Happy New Year!
I usually don’t suggest starting the new year with a pop quiz but I’m confident you are a pretty savvy bunch. Plus its only two questions. Ready?
- How well are you acquainted with the 4 Pillars of the New Retirement?
- Can you list them?
Set your answers aside for a quick minute and let’s talk about where the four pillars come from and why they are important.
In 2020, Edward Jones* conducted a groundbreaking study of 9,000 people across 5 generations taking the pulse of what areas people thought most impact the quality of life in retirement. While I wouldn’t call the results of the study “startling”, they definitely gave me pause. 66% of those surveyed said they were thinking more about the legacy they would leave behind than the state of their finances. And 76% of Americans surveyed credited the pandemic with helping them hone in on “what is important in life”.
These results along with the 2021 update are contributing to a large shift in thinking about what retirement looks like and how to plan for that retirement. In the past, retirement plans focused more on the “winding down” of a career and the nuts and bolts (and finances) of transitioning from work to leisure. Little attention was paid to what day-to-day life looked like once one actually retired.
The next generation of retirees is focused on freedom. Specifically, they cite freedom from work and family responsibilities as top priorities as well as the freedom to do what they want, when they want. Most retirement professionals would admit this is a pretty tall order.
And this, my dear readers, is where the Four Pillars of the New Retirement come into play. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be taking a deeper dive into each of the pillars: Health, Family, Purpose, and Finances, and how you too can gain the freedoms you crave in retirement.
