In modern America, retirement planning can feel like one of life’s biggest financial milestones: a cultural rite of passage everyone in their 40s, 50s and 60s automatically goes through. If you’re reading this article today, that probably means you have considered it yourself!
But before you dive deep into the specifics of your own retirement plan, we believe it would be worthwhile to ask some big picture questions about what retirement planning actually is, and how you might want to think about it a little differently…
At Iron Point Financial, we believe that retirement planning should be about more than just abstract numbers. Instead, we operate with a conviction that this practice provides an opportunity to explore and reflect your unique values, life purpose, and goals.
That’s why this post, walking through the 5 Factors to Consider When Planning for Retirement, might look a bit different to conventional wisdom on the topic. We want to help you create a retirement plan that truly aligns with what matters to you, and we hope the questions we ask today can help facilitate that for you.
1. Do You Actually Want to Retire? Why?
Before you start planning for retirement, you might want to ask yourself whether you actually want to retire—or whether you are merely following the unspoken script society has written for you. Consider this: when I write the word, ‘retirement,’ what comes to mind?
If you’re anything like the majority of Americans steeped in a cultural diet of internet ads, television commercials and universalized subliminal messaging, you probably associate ‘retirement’ with one of three things: travel, family and leisure. You might even have the cover image for this article pop into your mind’s eye: an elderly couple relaxing on a sunlit beach, enjoying the waves, free from the shackles of their old 9-to-5…
While there is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things — indeed, they are all worth celebrating and working towards to a certain extent— the fact that most people automatically think of the same thing should be cause to pause and reconsider whether it actually makes sense for you. After all, as Socrates said over 2,000 years ago, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
So the real question is: how did we get here? Where did this idealized version of ‘retirement’ come from? Let’s take a minute to find out…
Retirement Planning: The Origin Story
Although retirement pensions were first conceived pretty close to the time of Socrates, they looked very different to the modern American version. In 13 BC, Caesar Augustus, the Roman Emperor, offered Roman legionnaires a retirement package equivalent to 13 times their annual salary.
Why would Augustus do this? To disincentivize revolution: if these soldiers served long enough (a minimum of 20 years active military service plus another 5 years in the reserves), and they were paid well enough, they would be unlikely to betray the Emperor and try to take his place (“Et tu, Brute?”).
The history of pensions and retirement planning would follow a similar pattern for much of the next 1,800 years; typically, these took the form of government-sponsored schemes that supported either retired servicemen from different military branches, or, in the 19th century, police officers (that practice started in 1857, in New York City).
It wasn’t until 1875 that American Express offered the first private sector pension — an event that pointed towards the privately-sponsored IRA and 401(k) schemes we are familiar with today.
What Can This History Teach Us?
Now that we’ve run though a truncated historical overview, we are better equipped to understand and question the concept of retirement planning. If the first schemes were designed for soldiers — to keep them happy and prevent rebellion against the state — how might that inform our view of retirement schemes today?
Could we replace “Caesar Augustus” with the US government (in relation to Social Security), your company name (whoever provides you with retirement benefits), or whichever organization manages your 401(k) or IRA (the Vanguards, State Streets and Blackrocks of this world)? Could the schemes we have created simply be an attempt to coddle and control large numbers of people into an easily managed narrative conceit?
Granted, it might feel a little cynical and far-fetched to make that comparison, given the differences between ancient and modern societies — consider our much longer healthspans, for instance — but a “question everything” mentality could help us to make better decisions overall; namely, decisions that are truly in our best interest, rather than those that serve an arbitrary system.
Alternatives to Traditional Retirement
As this article on modern retirement planning puts it, “Today’s worker’s don’t necessarily want to retire and do nothing. A growing number of Americans are pursuing career shifts in their 50s and 60s away from highly compensated jobs to ‘dream jobs.’”
In other words, people are waking up to the reality that retirement doesn’t have to look the same for everyone, and the idea of a “permanent holiday” (as retirement has traditionally been conceived) may not actually be the best individual outcome.
