Retirement Planning – Retiring Abroad – International Living

10 important conversations to have about retirement over the holidays

10 Conversations to have over the holidays . . . about retirement.

Extended families and friends gather to celebrate over holiday dinners.  What better time to start an informal conversation about the serious matter of retirement; retirement planning, retiring abroad, and international living.

Typically four generations are being affected by the retirement decisions of people in their 60’s.  So, the subject is worthy of discussion.  The trick is to not make the discussion about finances.  Make it about choices.

If the subject of limited finances tends to loom over the discussion, here’s how you can be the bearer of hope:

Check out the Google interactive map on the home page of Traveling 4 Health & Retirement where you can see at a glance most of the popular places where others, like yourself, are living better lifestyles requiring less income and enjoying better healthcare benefits sometimes as cheaply as $22 a month.

Does that cheer you up?  It should.  Everyone likes having more choices.

“Light at the end of the retirement tunnel” conversations

Just starting a dialogue with loved ones about retirement options is a healthy step.  I think you’ll be amazed at what attitudes and values are revealed through casual comments.

That old cliché is true, “you have nothing to lose and everything to gain” by starting a dialogue that will at the least reveal a base-line of what family members think about their own or their elders’ retirement.  At best, you will plant some positive seeds of thought that will bear fruit for great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and for the grandkids.

Don’t know where to start?

Ponder the following questions and observations as possible conversation starters:

1)  What does the word retirement mean to you?

2)  What does age 60 mean to you?

Today’s 60-somethings remember their own grandparents as elderly without feeling elderly themselves.  The new 60 is really an Adult II stage of life.

3)  What are your thoughts and feelings about when and where you or your parents plan to retire?

Throughout human history, place has been a basic element of identity, as basic, as family of origin, yet in contemporary America both have been partially set aside (source:  Composing a further Life by Mary Catherine Bateson).

4)  Have you experienced a change of consciousness with any previous lifestyle changes?

For example, adjusting to :

a)  New jobs or careers,

b)  New relationships,

c)  Having children,

d)  Caring for old or sick relatives or friends,

e)  Abrupt changes in finances,

f)  New surroundings; neighborhoods, climates, countries.

5)  How do you see your role in the Adult II phase of life?

a)  Leaving a legacy,

b)  Enjoying new freedoms and new responsibilities,

c)  Composing a life in new and satisfying patterns,

d)  Maintaining your affection and joie de vivre for life,

e)  Playing an important role in your community.

6)  Do you think you should retire separately from your spouse or together?

7)  How do you feel about living with other family members or having them live with you?

Has anyone had the experience of setting up housekeeping near grandchildren only to have them pull up stakes and move elsewhere?

8)  What will you options be if you decide to continue working?

9)  What do you want to retire to?

10) What do you want to retire from?

Hint: Talk “choices” without expressing ridged opinions or expectations.   Allow people to express opinions without trying to problem solve.  This should be a conversation of discovery.  Keep it light and fluffy