When people buy a car, they usually spend time considering their decision. They don’t just go and buy the first one they see. Instead, they think about their family’s needs and wants and what purpose the car needs to serve (business? Family holidays? Surf trips?)
It’s a big decision, that’s for sure. But buying a new car is a relatively small change in our lives when compared to something like retiring. When people retire, they think about the financial aspects, but they don’t always think about what their retirement will actually look like. They don’t ‘test drive’ their retirement, but we think it would be a great thing to do.
Retirement is a significant change to our lives. Many people get their long service or extended leave paid out right before they retire.
But some people do things differently. We’ve seen a few clients doing this, and we think it’s great. Instead of taking a lump sum payment, they take a three-month break around a year before they fully retire. In essence, they ‘test drive’ their retirement. This is a great thing to do because not only does it give you an idea of how much money you will (really) spend in your retirement, but it will also give you a taste of retirement itself. Some love it – some don’t. Some say they’ll go fishing every day for the rest of their lives, or commit to babysitting grandkids, but a week or two into the promise, things change. Often, people realise they’re not ready to give up working altogether and might return to work on a part-time or casual basis.
We are all for this – just like test driving a car, it’s a ‘try before you buy’ scenario. And when it’s something as big as your retirement (and the rest of your life!) we think it’s something worth testing!