Are you ready for the day you retire? 
Don Schmitz & Grandkidsandme

Why do we automatically think economically when we think of retirement? Grandfathers especially, think of retirement in financial terms. Today, I invite you to look at retirement in a different way. What if we said instead, "I want to spend more time with my family". I wonder how our planning for retirement would change? I wonder too, what would we do differently today? 

Each year we look at our car, take a physical, do our taxes but what do we end up doing with our most important asset, our family? Many of us take our family for granted until a death, illness or divorce jolts us to our senses.

Every year around April 15th, we get ready to do our taxes. Most of us look at the numbers, gather the important papers and seek professional help.

I'd like to suggest we take a similar approach this year with our family. Don't wait until there is a crisis, do it now!  This professional could help us conduct a personal and family assessment and/or take a test that would measure our ability to meet our family needs. This professional might ask us numerous questions about our personal assets and what we might have already in place.

How would we answer that question about our personal assets anyway? Would we answer our wife, our children, parents, grandchildren, friendships and relatives? What are we doing to improve our relationship with our family? Just like our financial reviews, we may need to make some minor or even major changes but wouldn't it be better to face those changes now before we have no choice at all. Is it too late? The answer is no.

How would you answer the question? "Are you ready for the day you retire with your personal and family assets?"

Don Schmitz is a popular speaker and writer on parenting and grandparenting. He is the author of The New Face of Grandparenting…Why Parents Need Their Own Parents and founder of The Grandkidsandme Foundation and Grandparent Camps. Don holds graduate degrees in Education, Administration and Human Development. He is the father to three sons and nine grandchildren. Contact Don@grandkidsandme.com