Retirement Transition: An Innovation Approach

Book excerpt: So much of retirement planning focuses on the financial planning, providing guidance on investment balance, cash flow management, and how much should you save. But very little talks about How-to-Define the hopefully many days after the big day. What about all the non-financial elements of retirement? There is no longer any cookie-cutter vision for retirement life. The old paradigms of retirement are falling away for new 21st Century Retirement Lifestyles. The options can feel endless; some people will tell you what you should do. Unfortunately there is no perfect list of "Five Things To Do" for a happy retirement. So, how do you create YOUR best retirement? Retirement Transition is designed to walk you through creating your own 21st Century Retirement Lifestyle. This book outlines a How-To process based on a proven Innovation Process and has many practical tools and exercises to: Articulate your high priority core VALUES. Know which SKILLS and STRENGTHS you want/have in this next life stage. Understand what MOTIVATES you and what INTERESTS you. Clarify the important ROLES you will have in this next life stage. Generate ideas and insights into your future using a holistic LIFE DOMAINS framework. Craft a LIFE VISION statement and have joint "me, you, we" conversations, if needed. Explore POSSIBILITIES and learn how to CHOOSE which to focus on. Begin ACTIVATING your 21st Century Retirement Lifestyle Vision. Understand your personal BARRIERS to getting new things or new habits started. Patricia West Doyle has over twenty-five years of experience in designing winning products and brands. She has taken her proven Innovation Design Approach and reapplied it to the individual. Along her own retirement transition journey, she researched the non-financial side of retirement planning in depth and became a Certified Retirement Life Coach and a blogger about retirement transition.