RetirePluggedIn Podcast

RPI #013: Financially Ready but Not Ready to Retire

• Nora Hartquist • Episode 13

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0:00 | 13:24

RPI #013: Financially Ready but Not Ready to Retire


Your portfolio's ready. Is your life? The gap is where retirements quietly fall apart.


Episode Summary

In this episode of Retire Plugged In, host Nora Hartquist breaks down why being financially ready and being ready to retire are not the same thing.

You'll learn how to audit your current week for what energizes and drains you, discover the four pillars of a designed retirement week - Purpose, People, Play, and Rest - and find out why "schedule it or it won't happen" might be the single most important retirement advice you'll ever get.


Question of the Day 🗣️

What's one thing you do right now - at work or outside of it - that genuinely energizes you? Have you thought about how to carry that into retirement? Share in the comments.


Key Take-aways

  • Being financially ready and retirement-ready are not the same thing - most advisors miss this
  • Audit your current week to see what energizes you and what quietly drains you
  • Design your ideal week around four pillars: Purpose, People, Play, and Rest
  • Use the 8-8-8-8 monthly minimum to keep your retirement balanced and fulfilling
  • Run 90-day experiments to discover what you love without committing long-term


Timestamped Outline ⏱️

00:00 – Opening – Retire Plugged In Issue #013
00:27 – The three forces affecting today's retirees
01:04 – Why designing retirement matters more than just planning finances
02:31 – Step 1: Audit your current week
02:59 – What energizes you - and how to build it into retirement
05:02 – What drains you - and how to simplify or offload it
07:32 – Step 2: Design your ideal week - the 8-8-8-8 monthly minimum
08:01 – The four pillars: Purpose, People, Play, and Rest
11:34 – Set 90-day experiments
13:09 – Closing – what's coming next week


Links & Resources 🔗


Connect & CTA 🎯

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🎁 Get Nora's weekly breakdown of the retirement truths nobody else is telling you - the financial pitfalls, social dynamics, and scam threats that shape your retirement window: https://retirepluggedin.thecenterforretirementreadiness.com/


Credits

Host: Nora Hartquist © 2026 Retire Plugged In. All rights reserved.


