by Victoria Moss

Created on: July 12, 2008

Retirement is that period of your life when you finally have the time to do what you want to do, to make choices and to build memories rather than material wealth.

Planning for retirement can start from when you first enter the workforce, or it can begin a few years before you are due to leave. If you regard this planning as the preparation that eases you onto a new pathway, then it becomes a positive and prudent procedure to consider six important aspects.

1. Without doubt, financial planning will make the strongest impact on the path that your retirement takes. The earlier in your working life that you start investing part of your savings to this end, the greater the pecuniary rewards that you will reap in later life.

My own exit from the workforce could have been lived to a grander scale had I possessed the foresight four decades ago to stash away every available dollar in superannuation funds. However I did not! No doubt, at that time, contemplating my existence as a senior citizen was not high on the agenda of important things to do.

However, do not feel that your retirement happiness is dependent on financial resources. Your assets may be amassed in numerous other gratifying ways and the rewards may be even greater because they have immeasurable worth rather than finite monetary value.

2. Where you want to spend this well-earned departure from the workforce is a consideration that you can determine closer to your time of retirement.

Some of us settle into our ideal environment early on in our lives. Others harbour a lifelong dream of blissful days in another setting. Relocation is not necessarily a financial extravagance. Often, as in my case, a move from an established and well-maintained city home to a country property of more rambling proportions can leave you with money to spare for the extras that the additional acreage might require.

My current home of seven years has endowed me with riches in every sense. It is a simple place - the sort of location to which I took my young children during their holidays when the city was central to our lives. I wanted them to feel the space, climb the hills and touch the earth with their bare feet. Now, back in the country permanently, I am enveloped in the contentment that comes from celebrating an unpretentious life surrounded by ordinary things, all of which are to me meaningful and precious.

3. Your retirement will be more enjoyable and stimulating if you have established hobbies during your working years.

That being

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