Should You Stay Busy in Retirement? Why Doing Less May Lead to a More Satisfying Retirement

Doing Less May Lead to a More Satisfying Retirement

One of the most common pieces of retirement advice sounds something like this: Stay busy.

Fill your calendar. Volunteer. Join groups. Find hobbies. Keep moving. Stay productive. Make sure you have a purpose.

There is good reasoning behind that advice. Retirement can dramatically change a person’s social network, daily routine, and sense of identity. Staying connected to other people can be an important part of building a fulfilling retirement.

But what if retirees can take that advice too far?

Research from Finland and Sweden offers an interesting perspective. Rather than suggesting that the happiest retirees are necessarily those with the fullest calendars, the research points toward something much simpler: retirement can become more satisfying when everyday life becomes easier.

That distinction matters. The goal of retirement may not be to replace a 40-hour workweek with 40 hours of new activities. Instead, a successful retirement may involve finding the right balance between meaningful connections, purposeful activities, financial security, and something many working adults rarely have enough of: unstructured time.

Does Retirement Actually Make People Happier?

People often imagine retirement as a dramatic turning point. After decades of work, commuting, deadlines, meetings, and responsibilities, retirement is supposed to produce an immediate surge in happiness.

But the transition may be more subtle than that.

A Finnish study following thousands of public-sector employees through the transition into retirement examined several dimensions of life satisfaction. Researchers considered factors including happiness, interestingness, togetherness, and what they described as easiness.

Overall life satisfaction improved somewhat after retirement and then remained relatively stable. But the largest and most consistent change wasn’t necessarily a dramatic increase in happiness.

It was easiness.

Daily life simply became less difficult.

There was less rushing. Fewer obligations. Less work-related strain. Retirees had greater control over how they spent their time.

That may sound less exciting than the traditional image of retirement, but it reveals something important about what people may actually value once they stop working.

Retirement doesn’t always have to make life more exciting. Sometimes its greatest benefit is making life less demanding.

The Overlooked Value of an Easier Life

During your working years, much of your schedule is dictated by other people.

You may wake up when an alarm tells you to. You commute when traffic dictates. Meetings appear on your calendar. Projects have deadlines. Family responsibilities fill evenings and weekends.

Even leisure has to fit around everything else.

Retirement can fundamentally change that relationship with time.

You might still have appointments and commitments, but suddenly there can be more choice. And having greater control over your time may be one of the most valuable benefits retirement offers.

Imagine having a doctor’s appointment on Thursday and deciding that is enough for Thursday.

During your career, that might have sounded absurd. A one-hour appointment could simply be squeezed between several other obligations.

In retirement, however, you may decide you don’t want to squeeze everything together anymore. You might go to the appointment, have lunch, come home, read, take a walk, work in the yard, or simply enjoy the afternoon.

That’s not necessarily laziness.

It may be exactly the freedom you spent decades working to achieve.

But What About Staying Socially Connected?

There is another side to this discussion, and it shouldn’t be ignored.

Work provides much more than a paycheck.

For many people, work provides:

Daily social interaction
A predictable routine
A sense of purpose
Professional identity
Regular contact with coworkers and clients
A reason to leave the house

When someone retires, many of those connections disappear almost overnight.

In the Finnish research discussed on our podcast, the average number of network ties declined substantially after retirement. Many of those disappearing connections were naturally associated with work.

Close family relationships and important friendships may remain, but the casual conversations and everyday interactions associated with a workplace can disappear.

That’s why planning for social connection remains important.

The lesson from this research isn’t that retirees should isolate themselves. Instead, it suggests that there is a difference between being meaningfully connected and being excessively busy.

You don’t necessarily need to replace every coworker with a new friend or every working hour with a new commitment.

Instead, retirement may be an opportunity to concentrate more attention on the relationships that matter most.

Quality of Connection May Matter More Than Quantity

Think about the relationships you would most like to maintain or strengthen during retirement.

Maybe it’s your spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings, longtime friends, neighbors, church community, golf group, travel companions, or another social circle.

A retirement calendar with a few meaningful relationships can potentially be more satisfying than a calendar filled with activities involving people you barely know.

That means retirement planning shouldn’t simply ask:

How will I stay busy?

A better question might be:

Who do I want to spend my time with, and what do I want that time to look like?

