Many people who imagine their lives in retirement envision themselves on white sandy beaches, traveling the world, or enjoying myriad other fun or leisurely activities and hobbies. Although retirement is often depicted or imagined in this way, the reality is that most people do not factor these expenses and luxuries into their retirement plans, making this prized retirement lifestyle few and far between.

Retirement plans are generally based on a simple income statement analysis – a calculation of income in retirement minus estimated expenses. Often, these calculations are based on a monthly budget, plus an emergency fund for unexpected expenses like medical bills. Most people, however, miss a major component of retirement planning: factoring in fun.

Recent Study Reveals Retirees’ Visions of Retirement

In a recent study conducted by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave, nearly all retirees surveyed agreed that retirement presents them with both greater freedom and opportunities. They also told researchers that retirement is the time of their lives when they have the most fun, reporting peaks between the ages 65 and 74. The retirees surveyed were also 10 times more likely to say retirement is more fun, enjoyable and pleasurable than when they were working.

Despite these optimistic claims and visions about life in retirement, the same survey found that of current retirees, most do not factor in funds for these leisure activities. The survey found that of current retirees, 58% say they do not know how much money they will need to fund leisure activities and 66% have not discussed and agreed with their spouse or partner on how much money to spend on leisure in retirement.

While many leisure activities are certainly low cost, others need to be planned for, such as travel or funding a new hobby in retirement. If you envision travel or picking up a specific activity during retirement, it is essential to plan for these extra funds and discuss how much money should be set aside for fun activities in retirement.

Start Making Your Fun Plan

To start factoring in fun into your retirement plan, the first thing you can do now is to sit down with your spouse and agree on some of the fun things you would like to do in retirement. Many of these things will be low cost or free, such as volunteer work or spending time with family locally, while others activities will need to be budgeted for. These types of activities include learning new hobbies, traveling or taking continuing educational classes. Once you determine which activities you’d like to participate in, you can readjust your income statement analysis with fun factored in, giving you a complete retirement package that will allow you to live out your dream retirement.  

Retirement should be fun. It’s a time that allows for more freedom, time, and perhaps opportunities to pursue lifelong passions, but without the right plan in place, you could be missing out on your dream retirement. It’s never too early or too late to start planning for your life in retirement to ensure you aren’t missing out on your golden years!

The forth step toward achieving divine union according to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is Pranayama.

Pranayama, aka pranayam, in Sanskrit means ‘life force (prana) control (yama).’ Most people familiar with the term believe it refers to yogic breathing exercises and, since life force and breath are intimately related, breath techniques are used to cultivate energy control – but only until it can be governed by mind alone. Paramahansa Yogananda explained that “pranayama is a condition, not a technique.” Its purpose is to establish complete mastery over life force because the only way to unite with God is through such control. That is the true meaning and purpose of pranayama.

What does life energy control have to do with uniting with God? Yogananda said:

God answers all prayers, but restless prayers He answers only a little bit. If you try to give someone something that doesn’t belong to you, your gift won’t mean much to him, will it? However touching the gesture, it will be lacking in substance! So is it when your mind is not your own. You may want to give it to God, but you can’t. Your prayers, then, are hardly more than a gesture. Get control over your mind. When you can pray with concentration, the Lord will know that you mean what you are saying. He will answer you, then, in wonderful ways.

An adept practitioner of a scientific pranayama technique – such as Kriya yoga – learns to control their life force such that it can be withdrawn from the body, sensations, thoughts, memories, desires, and be focused singularly upon centers of higher perception that reveal spiritual realities and, ultimately, lead to divine-union in samadhi meditation.

Yet breathing techniques aren’t the only means to control energy. Thoughts and actions guided by Patanjali’s first two steps, Yama and Niyama (spiritual dos and don’ts), help dictate whether energies are dissipated in worldly distractions or raised toward spiritual realization. That is why his 8 steps are progressively inter-related. Each is distinct but subtly bound to others such that none can be teased apart and made inherently viable without the supportive foundation of the rest. It is an integrated system derived from realizing how soul and consciousness descend from Spirit into bodily manifestation and how, in turn, they can be raised back to Source again. This is the nature of the spiritual path and why the counsel of sages like Patanjali are universal in nature and timeless in scope.

