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According to a recent study by TD Bank, people who visualize meeting their future goals are much more likely to succeed at achieving them. To find out if a picture really is worth a thousand words (or thousands of dollars), the bank surveyed more than 1,100 individuals and over 500 small-business owners to learn about their visualization practices.
The survey found that people who keep images, photos or vision boards of their goals are almost twice as likely to be confident they'll meet their goals compared to people who don't (59 percent vs. 31 percent). Getting more specific, visualizers were found to be more likely than nonvisualizers to be very satisfied or satisfied with:
Their physical health and well-being (48 percent vs. 21 percent)
Their emotional health and well-being (63 percent vs. 32 percent)
Their financial health (38 percent vs. 18 percent)
Quote:
When asked about the benefits of visualization, the visualizers mentioned:
Inspiration (63 percent)
Help with staying focused (58 percent)
Belief that seeing their dreams helps them succeed (50 percent)
Documenting their achievements (37 percent)
Hope this helps someone as they drive the retirement preparation path.
I agree with this 100%. I have a vision board and every goal that I put on it has been met. I cut out pictures and make drawings of the things I want to happen in my life. It works for me.
Before I retired I had a list of 8 events that I wanted to happen. All have come true except for one, which will still happen eventually.
Some people will laugh at this but for me it works.
I agree with this 100%. I have a vision board and every goal that I put on it has been met. I cut out pictures and make drawings of the things I want to happen in my life. It works for me.
Before I retired I had a list of 8 events that I wanted to happen. All have come true except for one, which will still happen eventually.
Some people will laugh at this but for me it works.
I make it 4 more. DW and I have been visualizing. Me I am seeing a very nice boat in a warm climate. Wife sees blue skies, mountains and worry free life. The two almost work together. There is always the worry that the boat might not start.
This is a very interesting & helpful idea, thanks for posting it. I am just starting in retirement & learning to focus & set goals is becoming apparent.
That is a great idea. It is easy to lose focus in the hustle and bustle of daily life. Having a visual reminder of where you are going can only be beneficial.
I lived in a high rise building and one day two chain smokers moved in below me. My condo smelled so bad of cigarette smoke that I knew I couldn't take it.
So I went to my vision board and put up a drawing using stick figures of the people moving out of the building. They were carrying suitcases with cigarettes hanging out of there mouths. I was sitting on a lawn chair at the moving dock watching with a glass of wine in my hand.
Later I discovered a clause they violated in their rental agreement and they had to move out. When something on my vision board comes true, I believe I should match the original vision. So I poured my wine and took my chair and watched them move out from a distance. I was so happy to be able to breath again without smelling smoke.
That is just one example of the power of my vision board.
This visualization technique may help with planning for some people but definitely not for me. I do set goals and make plans but being a realist, I set goals which are high but 'reachable' with interval assessment and adjustments (either the goals or my level of efforts).
Regarding planning for retirement, I like the test drive approach. I'm quoting key suggestions from a retirement planning article below with my comments/report in blue.
Adopt your retiree budget. This is the most important checklist item. First, estimate what your monthly retirement income may be, based on your retirement nest egg and timeline to retirement. Next, establish a spending budget to fit your estimated retirement income. And finally, try it out.
I did a reverse assessment by tallying our actual spending for at least 2 years before retirement and comparing it with expected retirement income. Since it is actual spending and the expected income (SS/pension/annuity) is 'guaranteed', we have already tried out this retirement 'budget'.
Go ahead and downsize if that's in your plans.
Ever since my kid moved out, we have already closed off 2 extra bedrooms and an entire living quarter (our house was originally a mother/daughter home). I have been busy 'downsizing' our possessions in the last 3 months and expect to live quite comfortably in a house half of the current size.
Transfer your transportation. A lot of retirees plan to save money by using mass transit, walking, bicycling or downgrading to an inexpensive car
In the last few years, we have been stepping up our physical activities with a lot of hiking, walking and biking. Now, we walk instead of drive to any places within 2 miles. Our last new car was a Honda Fit (the previous one was a BMW convertible) so we already downgraded our cars. For our other mode of 'spendy' transportation, i.e. our plane, we did not exactly downgrade in terms of original cost but lower our plane operating expenses tremendously by building a new experimental plane 5 years ago with significantly lower maintenance/fuel cost (we can do our own annual inspection and repairs) than with our previous 45-years old certified plane.
Explore your intended retirement hobbies and activities now.
To me, this is the most important 'test drive'. We have been picking up new hobbies and stepping up non-work activities from the time my daughter graduated from HS 15 years ago (serious gym habits, hiking, swimming, scuba diving, flying, rowing, webmastering, photography, videography, film making, travelling, volunteering etc).
Every time that we are on the river rowing, in the wood hiking, in the air flying or during several adventurous trips, we already experience the exhilarating feeling of the activities which we will do a lot more in our retirement. There is no need for any 'visualization' or 'dreaming'.
Get involved with your new location. Thinking of moving to a new city or neighborhood? Making a change from rural to urban or urban to suburban? It's probably not feasible to move there during your retirement test drive, but depending on how far away it is, you may be able to join a community organization in your desired area.
We do plan to relocate but since we really enjoy living in our current home and all the local outdoor activities, we know exactly what to look for: a place where we can continue living the life which we are living but closer to our daughter (so that she can do things with us) and a bit milder winter weather so we can spend more time outdoor.
I agree with this 100%. I have a vision board and every goal that I put on it has been met. I cut out pictures and make drawings of the things I want to happen in my life. It works for me.
Before I retired I had a list of 8 events that I wanted to happen. All have come true except for one, which will still happen eventually.
Some people will laugh at this but for me it works.
Totally agree Donna, vision boards are the bomb!
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Wife sees blue skies, mountains and worry free life. 
The two almost work together. 
There is always the worry that the boat might not start.