That shift changes the objective from filling time to intentionally using it.

Can Too Much Volunteering Reduce Retirement Satisfaction?

Volunteering is another activity routinely recommended to retirees, and for good reason. Volunteer work can provide purpose, community, social interaction, and an opportunity to contribute.

But more volunteering doesn’t automatically mean greater retirement satisfaction.

A Swedish study examining volunteering and life satisfaction across the retirement transition found an interesting relationship. People with greater life satisfaction were more likely to volunteer. But higher levels of volunteering were subsequently associated with decreases in life satisfaction.

In other words, volunteering didn’t necessarily create satisfaction. People who were already more satisfied may have been more inclined to volunteer.

That doesn’t mean volunteering is bad.

It means volunteering can become another obligation if you’re not careful.

If you retire on Friday and immediately build a Monday-through-Friday volunteer schedule, you may have unintentionally recreated the very lifestyle you were trying to leave.

You might once again have alarms to set, places you have to be, people depending on you, and obligations you feel guilty about declining.

For some people, that’s enjoyable.

For others, it can begin to feel suspiciously like another job.

Volunteer Because You Want To, Not Because Retirement Says You Should

A useful way to evaluate retirement commitments is to periodically ask yourself:

If nobody expected me to do this, would I still want to do it?

If the answer is yes, wonderful.

Keep doing it.

If the answer becomes no, it may be worth reconsidering the commitment.

Retirement offers an opportunity to become more selective about obligations. That can include volunteer activities, clubs, committees, social events, and even family responsibilities.

There’s nothing wrong with saying no to activities that don’t add meaning or enjoyment to your life.

In fact, learning to protect your time may become an important retirement skill.

Leave Empty Space on Your Retirement Calendar

For decades, many people have been conditioned to associate productivity with value.

If the calendar is full, you’re productive.

If you’re constantly moving, you’re accomplishing something.

If you’re busy, you’re important.

Retirement gives you an opportunity to challenge that assumption.

An empty afternoon doesn’t necessarily represent wasted time.

It can represent freedom.

Leaving open space in your schedule allows for spontaneity. Maybe you take a walk because the weather is beautiful. Maybe you call an old friend. Maybe you decide to spend the afternoon reading. Maybe your grandchildren visit unexpectedly.

Or maybe you do absolutely nothing productive.

That can be okay, too.

The point isn’t to avoid activity. The point is to make sure activity isn’t crowding out one of retirement’s greatest advantages: control over your own time.

How Busy Should You Be in Retirement?

There isn’t one correct answer.

Personality matters.

Some people thrive with constant interaction. They enjoy clubs, volunteer organizations, sports leagues, travel groups, and a calendar filled with social activities.

Other people need considerably more downtime. They may prefer hobbies at home, quiet mornings, individual exercise, occasional travel, or a smaller group of close friends.

Neither approach is automatically better.

The important question is whether your schedule reflects your personality and priorities rather than someone else’s definition of a successful retirement.

If you’re constantly bored, lonely, or disconnected, you may need more structure and interaction.

If you’re constantly rushing, stressed, or wishing you could cancel commitments, you may need less.

Retirement planning should help you find the space between those two extremes.

Audit Your Retirement Obligations

One practical exercise is to periodically audit your commitments.

Look at your typical week and consider each recurring obligation.

Ask yourself:

Do I look forward to this?
Is this relationship meaningful to me?
Would I choose this activity again today?
Am I doing this because I want to or because I feel obligated?
Does this activity give me energy or drain it?
Would reducing this commitment make my life better?

The goal isn’t to eliminate responsibility from your life. It’s to become more intentional about which responsibilities deserve your limited time.

Financial Planning Can Help You Protect Your Time

This may sound like a lifestyle discussion rather than a financial planning discussion, but the two are closely connected.

Financial independence can give retirees something extremely valuable: choice.

If your retirement income plan comfortably supports your needs, you may have greater flexibility to decide how much you want to work, volunteer, travel, help family, pursue hobbies, or simply relax.

That’s one reason retirement planning shouldn’t focus exclusively on a single question such as, “How much money do I need to retire?”

The deeper question is:

What kind of life do I want my retirement savings and income to support?

Maybe you want to travel extensively.

Maybe you want enough flexibility to visit your grandchildren whenever you choose.

