Welcome to the July Edition of The Ultimate Guide For the Successful Steward, Fourth Dimension Financial Group’s newsletter.
Life is full of long passing phases and sudden transitional moments. We often don’t know we’re in a phase until much later when we look back and recognize the shift. Sometimes we just can’t see the forest for the trees. But certainly retirement is not like that. Retirement is one of those obvious transitional moments, full of “lasts and firsts.” It’s these big transitions that we are able to see clearly that cause us to be on heightened alert. After all, when you retire from a decades-long career, you know it’s going to result in big changes.
Why am I bringing this up? Because retirement is about a lot more than numbers, money, and choices. There are other factors that don’t often receive the attention they deserve. For example, there are many subtle issues like identity (“Who am I, really?”), roles (“What will I do with my extra availability?”), and relationships (“With whom will I spend time?”). These are seemingly small shifts when you look at how each one fits into the day to day, but their impact can be cataclysmic.
Even though I am nowhere near my own retirement, I suppose this idea is fresh on my mind because I have noticed that my daughters getting older has opened up small pockets of time, allowing me to start to revisit my interests again. This can be tough because I’m not the same person I was before having five children. What is it that I want to do with my twenty minutes here or two hours there?
If you’ll allow me to take you back to my childhood, growing up I was part of a “car family.” My parents restored vintage Chevrolets. In fact, they still do. We attended Chevy Club meetings and participated in a large car show each summer, often serving as our family vacation. It was a lot of fun. Lately, I’ve been adding car shows and car racing events to my calendar because I still have some motor oil in my veins. I used to race cars when I was younger, before marriage and kids, and I still love cars. But here’s what I find most interesting: car events are not really about the cars themselves. They are about community. The cars are just a prop, an excuse for people to connect with other people.
So, as you consider what it means to make your own transition (the transition into retirement), please know that I understand the value that community offers. As a result, I am doing everything in my power to build community into what we do for you at Fourth Dimension. We want to help you make your transition an easy one. We’ve seen that new clients are comforted to see others who have successfully made the transition into retirement and have found peace and joy while doing it.
As we build that community and particularly when we host events, we sincerely hope you’ll consider joining us and enjoying the community that is only possible with your presence. You can even consider it a bonus that you are making a contribution to the success of others’ retirement. After all, we go to great lengths to make clear that we are laser-focused on the unique needs of retirees, while most advisors are not. If you’re pleased with your experience with us and your progress toward a successful retirement, why not help others achieve the peace and confidence that you have?
As always, I am sincerely grateful for your time, attention, and trust. You are a critical part of what we’re building together and your contribution is incredibly valuable, not just to me, but in helping others make a successful transition into retirement.
To your success,
Adam Cufr, RICP®
