Retirement Lifestyle: What is your legacy?

What does ‘legacy‘ mean to you?

It is money and things that you can buy with money? Is it extravagance and luxury? Is it something you buy? Is it a college endowment or a wing at the hospital that makes your name immortal? Is it a lifestyle that sets you apart from other people and gives your family a unique quality of life.  Do you want to leave a legacy?

Fred and Jane like to entertain their kids, grand kids and a few close friends at the family compound at Lake Tahoe. Between fishing, water skiing, hiking and mountain bikes or just a cook out by the pool everybody loved spending time with them, especially skiing at Christmas and Thanksgiving..

Gene and Marlese love mid-twentieth century modern art and left their collection to the local art museum along with an endowment to build a new modern art wing.

On their yearly family cruises, Jerry and Irene, their kids and grand kids enjoyed time together seeing the world and building stronger relationships.

Dick and Paula established a trust fund for their grand kids to allow them to attend college without the burden of student loans.

Bob and Eloise created a foundation to assist families with autistic children find support and to fund research in understanding and overcoming the effects of the condition.

Are these Legacies unrealistic?  Out of your reach?

These are all statements of legacies. Each of them is fulfilling and enriches the lives of others. Very likely one of them will resonate with you. Maybe more than one. But will you take one of these as a commitment? Probably not. Average people consider those legacies as unrealistic and unworthy of further consideration because they all require money that you don’t have.

If that is how you think about legacies, then you probably won’t leave one. Sure, many legacies require money to happen but people who leave legacies generally don’t create them because they have money they don’t know what to do with. They have the money because they planned for their legacy.  They set priorities and goals. They planned how the money flowing though their lives would be spent. They controlled spending to provide funds for important things. They delayed gratification for superficial things to put money aside for important ones.  They made their legacy happen.  Will you?

Plan your legacy!

Obviously the earlier you start planning your legacy, the bigger it can be but you can start any time. Create a plan!  Pick something within reach but beyond your current lifestyle and cut out lower priority activities to provide funding. Maybe it is only a family weekend at a local resort. That is still something that you would never pull off without a plan. So get started.  How much will it cost? How much can you set aside? How long will it take to make it happen? Start!  You can leave a legacy. Man up!