“What the imagination can’t conjure, reality delivers with a shrug.”

– Trumbo (movie voice-over)

Whether it’s the recent destruction wrought by Canada’s Fort McMurray oil sands wildfire, a potential June “Brexit” from the European Union, or uncertainty surrounding this year’s US presidential election, there is plenty of risk to go around as we swing into another busy summer.

Is investing riskier than usual these days? In our experience, probably not. If there is such a thing as “normal” in this world of ours, risk is certainly built into the definition. Besides, investors often love and hate risk in a mixed up, messed up relationship. How so? Let us count the ways.

One: We Underestimate Risk.

In investing, underestimating risk can trick you into believing that you can tolerate far more of it than you actually can. As financial columnist Chuck Jaffe has wryly observed: “[A] common mindset is ‘I can accept risks; I just don’t want to lose any money.’”

Unfortunately, we can’t have it both ways. When the risk comes home to roost, if you panic and sell, it’s usually at a substantial loss. If you manage to hold firm despite your doubts, you may be okay in the end, but it might inflict far more emotional distress than is necessary for achieving your financial goals. Who needs that?

Two: We Overestimate Risk.

On the flip side, we also see investors overestimate risk and its sibling, uncertainty. We humans tend to be loss-averse (as first described byNobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman and his colleague Amos Tversky), which means we’ll exaggerate and go well out of our way to avoid financial risk – even when it means sacrificing a greater likelihood for potential reward.

This summer already is destined to deliver plenty of uncertain outcomes. On the political front, there are the especially stark contrasts found among the US presidential candidates. For better or worse, whichever candidate prevails is likely to set the tone for the country if not the world. The “stay or go” uncertainty surrounding the June 23 Brexit vote could also impact financial markets in significant ways. Then there are the usual suspects, such as oil prices, continued Middle Eastern unrest and so on and so forth.

We don’t mean to downplay the real influence world events can have on your personal and financial well-being. But the markets tend to price in the ebbs and flows of unfolding news far more quickly than you can trade on them with consistent profitability. So it’s a problem if you overestimate the lasting impact that this form of risk is expected to have on your individual investments.

Three: We Misunderstand Risk.

Especially when colored by our risk-averse, fight-or-flight instincts, it may seem important to react to current financial challenges by taking some sort of action – and fast.

Instead, once you’ve built a globally diversified, carefully allocated portfolio that reflects your personal goals and risk tolerances, you’re usually best off disregarding both the good and bad news that is unfolding in real time. This makes more sense when you understand the role that investment risks play in helping or hindering your overall investment experience. There are two, broadly different kinds of risks that investors face.

Avoidable Concentrated Risks – Concentrated risks are the kind we’ve been describing so far – the ones that wreak targeted havoc on particular stocks, bonds or sectors. In the science of investing, concentrated risks are considered avoidable. They still happen, but you can dramatically minimize their impact on your investments by diversifying your holdings widely and globally. That way, if some of your holdings are affected by a concentrated risk, you are much better positioned to offset the damage done with other, unaffected holdings.

Unavoidable Market Risks – At their highest level, market risks are those you face by investing in capital markets in any way, shape or form. If you stuff your cash in a safety deposit box, it will still be there the next time you visit it. (Its spending power may be eroded due to inflation, but that’s yet another kind of risk, for discussion on a different day.) Invest in the market and, presto, you’re exposed to market-wide risk that cannot be “diversified away.”

Four: We Mistreat Risk.

It’s a delicate balance – neither overestimating the impact of avoidable, concentrated risks nor underestimating the far-reaching market risks involved. Either miscalculation can cause you to panic and sell out or sit out of the market, thus missing out on its long-term growth.

In contrast, those who stay invested when market risks are on the rise are better positioned to be compensated for their loyalty with higher expected returns.

In many ways, managing your investments is about managing the risks involved. Properly employed, investment risk can be a powerful ally in your quest to build personal wealth. Position it as a foe, and it can become an equally powerful force against you. Friend or foe, don’t be surprised when it routinely challenges your investment resolve.

Respect and manage return-generating market risks. Avoid responding to toxic, concentrated risks. These are the steps toward a healthy relationship with financial risks and rewards.