Time and time again, people perceive retirement as a financial goal and objective rather than personal one. That causes people to focus on financial questions and answers such as, how much money do I need… how much can I withdrawal… and how long will it last?
Those are important questions, but for someone to truly be ready to retire, they also need to have their mental, social, and physical house in order as well. Therefore, it’s important to have a few trick questions to assess whether people are really ready to leave the workforce or not.
Trick Question #1: What do other people think about your plan to retire?
On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a “Make it or break it” type question for those on the verge of retirement. However, the way other people think about your transition into retirement is important because if you don’t set good expectations and establish positive communications patterns, they are left to make their own assumptions… and that’s not always good.