“A little bit more.” ~John D. Rockefeller (in response to this question)
John D. Rockefeller’s humorous reply aside, this is a great question to ponder in your journey to an encore career. And, even more important if your retirement nest egg has taken a serious hit in the current economic climate.
It’s a question that first came to my attention when I read Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez 10 years ago. It really helped me come to terms with the idea that, at the time, I was “making a dying” (meaning my work left me depleted and demoralized) instead of a living, and helped me to simplify my life in ways that made me feel not deprived.
So before you leap into your encore career, what if you define exactly how much money (stuff, lifestyle, etc.) is enough for you, and, then figure out how much you “have to” make? You may discover you need far less than you think.
As with many of you, money was an issue at Boomer Boot Camp a few weeks ago. Interesting how many participants were stuck in “I like my current lifestyle exactly the way it is, thank you very much!” And, equally interesting how that conversation shifted after the extensive values work we did over the weekend.
(If you haven’t defined your top 5 values yet, see the exercise from my April 16, 2009 blog, What Do You Value?)
Have you asked yourself, “What do I really need and want? Are you open to diving deeper than your first response? Have you identified your top values? Thank you for sharing your story with me!
