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What does retirement mean to you? Sitting on your porch, rocking and drinking a lemonade, watching the world go buy? Or do you want an active retirement, still engaged in the world, travelling, starting a business, and spending time doing what you really want to do? Are you thinking of retiring early? Are you thinking of retiring now?

With increasing life expectancies and improving health and an increase in planning, the nature of retirement is changing for the better. So, how do you make sure that when it comes time to retire, youll be able to enjoy the lifestyle that youll want to lead? The answer is effective goal setting and planning for those specific goals.

While once retirement was seen as the culmination of ones working life, today retirement is increasingly viewed more as a life transition. Retiring early (usually defined as before eligible for Social Security) means you are still young and healthy, able to pursue hobbies, business interests, and travel.

Today, people in their 60s are generally healthier than past generations and this will only increase further as we live healthier lifestyles and benefit from advances in medicine. Life expectancies are also increasing. In 1935, a 65 year old could expect to reach age 77 . Today, a 65 year old can expect to live to 82 . And, 10 percent of 65 year olds will reach the ripe old age of 98! In the years to come, we can expect this to increase further.

How will you plan for decades of post-employment life?

How Do You Define Retirement?

Traditionally, retirement has been seen as the time when a person leaves the workforce to be supported by a pension, Social Security, and/or other personal assets. However, this typical view of retirement is quickly changing as more and more people are retiring from employment to eagerly pursue other activities including:

Starting a business or working from home.

Working part-time or in rewarding, but low paid, jobs (such as teaching).

Volunteering.

Managing investments (rental properties or investment portfolios).

Engaging in a hobby.

Caring for family members

Travelling or moving to a vacation area.

Today, retirement is viewed as a time for looking forward rather than lamenting the end of a career. Even more so, many people are leaving employment joyfully to pursue their true interests and goals. But while retirement is now seen as an exciting transition, its going to take proper planning in order to make the most of it. And an important step in planning for retirement is setting goals.

Why Should I Set Specific Retirement Goals?

Setting retirement goals is vitally important. Defining your goals will allow you to:

Plan for your retirement more realistically and effectively.

Be more motivated to achieve your goals. For example, youll know how much youll need to budget and save now for your goal.

Make a smooth transition from full time work to your retirement life.

Meet your retirement goals because youll have a clear idea of what you need to do and how you will achieve those goals.

How Do I Set Retirement Goals?

Setting your retirement goals is much more simple than you may imagine. You already know what you want to do we just need to bring that information out of you. Spend some time thinking about what it is you want out of retirement and follow this simple exercise.

Step 1: Brainstorming your ideas

Spend 15 minutes brainstorming answers to the following questions. If you are planning for retirement with your spouse, do the following exercise separately. Remember, brainstorming means writing down whatever comes to mind. There are no right or wrong answers. Dont spend too much time thinking about your answers, just right them down.

1. If you received a pension that paid your monthly expenses, what would you do with your time?

2. How would you spend a $100,000,000 lottery prize?

3. Your doctor tells you that you will live to 100 and be healthy both mentally and physically. You will have to gradually reduce your physical activity from age 90. What will you do with your time?

4. Your doctor informs you that you will die painlessly at age 65. Until that time you will feel healthy. How will you spend your time until then?

When youve answered these questions, review your answers. Did you find any surprises? Circle your top 3 answers and move onto Step 2.

Step 2: Set results

Next, think about why you want to that particular goal? What are the results or objectives that you want to achieve for those goals? What is your vision for that goal?

For example, if you want to spend more time with family and friends, is it to spend quality time with grandchildren, holiday with friends or support a less healthy family member? What would you get out of spending that time with your grandchildren? Sounds obvious, but write it down.

This is your motivation. When you decide to save an extra $300 per month for retirement, a theoretical retirement goal is not motivating. However, a vision of playing with your grandchildren all summer at the lake house is just the motivation you may need to make a small sacrifice now to reach your ultimate goal.

Step 3: Specify

Specify a dollar amount and time frame for your goals. You may not know exactly how much your goal would cost but you must specify a reasonable guesstimate so you can create a effective plan. If you need more assistance, contact your financial planner or advisor.

