The critical components to achieve a happy, healthy retirement

While many of you might be focused on providing a retirement that is financially successful, we believe it is also important to be aware of the importance of retirement wellness, which is why retirement planning has to focus on more than money. Absolutely, planning around your nest egg is one way of alleviating your worries when it comes to money, but retirement happiness also comes when you consider how you’re going to stay active, remain connected and the ways in which your service can extend beyond leisure.

One of the things we’ve learned at Starts at 60 about retirement in recent years is that there generally there are four key components to ensuring you have a happy life in your 60s and beyond.

While retirement was once a simple time of relaxation, today’s retirees have a different view. No longer do you see retirement as the ‘end of life’, but rather the beginning of new adventures. When I speak with members of the Starts at 60 community, there are four issues that keep popping up:

1. being able to manage your money with confidence
2. getting healthy and maintaining your health so you can tackle any health issue that might arise
3. surrounding yourself with great family or friends (or both!) and staying involved in your community
4. creating a bucket list of travel wishes and ticking off destinations you’ve always dreamed of.

With these things in mind Starts at 60 is working hard to help you master those important parts of your life. Earlier this year we introduced our Reinventing Retirement Program, a series of emails that are delivered to your inbox, and with Travel at 60 (our full-service travel business designed just for over-60s), we’re committed to giving you the information and tools to achieve your retirement goals.

With our industry experts, we have also identified the 14 life stages one might experience in retirement. We acknowledge that not everyone will experience every one of these stages and neither will the stages be the same for everyone in retirement.

The first step in this process is understanding the stages of retirement you’ve already experienced so that you can look towards those stages that might lie ahead. It’s important to remember that this new ‘reinvented retirement’ we are living in today is a journey not a destination, which is why I encourage you to take Starts at 60‘s Life Stages Quiz to get a sense of where you are in your retirement.

In simple terms, financial security, healthy living and social engagement are at the forefront of successful living in this next stage of life and Starts at 60 wants to be there to support you on your journey.