LIFE STAGES

Moving on

Now you’re within five years of making a fundamental change to your life, either moving to a portfolio career or considering retirement.

You’ve had a great career, but you know that it’s now time for something different. Revisiting the life factor helps you cement your goals and the transition factor comes to the fore as we plan for how to achieve them in the near term.

At this stage, taking practical steps towards your exit from conventional work can pay dividends. This may mean working part-time to give space to explore other interests or to rebuild underinvestment in personal relationships or physical wellbeing.

It could mean starting to build networks and getting involved in areas of potential future interest. Moving from a high-status corporate career can be more of a psychological shock than people expect and you’ll be wise to prepare for it.

It’s important to recognise that transitions take time and you need to set aside enough time to prepare for the next phase of your career and life. I recommend taking concrete actions towards transition at least three years before the date your leave your main professional career.

You’ll want to create experiments to test the activities you’re planning, to make sure that they are as good in reality as your imagination. Starting to build networks to create future opportunities is also vital and takes time.

At this point your financial plan also needs to crystallise, so the investment factor needs to be revisited. Greater clarity over your lifestyle wants and financial commitments will enable you to refine your financial goals and you will need to build a specific plan for how your accumulated pot and future earnings will support the life you want to lead.

You will need to have a plan for how your different pots of assets will support your lifestyle and your investment strategy will need to reflect any shift from accumulating assets to drawing down on them to fund expenditure.

Your children will be at an age where you’ll want to consider whether now is the right time to pass wealth down to them, depending on your philosophy of legacy. As you make the shift from accumulating assets to drawing down on them, having clarity on what you’ll provide for your children will take a weight off your mind. The family factor will help you achieve this.

You’re at an exciting point, with the opportunity to make changes you’ve dreamed of to give yourself a new lease of life, professionally and personally. But the change is significant and involves a level of ambiguity you most likely haven’t experienced for a while. But if you embrace the opportunity, moving on to a new phase of your career is energising and renewing.

Draw on the resources I provide through The Gosling Factor to prepare yourself for the next phase of your life.

Start a conversation

If you like what you see, do get in touch to ask a question, share some thoughts or fix a time to chat. I’ll do what I can to help.