Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more articles telling people how much money they need to retire. The number always seems to change. Some of the articles offer excellent advice. The reality is that one person’s “enough” is different from another person’s “enough” because retirement isn’t one-size-fits-all.
After nearly thirty years of helping people prepare for retirement, I’ve learned that “enough” has very little to do with reaching a specific dollar amount. It has everything to do with whether your savings can support the life you want to live.
I’ve seen teachers retire comfortably on modest incomes while traveling regularly and spending time with family. I’ve also seen successful business owners with significantly more wealth continue to worry that they don’t have enough. The difference wasn’t the size of their portfolios. It was whether they had confidence in their plan.
I’ve learned that “enough” looks different for everyone. For some, it’s traveling more. For others, it’s spending time with children and grandchildren, taking friends or family out to dinner without thinking twice, or making gifts while they’re still here to experience the joy those gifts bring.
Looking back, I don’t think it was ever really about becoming wealthy. It was about having the confidence that they could continue living the life they enjoyed. That’s what “enough” meant to them.
One of my favorite meetings is the retirement meeting.
After years, sometimes decades, of planning, saving, and making thoughtful financial decisions, there comes a day when I get to look across the table and say, “You did a great job.”
Sometimes I see a smile. Sometimes I see relief. Those moments remind me that financial planning has never really been about reaching a number. It’s about giving people the confidence to enjoy the life they’ve worked so hard to build.
If your financial plan tells you that you’ve built enough, don’t spend the next twenty or thirty years wondering if you should have accumulated more. Take the trip, visit family, make the gift, and experience the joy it brings. If you’ve built enough, don’t be afraid to enjoy it.