Maybe you want to volunteer two mornings per week.

Or maybe your ideal retirement includes sitting on your porch with a cup of coffee on a Tuesday morning without having anywhere you need to be.

All of those choices have financial implications.

A thoughtful retirement plan can consider income, investments, taxes, Social Security, healthcare costs, insurance, and other financial needs. But ultimately, those financial decisions should support the life you’re trying to create.

Don’t Recreate Your Work Life in Retirement

One of the potential mistakes retirees can make is replacing their work calendar with a retirement calendar that is just as demanding.

Monday becomes volunteering.

Tuesday becomes a club meeting.

Wednesday becomes childcare for grandchildren.

Thursday becomes another organization.

Friday becomes errands and appointments.

Suddenly retirement is completely booked.

The activities may be different, but the feeling can become remarkably familiar: somewhere to go every day and somebody expecting something from you.

If you enjoy that lifestyle, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it.

But if your original goal was greater freedom and less stress, it may be worth asking whether you’ve accidentally rebuilt the schedule you worked so hard to escape.

A Successful Retirement May Be About Balance

Retirement doesn’t require choosing between two extremes.

You don’t have to spend every day alone at home, and you don’t have to fill every hour with activities.

A fulfilling retirement can include meaningful relationships, purpose, volunteering, hobbies, travel, and activity while still preserving plenty of open space.

Think of it as finding your personal balance between connection and freedom.

Protect yourself from isolation, but don’t become overcommitted.

Maintain purpose, but don’t turn every interest into an obligation.

Volunteer if you enjoy it, but give yourself permission to step back if it begins to feel like another job.

Plan financially for the activities that matter to you, but remember that some of retirement’s most valuable experiences don’t require filling your calendar—or spending much money at all.

After decades of living according to work schedules and responsibilities, having fewer demands may not be something you need to fix.

It may be one of the rewards of retirement.

Frequently Asked Questions About Staying Busy in Retirement

Should you stay busy after retirement?

Staying active and socially connected can be beneficial, but retirees don’t necessarily need a completely full calendar. A better goal may be maintaining meaningful relationships and purposeful activities while preserving enough unstructured time to enjoy greater freedom and control over your schedule.

Is it normal to want to do less after retiring?

Yes. Retirement removes many work-related demands, and research discussed in this episode suggests one of the most noticeable improvements retirees experience is a greater sense of “easiness.” Wanting fewer obligations doesn’t automatically mean someone is disengaged or unhappy.

Can you be too busy in retirement?

Potentially. If volunteer work, clubs, appointments, family responsibilities, or other commitments begin creating stress and constant time pressure, a retiree may have recreated some of the demands associated with working life.

Is volunteering good for retirees?

Volunteering can provide purpose, social interaction, and meaningful opportunities to contribute. However, it shouldn’t automatically be treated as a universal solution for retirement happiness. The amount and type of volunteering should fit the individual’s interests, personality, and desired lifestyle.

How can retirees avoid loneliness without becoming too busy?

Focus on maintaining high-quality relationships rather than simply maximizing the number of activities on your calendar. Regular interaction with family, close friends, neighbors, community groups, or other meaningful relationships can help maintain connection without requiring constant activity.

How does financial planning affect retirement happiness?

A retirement plan can help create the financial flexibility needed to choose how you spend your time. Retirement income, Social Security, investments, taxes, healthcare costs, and other financial considerations can all affect your ability to travel, volunteer, pursue hobbies, help family, or simply maintain more unscheduled time.

What is a good weekly schedule for retirement?

There isn’t a universal ideal schedule. Some retirees prefer substantial structure, while others prefer more open time. A useful approach is to include activities and relationships that provide meaning while deliberately leaving some days or portions of days unscheduled.

What is the biggest lesson from the Scandinavian retirement research?

One important takeaway is that retirement satisfaction may come partly from making everyday life easier rather than making it busier. Staying connected remains important, but retirees don’t necessarily need to replace every work obligation with a new retirement obligation.

Plan for More Than Your Retirement Number

A retirement plan isn’t only about accumulating enough money to stop working. It’s about determining how your financial resources can support the life you actually want after work.

For some people, that means an active retirement filled with travel, volunteering, family, and hobbies. For others, it means a slower pace with fewer obligations and greater control over each day. Most retirees will probably find themselves somewhere in between.

