I’ve been hearing a lot lately about the so-called retirement crisis that’s happening in the United States. And what I think has happened is this - a long-held belief that rising costs and the decreasing value of the dollar make retirement more and more difficult - has conditioned us to think in terms of survival instead of in terms of possibility. We approach retirement planning with a crisis mindset instead of taking the time to dream about what might be possible. On this episode, I walk you through how I would advise one of my clients to dream up their ideal retirement to avoid any crisis thinking and live their best life as a result. Why you need to ignore the news about the so-called retirement crisis. It’s easy to get into negative ways of thinking without even knowing it. Pessimism comes naturally to people who want to think wisely, which most people who actually engage in retirement planning are. How do we get out of the pessimism trap when it comes to our retirement planning? I think first off we have to realize that there IS no retirement crisis. It’s really a crisis in how we think about retirement. I’ve got some ideas about how you can plan for your ideal retirement from a place of possibility and dreams instead of a place of pessimism. Listen to this episode and you’ll get an earful of how I have seen it happen. Learn to dream about your retirement to open the door to possibilities. One thing I’ve learned from taking trips is this: you aren’t able to see the next mile down the road until you first travel the mile you’re on. It’s a simple and obvious truth about the way life is. When it comes to retirement planning you’re not going to know what’s possible unless you first take steps toward those possibilities - and one of the primary ways you can do that is by dreaming. I mean the nothing-off-limits dreaming we're often afraid of. It helps you set the stage for what your ideal retirement could be. On this episode of The Retirement Answer Man, I walk you through how I advise my clients to dream up an incredible retirement and then show you how we plan for it practically. It’s not theory or rainbows and unicorns, it’s real life planning that makes for a great retirement. Avoid the retirement crisis by getting your financial spaghetti in order. I like to think of retirement planning like a plate full of delicious spaghetti. There are 3 primary things that go into the dish. The pasta, the sauce, and the spices that give it the “zing” you want in a good Italian dish. If you miss any of those things you won’t have the flavor you want and won’t be very satisfied as a result. Too many people approach their retirement planning with a focus on only one of the very important things that go into a great retirement. Can you guess what that is? On this episode, I’m going to tell you what it is - and tell you how to avoid the kind of thinking that gets you into that situation in the first place. Your retirement is YOUR retirement. Make it what YOU want it to be. As I work alongside clients I see it time and time again - people who are concerned that they have the same kinds of things their parents had during retirement, or that they are able to maintain a standard of living comparable to a friend who just retired. You know, I get that way of thinking but I can’t say it’s the best approach. That’s because your retirement needs to be exactly what YOU want it to be, not some vague standard set by somebody else who traveled the road before you. On this episode, I want to say few words about this important issue because if you can make the switch to think of your retirement as truly YOURS, you’re going to discover a retirement that makes you truly happy. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN [0:28] Why I’m going to emphasize how you can think bigger and thrive in retirement. HOT TOPIC SEGMENT [2:58] Michael Hyatt’s “Best Year Ever” event is coming up. [4:35] Custom conference calls we can use together after attending