A Mountain Town Dream Retirement
Do the mountains call you for your dream retirement? Many people aspire to retire to the active lifestyle and natural beauty of the Colorado mountains. How will you achieve that dream? Here is the RightPath guide to Mountain Retirement:
Follow Your Dream
What about mountain living is so appealing? Skiing during the week? Miles of trails? Fishing, golfing, biking, music, and culture? Which mountain towns offer amenities that align with your dreams? Check out Mountain Town Magazine’s Town Guide for more ideas.
Retirement Goals:
Many retirees take the drive that made them successful in their professional life and diverts that energy to a “retirement career.” Do you have a retirement goal aligned with the mountain lifestyle?
Stay Healthy, Stay Fit
Mountain living demands an active lifestyle. If your retirement dream is to enjoy more time outside, the mountains are for you. And the bonus? Exercise, fresh air, and a connection to nature provide significant health benefits.
Healthy Communities Staying healthy and fit in retirement requires a team to support you. When choosing your ideal mountain retirement community, consider the local health care system: personal trainers and physical therapists, doctors and health care providers, specialists, and hospitals. And what public programs are available to support seniors?
Finding Community
A sense of belonging, friends, and play partners contribute immensely to your well-being. The best advice for making new friends comes from mountain retirees: “get involved.” Volunteering is a great way to connect with people who share your interests.
Along with volunteering is philanthropy. Giving to those local non-profits and community programs that make your mountain town thrive provides a return on your investment. Do you love music or theater? Want to support the trails you travel? There is a non-profit for that! Philanthropy aligns you with other donors, volunteers, and board members who share your passions.
Community can also be found in a spiritual home. Research your opportunities for churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship before choosing your mountain community.
Financial Planning – It will be Expensive
Everything is expensive in the mountains, from housing to groceries to gas. Life’s daily demands also demand a solid financial cushion. Dining out, new skis and boots, theater and music tickets, entertaining, dedication to your retirement goals, or travel during mud season can quickly draw down a retirement fund, if not managed prudently.
The Financial Planning Basics Still Apply
Do you have reasonable spending goals, aligned with your resources, savings, and insurance plans? Life insurance is essential when living in the mountains because there are many potential risks such as freezing temperatures and avalanches.
Have you investigated your Social Security claiming strategies?
How much and what kinds of investment risk to take to achieve your goals?
How can financial advisors like The Wealth Builder help improve your financial future?
What is the strength of your asset allocation? Stocks, bonds, cash, annuities, IRAs?
Does your portfolio align with your personal values, such as sustainability?
What are your strategies when you can no longer stay in the mountains due to health issues or other concerns?
Make the Most of Your Years in the Mountains.
While the inevitable sneaks up on all of us, retiring to the mountains can make for the best years of your life. Skiing powder, cruising groomers, fishing mountain creeks, hiking with friends, surrounding yourself with nature are memories to cherish for a lifetime. With sound advice and a good financial plan, retirement in the mountains can be an achievable goal to realize your dreams.
Steven Smith, JD, CFP, is the founder and principal at RightPath Investments and has been working with professionals, families, and business owners to plan successfully for their future for more than two decades. RightPathInvestments.com
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