I would define retirement as a place of economic and financial freedom.
It’s a time in your life when your favorite things in the world, or as I like to call them your core pursuits–your family and social network–can be the focus of your time and energy, rather than a job that you might not love.
You need to pay attention to the most important ingredients first. But there is nothing that could hold you back from adding your own twist to the recipe as you go along.
In a word, no. This is certainly a case where more is better. However, I don’t think retirees should feel pressured to be perfect with this list and should instead focus on what matters most to them.
From my experience as a financial advisor about half of retirees are sitting in that happy camp, while the other half is falling short in some areas and are disappointed in how it’s playing out.
Sooner is always better, but you can wake up one day at 50 very much behind the ball, but within 10-20 years you can end up in a strong position to be a happy retiree.