Pete retired at the age of 50. Since then (and arguably before it too), he and his wife Billie have been living an amazing adventure. For Pete, retirement isn’t just about having a healthy balance sheet, but about living a life that is jam-packed full of everything you want, and nothing you don’t. Pete and Billie made sacrifices along the way to get to where they are today, and they were both hard workers during their careers.
Re-wirement means starting with the perfect mental picture of your own retirement, then forcing it into existence today by changing the way you think. It means thinking about the kind of life you want to live, and then working backwards to figure out what you need to do to make that life a reality. It means being intentional with your time and your resources, and it means being willing to make sacrifices along the way. We get to choose how we get there, and what it looks like when we arrive, but in this episode, we’re going to be introduced to a handy framework called PINCHT.
For Pete and Billie, re-wirement not only involves pursuing the life you want, but also cultivating meaningful relationships along the way. ‘Be interested in others, and make sure others interested in you too.’
For this ‘re-wired’ couple, this time in their lives isn’t about slowing down, taking it easy, and shrinking back. It’s a time to continue growing and learning, to pursue new passions and interests, and to challenge themselves in new ways.
This mindset of growth and purpose is essential for anyone who wants to invest successfully, but more importantly, to live successful. There’s no point preparing financially for 20 great summers in retirement when mentally, you’ve never learnt to be content. Financial planning and investing are essential components of any retirement plan, but they’re not the only components. Too often, we focus so much on our investments and our net worth that we forget about the other aspects of our lives that are just as important.
Focusing on the good things in life is a powerful way to attract more of those things into your life. When we focus on the positive aspects of our lives, we’re more likely to see opportunities, feel more grateful, and attract positive people into our lives. Pete and Billie’s story is a great example of this. By focusing on the things that brought them joy and fulfillment, they were able to create a life that was truly rich and rewarding. It’s easy to be critical of other people’s success, but this often says more about our own insecurities and fears than it does about the people we are judging. I am so grateful to Pete for sharing his story and inspiring others to start building their own ‘re-wirement’ plan.