The important thing is that your retirement reflects your priorities—not somebody else’s expectations.

If you’re approaching retirement, consider planning not only for your income but also for your time. Decide which relationships you want to protect, which activities genuinely matter to you, and how much open space you want in your life.

Because after decades of working, retirement doesn’t necessarily need to be busier.

Maybe it can simply be easier.

Item #1

00:00:02 – 00:01:24

What if some of the most common retirement advice is actually hurting you more than helping? And that’s the idea that you should stay busy as possible. You should fill your calendar. You should volunteer in all hours. Keep moving. Keep proving you have some purpose and you’re useful. However, some new Scandinavian research suggests that this approach might actually be working against the very thing that people actually experience when they retire, and that is a quieter, clearer sense that daily life has become just easier.

00:00:43 – 00:01:51

So, in this episode, I’m going to share with you that research and show you exactly how it applies to retirement today so you can avoid the common mistake that leaves a lot of people less satisfied than they actually expected. Speaking of being less satisfied, let me bring in my co-host Tony. Hey, Tony. Welcome to the show. >> Shots fired. >> We’re talking about the stay busy advice being wrong according to the Scandinavians. >> Okay, the Scandinavians. So, you’re saying uh you’re asking what if staying

00:01:16 – 00:02:22

busy in retirement is wrong. Dan, can I remind you that we just did a show? I I mean, was it even two weeks ago we did a show? Uh the whole show was the opposite. How you need to stay active and busy and have a purpose in retirement. >> Yes, that was the disenchantment phase. the disenchantment phase, how to avoid it. There’s the risk of loneliness and depression. >> And uh we we said in that show, you and I both, we said that you need to plan to stay connected >> and intentionally active.

00:01:50 – 00:02:43

>> Yeah. And stay busy. Have a purpose. Stay busy. Stay active. >> And my grandpa, but what about my grandpa Bob’s advice? Now, he wasn’t Scandinavian. He wasn’t from Finland or Sweden or anything, but he was uh he was English, mostly English. And he said, “You got to keep going. You got to stay active. That was his secret. And he lived to 101. And three months before he passed away, he was camping. >> Well, I’m not going to say that we were wrong three weeks ago. I think it was

00:02:17 – 00:03:12

three weeks ago. >> Yeah. But what I’m going to say is that the Finnish and the Swedish studies, >> they take the other half of that picture. So the idea is once you’ve protected against that isolation factor, which was the disenchantment phase, because that’s what’s worried about is being isolated and lonely. Sure. >> Um, but you don’t want to once you have that covered, you’re not isolated. >> But isn’t everyone in Finland isolated and lonely?

00:02:44 – 00:03:40

>> Well, well, no. So, I want to show you this study. And what they’re saying is if you constantly fill every other hour to reduce, it’s actually going to reduce the satisfaction of retirement. So, I’ll walk through both studies and compare them to the American uh retirement system. >> Yeah. I wish we had the Finland song by Monti Python to play. You want to sing it, Tony? Go for it. >> No. No. No one wants to hear that. >> So, the Finnish study, we’ll start with

00:03:12 – 00:04:13

them. Yeah. >> Finland’s got it all. I think that was the the punch line in the Monty Python. >> Finland’s got it all. Bony tricking and fishing, simply watching TV. >> So, the the Finnish study followed 3,543 people, public sector employees. They’re all the same. They’re all coming from the same situation work-wise and they they follow them through their transition to into retirement and they track the same people year after year. So, I’ll put the study up here in case

00:03:42 – 00:05:07

anyone wants to read it themselves. There’s the link. It’s called the changes in life satisfaction during the transition to retirement findings from the FR FR I’m sorry FIRA cohort study. So what they found, so I’ll save you the having to read it. What they found was that uh a lot of they a lot of people expected a big happiness boost when they retired. And what they found was that overall life satisfaction improved a little and then just held steady. But the the the largest most consistent change wasn’t in

00:04:24 – 00:05:52

how happy people felt or how interesting their lives felt. It was something that the researchers called >> easiness. And so they’re saying that daily life simply felt less difficult, less rushing, fewer obligations, and they had more control. H. >> So it wasn’t a uh joyful fireworks display. It was relief and easiness. >> So don’t fill every minute is the point I think that they were trying to make with that study. And I can I can see that. >> Yeah. And just to I didn’t mean to

