a little nervous about what you do, what fills your day,” he added. “I will miss day-in, day-out competition. The reality is that I don’t ever have to work again, which is a nice reality. But that’s not my character. My character is to work and to be goal oriented.” Lance Armstrong, winner 2005 Tour De France, speaking about his impending retirement.

Doing what you want, when you want, without having to do it was the topic of conversation this past week between friends Les, Mike, my daughter Cathryn and myself as we worked our way up 6,500 feet of mountain to the top of Mt. Adams, Washington’s second highest peak.

As the financial planner in the group, I was the target for their simple question … what is retirement? Unfortunately, the noun retirement or the verb to retire carries with it the connotation of quitting. That may have been the case for our grandparents who did not expect to live beyond 65 or 70. But that is not going to be the case for the rest of us who are looking forward to living more years in the “retirement” phase of our lives than we spent working.
There is nothing like a strenuous hike with a pack on one’s back to stimulate a Zen moment as we pondered the meaning of retirement. When financial resources allow us the financial freedom to do what we want, when we want, on our own schedule, to retire takes on a whole different character.

Certainly finite financial resources will always provide an envelope within which we store our retirement dreams. But my experience leads me to believe that for most people, money is only part of the equation. The other parts are good physical and mental health.

I believe we should ditch the word “retire”…put it in the trash along with “can’t” … and come up with a new term. Keeping with the “Tour” theme, let’s call the next phase of our lives changement de vitesse, or changing gears.

I encourage those contemplating retirement to find something they like to do that has a goal or accomplishment factor by which they can measure their accomplishment or, as Maslow put it … “self actualize.” This helps keep the mind in gear, albeit a lower gear, and it also helps feed the ego and social needs we have to be recognized for our efforts.

Getting involved in activities that provide enjoyment and diversion can be an important method in freeing ourselves from the harness of work. Physical activity in its varied forms assists many people in the process of changing gears. Becoming a volunteer or taking up a hobby can also be rejuvenating. It’s beneficial to choose something that is quite different from what you are involved with at work. Try to include family and friends.

As my friends pointed out, step after step, finding that “something” is not easy, given the wealth of choices available.

A simple way to begin is to list all the things you would like to do in the latter part of your life, from the most outrageous to the most mundane, without the constraints of money as a factor. Next consider each item on the list in the context of family, pets, property or other responsibilities that would detract from the activity. Finally, look at the activities from the perspective of your health constraints. Keep in mind that the word “can’t” has been wiped from your vocabulary.

Then rank or prioritize your list. Not everything will be possible. There will be opportunity costs … trade offs … with some choices. Nevertheless, this exercise helps give some direction to changement de vitesse.

As for our hike, we were treated to a sunset behind Mt. St. Helens along with a puff of an eruption, Mt. Hood in the early morning sun, and a beautiful climb to the top. Actually, we were doing what we wanted, when we wanted to do it, and without a schedule.