6 Things to Stop Doing in Retirement Planning for a Great Life

Retirement planning is often seen as a complex and daunting task, filled with spreadsheets, calculations, and endless decision-making. However, in a recent article, retirement advisor Michael Easter highlights the importance of simplifying our approach to retirement planning by focusing on what we should stop doing rather than adding more to our lives.

Easter emphasizes that our natural inclination to add more to our lives, whether it be more gadgets, more work, or more complexity in our retirement plans, can actually hinder our ability to create a great life in retirement. He points out that we often overlook the power of subtraction and simplification in our planning process.

One key point Easter makes is to stop chasing confidence through increased precision. He argues that spending excessive time and energy trying to make our retirement plans more precise and accurate can actually lead to more stress and anxiety. Instead, he suggests making informed guesses and revisiting our assumptions as needed, without getting bogged down in unnecessary details.

Another important takeaway from Easter’s article is to stop making retirement planning our new job. He warns against becoming too obsessed with our spreadsheets and investment portfolios, as this can lead to a never-ending cycle of overanalyzing and overplanning. Easter advocates for creating a retirement plan of record and checking in periodically to make adjustments, rather than constantly tinkering with our plans.

Easter also highlights the importance of not optimizing for returns in retirement planning. While maximizing investment returns may seem like the logical approach, he argues that focusing on personal life goals and creating a resilient plan is more important than chasing higher returns. By prioritizing stability and flexibility in our retirement plans, we can better prepare for the uncertainties of the future.

In conclusion, Easter urges readers to stop waiting to create the life they want in retirement and to stop resigning themselves to the status quo. He emphasizes the importance of seizing the moment and making proactive decisions to shape our future, rather than letting circumstances dictate our path. By simplifying our approach to retirement planning and focusing on what truly matters, we can create a fulfilling and meaningful life in retirement.