00:05:08 – 00:06:17

misquote the lyrics. It’s pony trekking or camping or just watching TV. Pony trekking or camping. fishing or just watching TV. So, yeah. >> Yeah, you could see you can imagine the cohort in this study like a bunch of retirees getting on ponies and just going across the the pony to Finland. Yes. >> For in retirement or camping or just watching TV. It’s the country for me. And as you say, Finland has it all. >> They do. >> Apparently not though. So, so you know who so it went instead of being like

00:05:43 – 00:07:05

this big celebration, it was just that feeling of relief and those gains and that sense of ease was seen the largest for women for people who weren’t healthy >> before they retired and for people living without a spouse. Th those are the people that saw the easiness increase the most. And when when I say easiness, that was one of the four things they looked at. They looked at interestingness, happiness, easiness, and togetherness. And easiness moved the most. Happiness and interestingness. And again, I’m not

00:06:24 – 00:07:26

going to try and define those, but happiness and interestingness moved only a little at retirement, and togetherness barely moved at all. And that’s an interesting one because togetherness is what we were talking in the last show is >> having those social connections and we both identified that >> simply leaving the workspace doesn’t create new connections. In fact, it takes away a lot of the connection. >> It takes away social interaction and so many people’s identities are connected

00:06:54 – 00:08:00

to their work and you lose your identity. You lose that social connection. So I still stand by that’s that’s a critical piece that you need to address in retirement even with these but easing the daily easiness of daily life. Some people I I know people who we both know Mitch Mitch who used to be our show producer and editor. >> Uh Mitch is so much happier now uh that he’s not working in an office with people. He’s working in his own workshop uh by himself all day long and he loves

00:07:27 – 00:08:40

it. Uh, so it’s just it I think personality matters too. >> He’s never been happier, more peaceful or or in better shape. >> Well, is it is it happy or is it easy? >> Yes. True. Easiness of his life is so much easier that he doesn’t have to deal with me every day. Dan, >> you said it. Your words, not mine. >> So, you’re right though. Um, in the study, Finnish cohort said that the average number of networks ties fell from 21 to 12. >> Sure. In half, basically. Almost.

00:08:04 – 00:09:12

>> Yeah. Yeah. So, most of that’s co-workers. Now, they keep the family and they keep their close friendships and those stay relatively stable, but the social hole doesn’t fill itself when you retire. >> And and so, we knew that. We talked about that. And what the report is saying is that despite their social network getting cut in half, they still reported that life felt easier. And so they lose those in incidental contacts at work. They but they experience less strain because they’re

00:08:38 – 00:09:44

not working, right? >> So but the key was you don’t immediately replace every hour with new obligations, >> right? So, so it’s it’s an opportunity for you to say, “Okay, I lost my friends or co-workers. Now I have to fill that gap or else I’m not going to be happy.” No, >> you’re going to get this sense of everything is a lot easier. So, you don’t need to fill it with new obligations. Now, it’s that’s what this is staying uh saying. I now guess what I

00:09:11 – 00:10:27

want to do >> I want to switch over to the Swedes the Swedish data. Oh, >> yeah. This one um is a four-year study of 1,123 people in health, aging, and retirement transitions. HART thing in the acronym, you know, we love acronyms. Um and they and and they found that both volunteering and life satisfaction increased as people moved into retirement. So, it’s called the Swedish Heart Studies, helping out or helping yourself. volunteering and life satisfaction across the retirement transition. Here’s the part though that

00:09:48 – 00:11:29

made me want to talk about this. Higher levels of volunteering were followed by decreases in life satisfaction. So the higher your volunteerism went up was the lower your satisfaction went up after that. Mhm. >> And >> they found that the people that already had a higher life satisfaction, they were more likely to actually volunteer. >> So what this is saying is that volunteering didn’t lead to happiness or satisfaction. Being satisfied already led to more volunteering. It’s the opposite of what we kind of

00:10:39 – 00:11:54

talked about la a few weeks ago. >> It’s the exact opposite of everything I’ve ever heard. >> Right. Right. And and so what the researchers were careful to say that to not treat do more volunteer work as a universal intervention especially if it’s going to become excessive. So it we said a lot of people say go out and volunteer. You got to you know as soon as you retire you got to get out there and do stuff. Go out there do it and and and stay busy. Go do that. Make a impact. Have have social right.