When specifying your goal, you may think of retirement as having multiple stages:

1. Lower or more unpredictable income including part time work, starting a business or managing investments.

2. Active but not earning an income, such as working on hobbies, travelling, volunteering or spending quality time with family.

3. Reduced activity, because of health issues or reduce mobility.

You may also think of retirement as multiple goals, each with their own time frame and monetary requirements:

1. Providing for basic necessities and medical insurance.

2. Provide for potential long-term care needs.

3. Providing for greater, more luxurious lifestyle.

4. Travel.

5. Purchasing and maintaining a vacation home or time-share.

Why Are You Waiting?

Why are you waiting to start the life your really want? The first step is specifying your goals and creating a plan. Even if your goals make take years, or decades, to fully realize, you can being to life that life now. Take time for your hobbies, join organizations involved in your interests, and spend time with family now. Retirement is not an age it is a state of mind.

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, JD, a licensed attorney and Registered Investment Advisor, is the founder of Potts Weinstein Financial Consulting, a financial and estate planning firm, headquartered in San Jose, California. The firm specializes in providing fee-only, hourly financial planning, estate planning, and investment advice for people from all walks of life and income brackets. For more information about Potts Weinstein Financial Consulting, or to subscribe to our monthly eZine 'Prosper!', please visit http://www.pottsweinstein.com

Dear Margo - DEAR MARGO: About four and a half years ago I had a one-night stand with a friend of a friend who was leaving in a few weeks for the Army.

The question most frequently and consistently asked by retirees and people planning for retirement is something like this: "I have no inspiration about what I want to do next, and I don't know how to find my inspiration. How does one begin?"

There are three primary - and usually connected - ways to find inspiration for activities that will lead to happiness and fulfillment in retirement.

First, think about your dreams and your passions. Retirement is your prime time to live out your dreams and follow your passions. If there is something you care about passionately, you have your inspiration. Think also about the dreams you held at various times in your life. You might have pushed aside important dreams because they were impractical at the time. Ask yourself if those dreams still matter to you? Do they spark excitement when you think about them? If they do, you have found your inspiration. You might have had a dream of being a jazz pianist when you were a child. Maybe there was no time or extra money for lessons at the time. Maybe now is the time to take piano lessons.

A second way to find inspiration is to think about your personal strengths and how they could transfer into other arenas of activity. What are your strengths - whether you developed and used them at work or at home? If your strengths include patience and compassion, think of new ways to use those strengths. If you are a crafts person and you have the ability to teach others, think about who might want to learn your craft and how you could make your skills available. Thinking about what our strengths are and how and where they might be used differently often helps us discover a sense of purpose.

A third way to find inspiration is to think about giving back to society in some way. Many of us come to retirement after a busy life of raising children and earning a living. For many people, there was just no time to give back. Retirement can be that time for you, especially if you are financially secure enough to be able to work only part-time or not work at all. Finding a way to give back will give you a new sense of purpose and value in retirement.

One of the most effective approaches to discovering inspiration for retirement living is to use some combination of these three approaches. Think about your dreams and your passions. You might want to write them on a sheet of paper divided into three columns. In the next column match your strengths and abilities to the dreams and passions. Finally, in the third column, list ways you could fulfill the dreams, use your strengths and abilities, and give back to society in some way. This approach - I promise - will give you the most exuberant sense of purpose and fulfillment you could ask for in your retirement.

For example, if you have strengths in patience, reading aloud, and a love for children, you might want to volunteer to read books to children at the local public library. If you have a "gift of gab" and you enjoy building new relationships, consider making deliveries for Meals on Wheels. The possibilities are endless.

Just take some time to think of all of the possibilities. Don't get blocked thinking about the reasons you can't do something. Just think about what you really care about and follow your dreams.

Dr. Cynthia Barnett is an author, teacher, life coach and a leading authority on how to "re-fire" and reinvent by making the rest of your life the best of your life. For more articles and tips on how to rejuvenate yourself in retirement visit http://www.doctorcynthiaBarnett.com

Sometimes it is difficult to figure it all out by yourself so allow me to support you on your journey call 203-855-9715 or e-mail cynthia@doctorcynthiabarnett.com

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