With all of that in mind, you may want to pause and examine your own perspective on retirement.
The following questions may help:
- Are you excited about the idea of stopping work?
- Do you appreciate the company you work for and the career you find yourself in?
- Would a flexible or phased retirement suit you better?
- Have you considered shifting to a ‘dream job’ outside of your current place of work?
- How do you want to spend your time once you’re no longer working full-time?
Now that you have taken a few moments of self-reflection, we reckon you are ready to move on to the next step: defining exactly what you want from the “retirement” stage of your life, however you uniquely conceive of it.
2. If You Are Sure About Retirement, What Are Your Concrete Retirement Goals?
Hopefully, it should be clear that “retirement” does not just need to be an endpoint, but can instead be a transition into a different chapter of life (which looks different for each person). With that in mind, we would suggest that an intentional retirement plan begins with defining what this new chapter should look like for you.
Consider These Questions:
- Where do you want to live? (Stay put, downsize, move to a retirement-friendly state?)
- What lifestyle do you envision? (Travel, hobbies, volunteering, starting a new venture?)
- What activities or causes bring you the most fulfillment?
- How do you plan to maintain important social connections and relationships?
Brainstorming using questions like these can help bring clarity to your unique retirement goals. Setting out exactly what you hope for — perhaps in contrast to the stereotypical idea of retirement — can help increase your confidence in the future. On top of that, the more specific you are, the easier it can be to build a financial strategy that supports your vision.
And remember, there are no wrong answers! Greg Liszka (CFP®, RICP®), President and Advisor at Iron Point Financial, recently took on an elderly couple as clients where,
“He retired, and they bought a camper; they want an experience. And that’s a very inexpensive way — after buying the camper and a vehicle to pull it — to travel here and there, finding campgrounds for sixty bucks a night. Fantastic!”
No dream or goal is too big or too small. The key is making sure that it’s one you believe in.
3. Do You Have a Clear, Coherent Retirement Plan?
Setting goals is a great start, but it’s not the same as having a concrete, actionable retirement plan that brings everything together. A clear plan serves as a roadmap that includes financial milestones and strategies to guide you up to and through your retirement years.
Key Elements of a Strong Retirement Plan:
✅ Income Planning: How might you replace your current paycheck? E.g. Social Security, pensions, investment withdrawals, rental income, and annuities — or perhaps a new career entirely.
✅ Investment Strategy: Do you have a well-diversified portfolio that balances risk and growth, and incorporates your values?
✅ Healthcare & Long-Term Care: Have you factored in medical expenses, including long-term care needs?
✅ Tax-Efficient Withdrawals: How will you account for taxes on retirement income?
✅ Contingency Planning: What could you do to plan for unexpected expenses or changes in economic conditions?
At Iron Point Financial, we specialize in crafting personalized retirement plans that can help keep you accountable to your long-term goals while remaining flexible enough to help deal with life’s uncertainties.
As Greg puts it, “We’ll get your retirement planning calculations done in an efficient, easy-to-understand manner. Period. And then we’re going to execute on it.”
Retirement Planning Tip: Consolidation, Consolidation, Consolidation!
One of the most common retirement planning issues Greg comes across is randomness: many clients who walk through our doors need help finding their retirement assets and bringing them together. As Greg describes it,
“If one of our clients left a job that had a 401(k) work plan, that doesn’t automatically mean they have moved from that original plan. They could have switched jobs three times and have money scattered all over…
“What we can do is consolidate them so that there’s one contact, and one strategy guiding the money, rather than, “I don’t even know where it’s at!’”
This is what intentional planning within a clear retirement roadmap, and with expert help from a trusted advisor, is all about.
4. Have You Thought About Your Legacy?
Retirement planning doesn’t just have to be about focusing on your own future; it can be about the impact you leave behind. Legacy planning, or estate planning, can help to ensure that your wealth is used in a way that aligns with your values and looks after your loved ones and the causes you care about after you pass away.