00:11:17 – 00:12:16

>> And this is saying the opposite. It’s like yeah that may be good >> but if it’s excessive it’s going to destroy you and you’re going to be less satisfied. And the more you do the less satisfied you’re going to be. So it goes against the stay busy principle. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. If you’re disciplined, you can limit it to maybe two days a week. Uh I don’t think that’s too excessive. But some people are like I I’m a volunteer at my church. I’m in there every day or,

00:11:46 – 00:12:49

you know, I mean, if you’re doing something on the daily, that’s a full-time, you know, you don’t want it to be too intense, right? >> You don’t want to be burdened. It’s like I quit my job so I didn’t have to set an alarm clock. Oh, I got to get up tomorrow at 6 a.m. to to do the take care of the plants at the church and then I got to leave the >> clean the I volunteered. I clean or Yeah. I just Yeah, it can be it can be a burden. >> Yeah. So that >> so how do we rectify the fact that the

00:12:17 – 00:13:14

previous show we talked about protecting against the disenchantment phase we said stay connected have intentional before you retire have an intention of what you’re going to do I I think that still is true it still lands because loneliness and loss of structure are real real problems in America >> and loss of identity >> loss of identity >> can lead to depression or loneliness >> right and I I I stand by that I still believe it’s true >> I and you have to plan for this. But the

00:12:45 – 00:14:04

Scandinavian data now is saying, yeah, once you get protected from that isolation, the goal is not to recreate your full work calendar. And that the the most people experience the greatest benefit from a less crowded life >> with more choice and less daily grind, daily strain. So the difference between being connected and being overcrowded or overconnected. >> I see what you’re saying. I also though think it comes down to personality. Some people I think I I think it depends on the person. Some people need more

00:13:25 – 00:14:29

downtime and alone time and that does benefit them. Some people need more uh interconnectedness than others. So I think it can vary. Yeah. I mean, there are people that that can’t be bored, like my kids. They can’t be bored anymore. Whatever happened to being bored? That’s like a sin, you know? Be bored. It’s good to be bored. But, um, we just >> they can’t do they can’t have nothing to do, >> right? >> And so, so I would say you when you’re planning, a lot of people plan for the

00:13:57 – 00:14:59

financial things and this is a financial podcast, but you I think the key is get the finances. We talk about money, how much you need. It’s not so much how much you need to live. It’s how much do you need to be able to have the right amount of interactions without stressing about money. That’s the key. So, I have I have some takeaways, Tony, I want to go through. So, I want to try and connect these two into one and say, “All right, how does what does it really mean?” And revise the key points. First one, you

00:14:28 – 00:15:27

got to audit the obligations that you that you’re taking on. So, in the I don’t know if you’ve seen it. I just released a podcast with a retiree. I think he’s been retired for 12 years and he’s or seven years. I forget what it was, but he’s been retired enough. And he came on and one of the points he said, it’s part of the retirement real retirement stories podcast I have where I interview a bunch of retirees. Watch that one. And I think the what he said something along the lines of what I do

00:14:57 – 00:15:55

now, Dan, is if someone asks me to do something and I don’t see myself being happy doing it, I just say no. >> I don’t do it out of obligation anymore. I’m at the age where I say no to things. >> And that’s the and that’s the benefit of uh your age of being older. Uh you can just say no. And you learn as you get older, you say no to more things because you’ve learned in life, life is too short and it’s getting shorter for all of us. And so you’re just like,

00:15:26 – 00:16:41

>> it’s like I heard a comedian say, “Man, when when I was in my 20s and somebody’d say, hey, do you want to before they’d finish I’d be, yep, >> yep, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.” And then I think this was Nate Burggatsi the comedian. And then he said in in my 30s in my 30s I started to ask um will you drive? Uh do I have to drive? Uh and then and then in my 40s I’m like uh how how early will it end? H how soon will I be able to leave this event? And then and then toward my late 40s I’m I’m

