By Jeffrey R. Karp

CLU,ChFC,CASL®

I believe that each of us can learn from the attitudes and experiences of those that have come before us.  This belief prompts me to glance through obituaries, looking for inspiration on how to live my life.

Almost every week I am in conversation with either clients or friends about their pending retirement, which I refer to as their period of reinvention.  How many times in our lifetime do we get to shake the Etch-A-Sketch and have a clean slate on which to draw.  Is this the first time in many years that decisions are made based on interests and passions not income and benefits? 

The other day I was reading the obituary of Dr Shigeaki Hinohara, who died at the age of 105.  He led an honorable life as a doctor.  At the age of 90, he reinvented himself as an author, publishing a collection of commentaries on life titled “How to Live Well.”  He believed that age was no barrier to self-reinvention, prompting the elderly to consider themselves employed in the job of living life even if officially retired from their paid career.

According to the obit, he wrote, “Animals can’t change how they crawl or run, but humans can change how they live.”

I believe, as Dr. Hinohara seemed to believe, our lives are more than the jobs we do. They are the culmination of all the experiences we create.  Maybe the question to ask heading into or in retirement, is whether we have enough money to have all the experiences we want to have? 

At Karp Financial Strategies-Permission Granted to Dream It-Plan to do it-Pursue It, whatever “It” is, for you.