Consider These Key Legacy Questions:
- Have you created or updated your will and estate plan?
- Do you have a trust in place to protect your assets and provide clear instructions for your heirs?
- Have you designated beneficiaries for your retirement accounts and life insurance policies?
- Would you like to support charities or causes that matter to you through planned giving?
- Have you arranged a time to tell your family your life story, so they can better understand your values, and any legacy decisions you have made?
Thinking beyond yourself and considering how your legacy can bless and impact the world and those around you can be a great way to direct your wealth and assets with intentionality and purpose. At Iron Point Financial, we help clients align their retirement plan with their long-term legacy goals for exactly this reason.
5. What Really Matters in Life?
Speaking of intentionality, have you ever seen Stephen Spielberg’s war masterpiece, Saving Private Ryan?
[MAJOR SPOILER ALERT INCOMING IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH].
In one of the most pivotal scenes in the film, Captain Miller (played by Tom Hanks) gives his life to save Private James Ryan (the titular character, played by Matt Damon). As he lays against a tank, bleeding and dying, he turns to the young Private and whispers, “James… earn this. Earn it.”
If there is anything viewers can take away from that movie, it would be this: there is something about life you simply cannot put a number on. It is precious, invaluable, priceless. We are all here because someone else helped to bring us into the world, and we all have an opportunity to model dignity and purpose with whatever time we have left.
That philosophy is precisely why we believe the most important retirement planning questions you can ask are these: What really matters? What values do I hold most dear? What is my life purpose, and how can I honor it by blessing others?
Although these may feel like weighty questions, they could be the key to a truly meaningful, satisfied existence (perhaps in contrast to the leisure-focused retirement narrative). Indeed, psychologist Martin Seligman, a pioneer in the study of happiness and well-being, has identified several key factors that contribute to a meaningful life, including:
- Engagement – Feeling deeply involved in activities that challenge and fulfill you.
- Meaning – Connecting your actions to a greater purpose or mission.
- Relationships – Cultivating meaningful social connections.
How Do These Life Satisfaction Indicators Apply to Retirement?
- What activities or projects make you feel engaged and excited?
- What deeper purpose do you want to pursue in your retirement years?
- How will you nurture and maintain important relationships?
When you think through questions like these and the ones in the first section of this article, you are engaging directly in the process of meaning-making. More often than not, this process will lead you to think about the people you love and the causes you care about.
In other words, this kind of retirement planning can help you to be the opposite of someone like Caesar Augustus, who came up with the concept of retirement pensions out of cunning self-preservation; instead, you can kick-start a personal revolution by considering how your life and retirement plan can be designed to bless and impact others.
In that way, we reckon you’ll be “earning it” — honoring the sacrifices of those who have gone before you, and truly making life matter.
Partner with Iron Point Financial for a Retirement Roadmap That Tells Your Story
Planning for retirement is one of the most personal financial decisions you could ever make. That’s why at Iron Point Financial, we don’t just look at the numbers—we take the time to understand your story, your values, and what truly matters to you.
Our comprehensive retirement planning services include:
✔️ Personalized financial strategies tailored to your retirement goals;
✔️ Tax-efficient investment and withdrawal strategies;
✔️ Legacy and estate planning guidance; and
✔️ Ongoing support and accountability to keep you on track.
We believe your retirement plan should reflect your vision, not just a generic formula. Let us help you design a retirement that aligns with your goals, values, and legacy. As Greg likes to say, “We try to do things a little different…” because we’re doing them for you.
📅 Ready to start your retirement planning journey? Contact Iron Point Financial today to schedule a consultation. Let’s build a future that reflects what truly matters to you.
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Iron Point Financial is here to empower you to secure a brighter tomorrow. We operate physical offices in Grove City, PA and Greenville, PA.
We primarily serve residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida but we also have security registrations for 22 other states across the continental USA.
