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Life Planning

Stay Connected, Stay Fulfilled


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Kim Potgieter

Kim Potgieter

January 21, 2015
Mitch Anthony, the author of The New Retirementality, writes about achieving success in retirement by being fulfilled in five core areas of life – what he calls the 5 Vitamin Cs. I’d like to delve into one of them – CONNECTIVITY.

If you’ve considered relocating for your retirement, have you thought about how that will affect how connected you will be to the people and places you enjoy?  All too often, when clients come to do their retirement plans, the first thing they tell me is “We are moving away from the madness that is Jo’burg.”  Often after our discussions, the clients realise that, if they were to leave Johannesburg, they would feel too cut off from family, friends and their community.  If the clients really want to move away, it is important for them to have a plans to replace what they have in their present community with something similar where they are going.

A couple came to see me recently, and their plan was to move to Plettenberg Bay. I was immediately sceptical, but after listening to them I discovered that they had been preparing for this for years.  They had spent many of their holidays in Plett, and had gone to the local church during each of their visits.  When they made the move, they slotted into the church community with ease and were able to connect and establish friendships. Peter has a passion for flying, so they had also bought a hanger for their plane.  They would not be leaving a void behind; they had managed to transfer all the things that had been important to them in Johannesburg to their new home at the coast.  I knew I didn’t have to worry about them.

The message here is carefully to consider the proximity of friends and family when you retire. So much of our happiness is dependent on the state of our personal relationships.  So it’s only natural that if you feel disconnected, it’s likely that you’ll feel unhappy.

By the way, The New Retirementality is a great read when you are planning your retirement.

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