How to create your retirement vision

We often talk about retirement as a date on a calendar or a number in a bank account. But the truth is, it’s so much more than that. It’s a chance to design a brand new chapter of your life, from the ground up.

Today, we're going beyond the numbers to talk about something crucial: creating a holistic retirement vision. We’ll focus on the three pillars that define a happy, fulfilling life after work: your finances, your health, and your relationships. Let’s start envisioning the life you want to live.

Pillar 1: Envisioning Your Financial Future

For decades, your financial vision has likely been focused on one thing: saving. Getting that number higher, month after month. But in retirement, that mindset shifts. Your new financial vision is all about spending—and doing it without worry.

To truly get this right, you need to go beyond a simple budget. You need to define your retirement lifestyle.

What kind of retiree do you want to be?

• The Adventurer: Do you see yourself traveling the world, exploring new cultures, and constantly on the move?

• The Homesteader: Is your vision a quiet life at home, tending to your garden, taking up new hobbies, and spending time with loved ones in a familiar setting?

• The Philanthropist: Is it about giving back, volunteering for causes you believe in, and using your time and resources to help others?

The point here is to put a name to your dream. Once you've defined your lifestyle, you can put a number on it and build a budget that supports your vision, not just your expenses.

Pillar 2: Envisioning Your Health

A comfortable retirement means nothing if you don’t have the health to enjoy it. Too many people think about health in retirement only when they get sick. Instead, your vision should be proactive.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture a typical day in your retirement. What does it look like?

• Are you taking a morning walk, cycling, or doing a yoga class?

• Are you gardening for hours, or is your day filled with golf?

• What does your plate look like? Is it filled with fresh produce, or are you living on ready meals?

Your health vision is a wellness budget. It's about setting aside time and money for the activities and nutrition that will keep you active and engaged, allowing you to fully embrace that financial and lifestyle vision you just created.

Pillar 3: Envisioning Your Relationships

This is the most overlooked part of retirement planning. For decades, your social life has been dictated by work colleagues and routine. But what happens when that structure is gone?

Your relationship vision is about being intentional.

• Who do you want to spend more time with? Your partner, your grandchildren, old friends you've lost touch with?

• What new connections do you want to build? Maybe you want to join a book club, a volunteering group, or a sports team.

Retirement is a chance to cultivate the relationships that matter most to you, and to build new ones that will enrich your life.

Conclusion

Building a vision for your finances, health, and relationships is the ultimate act of preparation for retirement. It's not just about planning for what’s possible; it’s about making your ideal future a reality.

I hope this has given you a powerful new perspective. The most important step is simply to start thinking about these things.

What does your ideal retirement look like? Let me know in the comments below! If you found this helpful, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss out on more tips for a successful retirement. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!

At this point I would like you to have a go at redrawing the charts in Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 . For the pie chart determine what percentage of you that you would allocate to each slice of the pie. For the spider charge in Pillar 2, draw the inner line for where you believe you are now and the outer line for where you would like to be in retirement.