Beyond the Money: 3 Non-Financial Tips That Actually Prepare You for Retirement

Markets split dramatically as Oracle's AI reality check sent tech tumbling while the Dow hit record highs

The quick scan: Thursday delivered a tale of two markets: the Dow jumped 1.34% to a fresh record while tech stumbled after Oracle's disappointing earnings sparked AI spending concerns. The S&P 500 managed a 0.21% gain and another record close, rescued from early losses by buyers rotating into old-economy cyclicals. The NASDAQ dropped 0.25% as investors fled high-flying AI names – proving not all rallies lift all boats equally.

S&P 500: +0.21% to 6,901.00 – achieving another record despite spending much of the day negative as Oracle's earnings cast shadows over tech enthusiasm
Dow Jones: +1.34% to 48,704.01 – setting a fresh record as Visa's upgrade and cyclical rotation powered blue-chips to their best day in months
NASDAQ: -0.25% to 23,593.86 – dragged down by Oracle's 13% plunge as investors questioned whether AI infrastructure spending translates into actual profits

What's driving it: Oracle missed revenue expectations and announced massive AI capital spending, triggering bubble fears. But cyclicals rallied hard on Wednesday's Fed cut and optimistic projections. Visa gained 3% after Bank of America's upgrade. The Russell 2000 small-caps hit records alongside the Dow, benefiting from lower borrowing costs.

Bottom line: Thursday showed what happens when yesterday's winners become today's question marks – investors rotate rather than panic. The S&P 500 hitting records despite tech weakness proves this market has resilience beyond the Magnificent 7. For L-Plate investors heavy in tech, this is your diversification reminder: when AI enthusiasm cools, boring things like banks and payment processors shine.

The Retirement Problem Nobody Talks About (Until It's Too Late)

The scoop: At a recent Modern Elder Academy webinar, the same three confessions kept surfacing from newly retired professionals:

"I miss the people I used to see at work more than the work."

"I am not sure what to do with my time."

"How do I make new friends at this age?"

These aren't financial problems. They're life problems. And according to Jann Freed, who writes about non-financial retirement planning, they're the ones most people completely ignore until retirement reveals their financial plan didn't actually prepare them for life.

MIT's AgeLab developed the Longevity Preparedness Index, which measures whether you're ready for the life you're about to live, not just whether you can afford it. The finding: "While financial preparedness remains critical, the everyday infrastructure of life, relationships, housing, activities, and community are equally critical to well-being in older age."

Translation: you can have enough money and still be completely unprepared.

Joseph Coughlin defines preparedness as "an active process of awareness, assessment, and action." Not a checklist or hope. It means understanding what's ahead, assessing how realistic your assumptions are, and building systems and relationships before you need them.

Freed shares a cautionary tale: a woman who retired, traveled, checked off her bucket list. Then got tired of all that. Making new friends proved harder than expected. She wanted to contribute but felt too old to reinvent herself. Volunteering didn't feel rewarding. This is what happens when you plan the financial transition but not the life transition.

Tip 1: Find your role models

Seek out role models about a decade older. Not celebrities – real people living lives that look attractive to you. Ask: Who is living a life I find compelling? What about that life appeals to me?

This matters because retirement is abstract until you see it lived. Financial planning gives you numbers. Role models give you pictures. The couple volunteering at the community garden. The retired teacher mentoring at the library. The former executive who learned pottery.

Tip 2: Map your first 90 days

Dave Buck's Retirement Time Analysis found over 70% of participants still tie their identity to their career. When work structure disappears, people struggle with the "retirement time vacuum" – feeling disoriented, anxious, or guilty for not being "productive."

Buck recommends mapping the first 90 days like an executive onboarding plan. The average retiree needs to fill 40% more waking time. That's not vacation – that's lifestyle restructure.

Before retirement, start exploring interests and activities you might engage with. Experiment. Try things without committing. Vision how you want to spend time – not vague hopes like "relax more," but concrete pictures of what Tuesday morning looks like.

Tip 3: Invest in relationships now

Robert Waldinger's "The Good Life," drawing on the longest scientific study of happiness, confirms what you suspect: healthy relationships are the key ingredient to a good life.

But making friends as retirees is hard. The casual structures that created friendships – shared work projects, kids' activities – often disappear in retirement.

Start now: reconnect with old friends, plan more time with current friends, cultivate new relationships. You can't wait until retirement and expect a rich social life to materialize. Build the support system before you need it.

The larger point is about awareness, assessment, and action. Be aware of what lies ahead – not just financial realities but identity shifts and relationship needs. Assess how realistic your assumptions are. Take action while you still have working life's structure to support building your post-work infrastructure.

Financial planning gets you to retirement. Life planning determines whether you'll enjoy being there.

Actionable takeaways for L-Plate Retirees:

• Identify your role models this week. Write down 3-5 people a decade older whose lives look appealing to you, then note specifically what about their lifestyle attracts you – this gives you concrete direction, not vague aspirations.

• Create your first 90-day retirement plan. Even if retirement is years away, sketch out what the first three months might look like – not vacation plans, but how you'll structure daily life when work disappears.

• Audit your current friendships. Count how many friends you have outside of work contexts, how often you see them, and whether those relationships would survive your retirement – then take action on any gaps you identify.

• Start experimenting now. Try one new activity, organization, or hobby each quarter that might become part of your retirement life – discovering what you don't enjoy is as valuable as finding what you do.

• Schedule relationship investments. Block time monthly for deepening existing friendships or exploring new social connections – waiting until retirement to build community is like waiting until you're lost to buy a map.

Your Turn:
If you're already retired, what surprised you most about the non-financial aspects – and what do you wish you'd prepared for better?
For those still working, when you imagine a typical Tuesday in retirement, what would give that day meaning and purpose beyond "not working"?
Who are your role models for this phase of life – and what specifically about their lives appeals to you?

👉 Hit reply and share your thoughts – your answers could inspire fellow readers in future issues.

If today's article made you realize you've been focusing on portfolio balance while ignoring life balance, you can shout me a coffee on Ko-fi. Your support helps us bring these non-financial retirement conversations to the L-Plate community – because apparently we all need reminding that the money is only part of the picture.