MML #054: Your Best Retirement Years Won't Happen in Your 80s

If you're reading this, you've probably thought about retirement at least once. Maybe the thought lasted thirty seconds before you pushed it aside. Maybe you've told yourself - or others - that you'll "die at your desk."

The stingy truth is that your best retirement years aren't in your 80s. They're in your 60s and 70s, when you still have the energy and health to actually enjoy the life you've been building.

The bucket list trip to New Zealand? 

The time to finally learn a new skill? 

The flexibility to spend meaningful time with family? 

These things require physical capacity that naturally declines as you age. Wait until you're forced to retire by health issues in your late 70s, and you might have plenty of money but struggle to use it the way you'd imagined.

A Mindset Shift: From Ending to Evolution

If you've spent decades identifying as a lawyer, retirement probably feels like losing part of yourself. After countless early mornings, late nights, and weekends building your practice, stepping away seems like the end of something fundamental.

But what if retirement isn't the end of your career - it's the next chapter of your professional legacy?

This isn't about stopping work entirely. 

It's about choosing work that energizes rather than drains you, on a schedule you control. Lawyers who transition in their mid-60s typically enjoy 10-15 years of high-energy retirement before age-related limitations start appearing. That's a significant window you don't want to miss.

If you’re a partner in a law firm, you have more options than a complete exit. Consider these alternative approaches:

The Gradual Transition: Sell your practice interest but stay on as "Of-Counsel" for several years. Reduce your workload from five days to two days weekly while mentoring the next generation.

The Legacy Builder: Identify promising associates who could eventually take over the practice. Implement a structured succession plan where you progressively transfer client relationships over 3-5 years.

The Portfolio Approach: Reduce practice hours while developing complementary professional activities - teaching, consulting, or board service where your legal expertise remains valuable without the administrative burden.

Finding Your Why Beyond the Law

Take a moment to think about what actually brings you satisfaction in your work. 

Is it the client meetings? 

The problem-solving? 

Mentoring younger attorneys? 

Teaching complex concepts? 

The intellectual challenge?

Now separate that from the parts you'd happily leave behind - the administrative headaches, the pressure of billable hour targets, the stress of managing a practice.

What if you could keep the parts you love and shed the parts that drain you?

You might discover that what you value most about being a lawyer can continue in different forms. Teaching at a law school. Consulting on complex matters without the full caseload. Serving on boards where your legal expertise matters. Mentoring associates at other firms.

The question isn't whether you stop being valuable - it's how you want to deploy that value in this next phase.

The Planning Advantage

Starting your transition planning 3-5 years before your target retirement date isn't just about financial preparation. It's about maximizing those prime years in your 60s and 70s.

This timeline allows you to:

Process the emotional shift. You're moving away from an identity you've held for decades. Rushing this decision under pressure rarely leads to satisfaction.

Structure your firm for maximum value. Practices that sell well don't happen by accident. They're built intentionally with transferable systems and relationships.

Test new interests before fully committing. That board position or teaching opportunity might sound appealing, but you want to know whether it actually fulfills you before you're completely retired.

Create tax-efficient income strategies. The difference between a well-planned retirement income strategy and a hasty one can easily be six figures over your lifetime.

Attorneys who begin planning in their early 60s consistently report greater satisfaction with their transitions than those who postpone until crisis forces their hand - whether that crisis is health, burnout, or market conditions.

Starting early means you transition when you're ready, not when you're forced.

Your Action Steps This Week

Take 30 minutes to reflect: What aspects of your legal work bring you genuine satisfaction? Which of these could continue in some form beyond full-time practice?

Write down three activities you've postponed due to professional demands. Be honest - will you still have the energy and health to pursue them in 10-15 years?

Ask yourself: Does a gradual transition or a clean break feel more appropriate for your personality and situation?

What other questions haven’t I properly addressed in this framework? I’d love to know so that I can write about them in future editions. Simply reply - I read and respond to every email.

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