Jaspreet Singh: What Many People Forget To Plan For in Retirement
Written by
Peter Burns
Edited by
Joe Evans
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
When most people think about retirement, they deem age and dollar amount the most important aspects. It is important to be able to retire when you are ready to stop working and have accumulated enough money to live comfortably. However, there is another vital aspect of retirement that most people ignore.
Jaspreet Singh, the creator of the personal finance YouTube channel Minority Mindset, delves into retirement and what most people overlook. In a recent episode, he explains the two aspects of retirement: the financial and the mental side.
What Does it Mean to Retire?
Financially, retirement means you’ve accumulated enough money to live off your assets for the rest of your life. While many view retirement as an age at which people stop working, Singh refutes this idea. He says that to retire, you need to answer a question: How much money do I need today to live my life financially free?
You can financially retire at any age if you determine how much you’ll need to make annually and have the assets to produce that as passive income. However, being financially free doesn’t mean you’ll be mentally ready to retire.
Why Is Planning for Your Mental Retirement Important?
Singh brings up a saying: “If you retire early, you die early.” This reflects the idea that those who are only used to working will lose their purpose once they retire. If you’re used to going to work every day for the past 40 years, retirement will feel like a vacation for the first week or two. However, once you get used to retirement, you might have much more free time than you’re accustomed to.
In his personal experience, Singh has watched some friends and family members who have never had significant health issues retire and slowly decline. They begin to suffer from boredom, then depression, and then other health complications start to creep in. He argues that this results from focusing solely on having enough money for retirement and not what their purpose will be after finishing work.
An example of this is Warren Buffett. Buffett is a well-known businessman and investor who was born in 1930. While he’s nearing 100 years old, he still goes to work every day. Singh points out that Buffet has a lot of money, over $135 billion [1]. So, it’s clear he isn’t working for the money, but for a purpose.
How To Mentally Prepare for Retirement
To live a good life after retirement, you must continue working mentally. Singh explains that this work shouldn’t be grueling, but something you enjoy. If a normal day consists of only working and watching TV when the work is gone, you won’t have any reason to go out and socialize or do things to keep you busy.
Singh proposes that anyone who hasn’t retired should do an exercise to help prepare themselves mentally for retirement. Pretend you have whatever you need financially to retire tomorrow. Ask yourself: What would I fill my time with?
You may decide to travel the world for six months to a year or even longer. However, Singh predicts you will eventually get bored of traveling. What will you do then? What will you do to keep yourself motivated and happy if you no longer have to work? The sooner you realize what’s fulfilling and keeping you happy in retirement, the sooner you can start.
Monetizing your work can also help. In Singh’s personal life, creating YouTube videos about a topic that he is passionate about has given him purpose. However, work has many definitions, and it may mean going to an office, golfing with business partners and sharing ideas, speaking at events, starting a podcast, or writing blog posts. Finding a type of work you enjoy and earning money from it can be gratifying and motivating.
Final Take
The main takeaway from Singh’s video is that most people have the concept of retirement completely wrong. They think they will work until they’ve made enough money, then rely on their investments, pensions, and Social Security to do whatever they want. However, they usually don’t know what that is.
Ask yourself: Is there a way to do something that I enjoy in retirement that also allows me to make money? For some, this may be a very difficult question, but the sooner you start asking it and considering your options, the happier you’ll be in retirement.
More From GOBankingRates