SPEAKER_00

Retire Plugged in newsletter issue number 13. How to create a life worth retiring to. The real truth about retirement. Now that we've reflected on what might make our retirement legendary, how do we design your retirement life? We've covered a lot since we started this newsletter, and I think it's time to revisit why we started this and where we're going. There's a confluence of three events that is affecting you in this your retirement window, unlike the generations before you. There's the economic cycle and the political cycle that coincides with it, the social dynamic of today that's isolating retirees, the tech revolution, which brings challenges while simultaneously putting a particular target on the back of retirees. Although we've addressed these in previous newsletters, they are constantly evolving and we intend to keep you up to date. In today's newsletter, we're going to address how to design your retirement, not just drift into it and through it. This is more about the social dynamic, but of course, you must have the resources to actually be able to design that new chapter. So that will be our focus after this newsletter. You'll find that having been a financial advisor for retirees for almost 40 years, I have opinions about financial retirement planning based on my experience. And sometimes those opinions may be in stark contrast to commonly held beliefs, so stay tuned. My goals will be twofold: prepare you to make knowledgeable decisions on your own behalf, and keep you up to date on the constantly changing world of laws and rules that affect retirees throughout their retirement, on investing, creating a guaranteed income, IRAs, 401ks, and other retirement accounts, taxes, including hidden taxes on retirees, Social Security, Medicare, long-term care, estate planning, and much more. But for today, let's assume your finances are in order for now. You're not wealthy but can pay your basic bills in retirement, and you want to design a fulfilling chapter that's a great finale of your life. Designing your retirement life, step one, is to audit your current week. Track how you spend your time each day and begin to recognize what energizes you and how do you work that into your retirement? If you're not retired yet, we still need to do this exercise because there may be parts of your current working life that energize you that you'd like to be able to also do in retirement. Do you enjoy discussing recent news events with coworkers? If that energizes you, how do you build that into your retirement when you're home alone or with your partner every day? If you love talking about current events, maybe you need to have a weekly meeting with friends where you can discuss any subjects you wish. Be very careful about putting the entire burden of social life on your spouse. He or she may feel trapped or resentful. We often see this with clients. Does the challenge of solving problems at work energize you? What will keep your mind actively solving challenges after work is over? This goes back to our last newsletter about pillar number three of a great retirement, growth and learning. Maybe you enjoy problem solving to accomplish something. You can actually see something done when you're finished, like projects around the house, learning woodworking, or my favorite hobby, gardening. Does silently reading the news or researching new ideas keep you motivated and brain active? How will that work into your retirement? Perhaps you love learning more about a topic on or understanding what is really happening in the news. You can do research on the internet to find opposite opinions and analyze what you believe. Between YouTube, news sites, podcasts, and more, you'll have plenty to keep your mind active. Everything from learning a new language to planning a trip in detail, developing a new hobby, and many more ideas you'll find in last week's newsletter, issue number 12. Maybe it has nothing to do with work, but relaxing by doing home projects, traveling, grilling a great dinner, enjoying a hobby, playing with the grandkids, or watching sports energizes you. The great news is that you get to choose how much time to spend and when you want to spend it on all those things you love. Now what drains you? Do you hate being responsible for administrative tasks at work? What might you have to do in retirement that you could simplify or offload to a professional or trade off with your spouse? If keeping track of you and your partner's medical appointments drives you crazy, perhaps you get an app that reminds you, like my husband has on his watch, and an online calendar. Maybe you're not tech savvy, but it's time to learn. If you've been managing your investments and doing a great job, it might be time to consult a professional on retirement investing, which is quite different than the accumulation investing you've been doing. And let them not only be responsible for investing, but keep track of all your accounts for you. Does that commute to work drive you crazy? How will you cut down on driving in retirement? Oh, it's great that you won't have to commute, but there's still driving to do. And if you're like us and live on the busiest interstate in America, I-95, just driving 15 miles from Stafford to Fredericksburg, Virginia could take anywhere from half an hour to six hours. What? Why? My friend, who was going up I-95 when a wreck happened about five miles ahead of him, a daily occurrence here, sat on I-95 from 11 in the morning to 5 in the evening. Maybe it's time to get groceries delivered and learn to use Amazon. I order from BJ's warehouse, which is in Fredericksburg, I'm in Stafford, and they guarantee delivery within two hours. Now have they ever gotten stuck on the road? Yes, and they deliver it fresh the next day. Do you dread the housework on the weekends now and don't look forward to it even when you'll have time to do it in retirement? Perhaps you can get a cleaning service to come in once or twice a month. Some people say they have the money but they don't want to spend it. That's your choice. Or maybe you've listened to the news on the way to work every day, and by the time you get to work, your world feels defeated. You're retired now. You choose how much time you'll spend on the news, as well as what news you want to see. Maybe you subscribe to something like Nice News, which features uplifting stories across every category. My husband loves this newsletter. So designing your week may seem like overkill. After all, you're retired. Your monthly success goal is a minimum, just maybe eight purposeful activities, people activities with social things to do, play activities, rest activities. The goal isn't to stay busy every minute, it's to create a retirement that feels meaningful, connected, enjoyable, and balanced. A calendar built around purpose, people, play, and rest helps ensure that no area of life gets neglected and can give you the structure that we lost when we left our job or career. Creating your best chapter requires planning. You've heard it from me many times. Don't hang out in the lobby of your life. Prepare for your second act. So, purpose, what is your purpose now that work is over? You don't have one? Go back to issue number 12 to help you with that to figure it out. If your purpose now is to contribute because you never had time before, explore opportunities for contributing your time instead of money. Now that you've retired, you can generously give up your time. And most great charities need people's time even more than their money. Go back to issue number 12 to review how you can change the future of a child as a big brother or a big sister. Of course, you can also do a QCD, a qualified charitable distribution, to a qualified charity, saving taxes on your retirement account distributions if you're 70 and a half, while blessing a cause you believe in. We have a short video here explaining that. If you want contribution to be part of your retirement, you must not only find what you want to bless, but also put that on your schedule for the week. Perhaps you volunteer at the hospital on Tuesdays or meet with a little brother on Thursdays or become a guide at the Marine Museum on Wednesdays. These are all examples of what our clients have done. The key? Schedule it, or it won't happen. And people, if you really enjoy socializing, set a schedule to do it. Maybe you join a book club at the library that meets on Thursday mornings, or you go to the local racetrack every other Saturday with a friend, meet with the local master gardeners to discuss what's happening with plants this summer. Most of all, set a schedule to keep up with your family. I know our grown children are all busy, but we set a time for a phone call weekly. It can become a habit that you look forward to. If you can't get out to socialize, you might make new friends through our membership site, Retire Plugged In, as an example, where you can get to know people who have the same interests as you and you can meet over Zoom, if not in person, on a regular schedule. You'd be amazed how close relationships can be built even when people are far away. And then play. So many of us think about play in retirement as travel. Sure, that's something to look forward to. But how about a regular schedule for play? Not everyone has a hobby, but we can develop new interests that make time fly, and we don't even know how time has passed. That's play. It might be a hobby you enjoy. Don't have one? All the ideas in the world are at your fingertips on the internet. Start by setting aside time to explore ideas, then learn from YouTube and set aside time every week to enjoy your newfound pastime. We're all individuals, different in who we are and what we enjoy. This is only meant to give you an idea. Here we have a sample calendar to give you an idea of scheduling at least part of your week. Then set 90-day experiments. You're probably saying to yourself, all that sounds great, but how do I know what I'd like to do? Well, you don't. That's where our 90-day experiments come in. Now this might be challenging for those of us who are introverts. Yes, I am an introvert, but let's explore some possibilities and try them for 90 days. There's no need for long-term commitments, but try to give something new a try for at least 90 days. You may be overwhelmed or feeling confident at first, but you may find you really like it later. Then also join a club, volunteer at a hospital, sign up for pickleball lessons as the new age. Learn chess or anything that you haven't tried. Something you may not have considered, but could become a huge part of your retirement is starting a business or getting a part-time job, not for the money, but because you want to learn something, share something, or socialize more. And for socialization, call that old friend you still think of so fondly, but haven't reached out to for years. You may be pleasantly surprised at how happy they are to hear from you. Where do you find these possibilities? Trust me, if you go online, you just have to Google it or ask ChatGPT. Commit to spending the next three months designing your ideal weekly rhythm. You'll be so glad you did. The most fulfilling retirements are intentional, social, and flexible. That's it for this week. Next week, 40 years in retirement planning, and I disagree with the experts. Stay tuned, it's going to be fun.