Financial Wellbeing & Life Satisfaction in Retirement

A ‘Good’ Retirement

More and more clients are looking to discuss what a ‘good’ retirement looks like for them, and they are increasingly starting to plan for their retirement earlier. Many people find the idea of transitioning into retirement attractive rather than having a hard retirement date.

A recent report from Fidelity International (Retirement: The Now and the Then) in Australia looked at the financial wellbeing of retirees.

Working with a Financial Planner

The study shows that pre-retirees and retirees with an active relationship with a financial planner:

Have less financial stress;
Feel more confident and resilient;
Are better informed about money matters;
Have a greater sense of control;
Are more optimistic about the future; and
Are generally happier.

Working for Longer

The study also shows that many Australians (and, in my experience, this also applies in the UK) want to continue to work for longer for the following reasons:

They enjoy working;
It helps them to maintain a sense of purpose; and
It allays boredom.

Lessons From Those Already Retired

For those people who had been retired for at least ten years, the Fidelity International study asked what challenges they had experienced which they hadn’t anticipated. The most common responses were that they underestimated the emotional impact of retirement and experienced a loss of purpose and personal identity.

For some people, they didn’t anticipate losing a partner or having health or mobility issues.

Feeling in control of their retirement also had a big impact on wellbeing and life satisfaction. Those people who were forced to retire early due to redundancy, personal health issues or being required to care for a loved one often gave a lower life-satisfaction score compared to people who felt they were in control of their retirement.

Six Characteristics of a Successful Retirement

The Fidelity study concludes by outlining six characteristics that people should cultivate to achieve a successful retirement:

Circumstances – health and wealth are critical for enjoying a good life in retirement.
Character – self-esteem and resilience are needed to deal with the unexpected.
Connection – having quality relationships with family, friends and the wider community.
Control – feeling like you are the master of your own destiny.
Confidence – having peace of mind and optimism.
Capability – having the agency and ability to act and adapt.

The Power of Planning

It is clear that everyone’s retirement journey and experience is unique and the period leading up to retirement can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety even where people have significant wealth. Those people who start planning for their retirement earlier tend to feel more in control and optimistic about their retirement.

Your Ideal Lifestyle

For us at Mangu Wealth Management, the retirement journey is about articulating the lifestyle you want to lead in retirement and planning for this. We look at different scenarios and factor in various options for how you see your retirement in the future. We can then look at your wealth and create a financial planning strategy designed to help you achieve and maintain your ideal lifestyle throughout retirement whatever that may look like.

Contact Us

If you would like to discuss your retirement journey, please click on the button below or go to the ‘Contact Us’ page on our website.