Welcome to the December Edition of The Ultimate Guide For the Successful Steward, Fourth Dimension Financial Group’s newsletter.
“Dad, I lost a tooth!” Ava came running downstairs from her bedroom, elated that part of her face fell out during the night. What a strange thing to celebrate, when you think about it. Her twin sister, Evelyn, who had lost a tooth weeks before, joyfully announced: “Now, we’re twins!” Ah, these are the moments.
It dawned on me later that kids are much more excited about change than us adults. Losing body parts, outgrowing clothing, trying new things, all are exciting adventures to kids, while adults struggle with all of these. After all, isn’t this the season where adults tend to outgrow their clothes too? “Happy holidays, let’s eat!”
What about the process of retirement? Certainly a different experience for everyone, retirement can be a time of frustration and loss of a sense of purpose. For others, retirement may be that one adventure that brings back the childhood joy found in new bikes and first days of school.
Study after study report that those who enjoy retirement the most are those who already had a plan for managing their time. They had specific activities that they couldn’t wait to deepen their involvement in during retirement, that they began planning before they retired. In fact, I recently heard a retired friend say “I was made for retirement.” That’s a pretty strong statement, but one that is exciting to hear because that new retiree had very specific plans for his time.
I share all of this to suggest that we should all feel the joy of new adventures, as children do. But as adults, we know that a financial foundation needs to be set firmly in-place for the adventure to be one of passion and not panic and fear. We help you plan so that you can step into your new chapter with child-like curiosity and optimism. After all, retirement is something that not all generations have had the opportunity to experience. So let’s make it a chance to live fully.
As you enjoy the holidays, please consider that your wisdom and your hard work should be celebrated. Please don’t play small because you’ve attained some success, rather seek opportunities to use your experience and wisdom to help others achieve more for themselves. Remember what it felt like to celebrate a new achievement as a child. May you see others as people worthy of being built-up and poured-into. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.
Have a blessed Christmas and New Year.
To your success,
Adam Cufr, RICP®
