In a recent interview with ThinkAdvisor, Sheryl Garrett, founder of the Garrett Planning Network, affirms, “Money alone does not provide security.”
An innovator in planning practices, the 60-year-old offers a glimpse into what she calls “lifestyle design” for retirement. She owns and makes her 30 acres of land in Arkansas where she lives with her 11-year-old daughter.
At the same time, certified financial planners provide valuable advice to financial advisors for implementing retirement plans with clients.
“People need to be prepared about where they want to go and what they want to do in retirement,” she stresses.
The communal environment she envisions may date back to her great-grandmother’s days, but the idea of sharing is what Garrett wants after retirement.
“There’s a lot of wisdom in having a ‘self-designed community,’ whether it’s a biological family or not,” she says.
Garrett is best known for advocating fee-only financial advice by planners who adhere to fiduciary standards and charge by the hour. In 2000, she founded her Garrett Planning Network. We currently have close to 250 planners as members.
Former President Barack Obama singled out Garrett in a speech in 2015 when the Labor Department was pushing for fiduciary rules. He said she was a financial advisor who got into business to help people.
In the words of Garrett, Obama said, “The role of financial advisor is one of the most important jobs. [But] There are sectors in today’s industry that operate like the gunslingers of the Old West. ”
In addition to founding Planning Network, Garrett co-founded RIA in 2011, but sold its ownership eight years later.
For the last few years she has been planning to retire. But that plan had some changes when Garrett’s wife passed away last fall, forcing her to raise her with her couple’s young daughter.
Her sprawling property outside Eureka Springs in the Ozarks has seven buildings, including a log cabin she rents out to tourists, and plans to one day build a small retirement home.
An industry activist, Garrett worked with the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and testified before Congress on Social Security reform. She has been named to Investment Advisors Financial’s annual list of the most influential people in her planning, her IA25, on her seven occasions.
She grew up in “nature” in Emporia, Kansas. Now she’s “getting back on track” and focusing on the trees, shrubs and gardens she’s planting for food production in her retirement.
“Access to food is safe,” she points out.
ThinkAdvisor recently interviewed Garrett on the phone from home. Highlights include:
THINKADVISOR: What is the first thing to keep in mind when thinking about retirement?
Sheryl Garrett: People need to prepare where they want to go and what they want to do after retirement.
My current theme has been pervasive for the past two or three years. I’ve been working with another single woman in this community.
what is that?
I literally design my retirement lifestyle. In our design, we think about what you want after retirement.
There’s a lot of wisdom in having your own designed community, biological family or not. But the idea is that you are driven by design.
What are the key issues that pre-retirees should consider when deciding to relocate?
climate change.three people [top] California, Arizona, and Florida are where people are currently moving. None of these states are safe. Two have serious drought problems.
What will it be like to live there 30 years from now? how much is your house worth? Do you really want to move to an area where you might have to move in five or ten years?
What is another major factor in designing your retirement?
safety. It’s not just about having lots of money. But, for example, we need a roof overhead, electricity and air conditioning. I have to keep myself healthy. i want food
Money alone does not provide security. Access to food is safe.
How do you plan to retire?
I now spend my time investing in plants, trees and shrubs to provide a significant amount of food for my enjoyment and needs 20 years from now. increase. maybe not. But my daughter will.
Many pre-retirement and retirees take up gardening as a hobby. But you’re talking about growing food in the context of food security, right?
I have 16 child trees in my front yard. This establishment has so many foods that contain black walnuts. They just grow!
I am very excited to get strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and gooseberries. And figs taste like nothing you’ve ever had before.
I grew up in Emporia, Kansas. It’s just nature there. We played a lot in nature. And as I grow, I keep coming back to it.
Do you have a garden?
Yes, but it’s been dormant for about 15 years. I told my buddy that I wanted to plow it and reestablish it.
I’ll ask my neighbor who keeps birds [to split the cost of] fence. They supply eggs. So you have laying hens and game hens or chickens or both.
Can designing your retirement life be a way to bring in extra income for retirees?
