I had the good fortune of attending the NAPFA conference last week in Washington DC. NAPFA is the fee-only planning association in the United States. We have been a member since 2001 and we are one of only 1800 firms nationally that operate as a fiduciary. One of the speakers that I heard was a guy by the name of Mitch Anthony. He is the author of the The New Retirementality. Anthony challenges us on how we might think about retirement today.
There were four bullet points from his presentation that I thought were provocative enough to share with you and might get you thinking a little differently about retirement:
• Retirement is an industrial age invention created for laborers whose bodies used to wear out on the job.
• Today, however, retirement is an artificial finish line.
• Money can fund a purpose, not find one. Will you have the purpose you need to feel fulfilled after you retire?
• Work brings value to others and meaning to oneself. Will you lose that after you retire?
• What are you going to retire to? A purpose or a chair?
Pick up a copy of Mitch Anthony’s book before you decide to retire. You might just end up reconsidering! And, if you have already retired, and not feeling like you have purpose, what step are you going to take today to change it? I’d love to hear your experiences and feedback!
Chip Addis
CAddis@AddisHill.com
