Goal Setting For Later Years Prepared October 3, 2005 Cynthia Crawford

Research Says Goals provide direction Families that establish both short and long term goals are more likely to achieve what is important to them Goal setters have better financial management

Goals for This Session Understand the importance of setting goals Identify and write goals Then I hope you will: Discuss goals with supportive family members Establish a network for reaching goals

Goal Areas in Life Mental Social Physical Family Financial Professional Community support Mental - self esteem, some control Social - interaction with others Physical - health and physical well-being Family – chances are there are people in your life that are really important to you. Financial – resources in place that you need Professional - job/career/education Community support – getting help when needed, giving support to others. Volunteer work

Goals Over the Years New refrigerator Organize photos Play the piano Help with young person’s education Maximize investments Time with children and grandchildren Work on family history Organize photos Emergency fund Protection against financial risks Time for hobbies Travel Major purchases Repairs People have a variety of goals over the years. What is important to one person may not be important to another. It is likely that you have goals that aren’t listed here. This is just a list to jump start your thinking and goals… Here are goals people have expressed in classes over the years…(review list)

Strategies for Success Set short-term goals that build toward a long-term goal Set goals out of reach, but not out of sight Establish a reward or ceremony in advance Set goals individually and as a family Write them down and post them! Calendar your goals

At the end of each day, plan for tomorrow Don’t share goals with negative people Don’t depend on others - do it yourself

Pull out the page labeled “As I think about my retirement” Take a minute or two to fill in just the first two sections: These are words I want to use to describe my retirement These are words that I don’t want to use to describe my retirement Ask class members to share words that they want to be able to use – Go back around quickly – words they DON”T want to use to describe retirement

In my retirement, these are things I want to: Do Be Have Contribute What do I need to be doing now to make this happen? As you start thinking about writing goals, What do you want to do in retirement? What do you want to be in retirement? What do you want to have in retirement? “Have” can be both material and non material. For example, you may want to have a nice home, have a vehicle replaced every 5 years. You may also want to have joy in your heart or have a good night’s sleep most nights. Think of both material and non-material things. What do you want to contribute in retirement? The first thing we often think of contributing is money. There’s much more though. Contributing time as a volunteer. Contributing a smile. Being a well- informed voter in every election. Contributing an encouraging word to young people you meet. Finally, start listing what you need to be doing now to make this happen. List at least 3 things. I certainly understand that you’ll want to come back to this page and work on it this week.

Congratulations! You have achieved something important by starting the process of capturing your retirement goals on paper. Don’t underestimate how important what you have just done is for a more positive future!