00:16:03 – 00:17:09

just like no no I’m busy. They don’t even let him finish the sentence. Nope. >> Do you want to? Nope. >> It went from agreeing agreeing no matter what they wanted to do to uh when will it be done and will I have to drive to nope. Right. And so the advice is as you retire, it’s don’t just take everything. take things that are meaningful to you that you’re going to enjoy and then >> protect against all these >> and you got to protect those high quality connections, right? So, your

00:16:37 – 00:17:41

family, your close friends, make sure you’re you’re really working on those and connecting, but it’s more about depth of connection than the volume of connections. I think that’s kind of the takeaway from the Scandinavian study is don’t just go out there and do stuff for doing stuff’s sake. Have a meaning, right? And then another tip is to actually live to leave deliberately leave empty space in the schedule >> and that’s not laziness just giving a breathing room and I think that

00:17:08 – 00:18:11

breathing room lets you enjoy life more like I’ll take my dad for an example and this is a lot of retirees that I interact with. I’ll say, ‘Hey, Dad, how about on th Let’s get together on Thursday. And his response will be, I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday. And that’s the end of the conversation because normally a normal person would say, “What time’s your doctor’s appointment?” And maybe we’ll go before that or after that. But in my dad’s

00:17:40 – 00:18:30

world, I have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday. >> Thursday’s done. >> Thursday’s done. Yeah. If you get one thing on the count, I’ve noticed that with uh the older people get or in retirement, no matter their age, in retirement, a lot of people are like, “Yeah, uh what’s going on this week?” “Well, Monday, I’m busy.” “Oh, what’s going on?” Uh yeah, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment. Oh, what else? I’ve got a doctor’s appointment Monday. In their

00:18:05 – 00:19:00

mind, that’s Monday. That’s done. >> Right. >> Right. So, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I get originally when I was younger before I was interacting and doing all this stuff with retirees, I’d say that’s ridiculous. That is absolutely a ridiculous thing to say. I got a doctor’s appointment, >> right? Because that’s two hours. >> Yeah, >> there’s 24 hours in a day. That’s two. What are you going to do with the other 22 hours?

00:18:32 – 00:19:20

>> But now he’s doing it right. He’s He might be finished. We We’re Polish, but he might be finished, right? He He’s like, “This is my breathing room.” You know, one thing at a time. The boat’s full. Like, let’s let’s take it easy. So, yeah, that that is the way to go. That’s the way to go. >> Um, but he has his social connections already, though. It’s not like he’s searching for that, right? >> Uh, and his social connection isn’t the

00:18:56 – 00:20:02

doctor, right? Um, regarding volunteering, uh, not a bad idea, right? But it’s got to be intentional. Um, don’t let it become pressure like, “Oh god, I gotta You” You know, if you’re looking at your volunteer work and you’re like, “Oh man, I really don’t want to go. Why am I doing that?” Then stop, right? Life’s too short for that. And then to wrap it up, Tony, you got to all visit your financial planning with this in the lens. Again, >> to bring it all back to financial,

00:19:29 – 00:20:32

>> my goal as a retirement planner is to make sure people are living a successful retirement with increasing income and decreasing stress. And the last thing you want to do is feel that you have to plan out your retirement to a tea because if things don’t go that way, you get stressed or feel like um if the if if I don’t have that every hour filled, it’s going to be stress. It’s I’m going to be stressed out. No, it’s the opposite. If you have every hour filled, you’re stressed. So, you got to find

00:20:01 – 00:21:09

this balance. And I think the key to financial planning is make sure that you’re financially planning to not have enough. That’s a bad way to look at it. Make sure you have the money you need to be able to do the volunteering and the social connections as much as you want to. Right. And that you have as little as you want. Yeah. >> Or as little as you want to. And you have enough for the downtime. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> So watch our previous show. I’ll put it up

00:20:34 – 00:21:40

a link up here. Um, you a good retirement is going to be connecting with people but not too much activity. You got to find that balance. You don’t want to go down the detachment phase and be depressed, but you don’t want to be hyper connected as the sweet the Swedes and the Fins are telling us that we should not do. So, >> yeah. >> So, don’t get despondent. Don’t get detached. Don’t get overly attached. Watch the two shows. Watch the other one. Find the balance. Find the right

00:21:08 – 00:21:29

mix. I don’t think we’re wrong, Tony. I just think we tweaked it a little. Thanks to the Scandinavians and thanks to you for another great show. We’ll catch everyone next week.