You may not have thought of it this way, but retirement planning typically involves two overarching financial issues:

1: What your life will be like when you stop working. You tally up your assets, assess your health, ponder your options to relocate, downsize, travel, and pursue leisure activities. If you’ve been a successful saver, this is the fun part of retirement planning, deciding how you will enjoy the rest of your life.

2: How you will handle end-of-life issues. While the end of life is inevitable, the endings are far from certain—and let’s face it, less pleasant to contemplate. But it is prudent to plan for these potential challenges. You may keep a cash reserve for medical expenses, assess the feasibility of insurance for in-home assistance or nursing home care, or use life insurance and legal documents to protect your estate and provide for heirs.

These two issues are sort of the beginning and the end of retirement. But in between, at least in the United States, there is often another retirement phase: Life after driving, that time when you’re still here, but you can’t go anywhere on your own.

Life After Driving Is Likely

“When do you think you won’t be able to drive?” That’s a scary question for retirees.

In the June 2017 edition of Consumer Reports, Sandi Rosenbloom, a University of Texas professor of community and regional planning, shares her experience with this issue:

“Seniors do not want to talk about or think about when they can’t drive. I’ve done dozens of focus groups in seven different countries. If you ask seniors anywhere, ‘When do you think you won’t be able to drive?’ they will uniformly say about 10 years from whenever you ask. It doesn’t matter what age they are when you ask. They can be 80!”

In most instances, these optimistic self-assessments are not valid. While life expectancy has significantly increased in the past century, there has not been a corresponding extension in quality of life. Thus, according to the AARP, “life expectancy exceeds safe driving expectancy after age 70 by about six years for men and 10 years for women.” (In other words, a man who lived to 80 probably stopped driving at 74, while a woman of the same age stopped at 70.)

The reality for most seniors: their retirement will include a period of life after
driving.

Loss of Driving Impacts Health, Longevity

In most circumstances, the end of driving means an end to independent mobility. The Consumer Reports article states: “Almost three-quarters of seniors live in areas with few—if any—transportation alternatives, which means their options for remaining mobile begin and end in their own driveway.” And, as gerontologist Stephen Golant explains, “Those who remain in suburban homes are marooned in an environment designed to be traversed by car.”

Seniors know that the loss of driving is a watershed moment, and not a good one. If getting your driver’s license is a rite of passage at the start of adulthood, having to give it up is a marker for the end of it.

The mere fact of not driving can lead to depression. But the loss of driving is more than a momentary psychological challenge. There is usually a dramatic decrease in physical connection—to friends and family, and to goods and services, particularly health care. Studies show that the isolation that can result from loss of driving accelerates mortality, and makes seniors more likely to end up in nursing homes.

Should You Plan for Life After Driving?

Many retirees express a desire to remain in their homes for the rest of their lives. But if they are no longer driving, an ideal retirement neighborhood can quickly become a desert island, physically and emotionally, particularly for retirees living alone.

This immobility affects other family members as well. A retiree’s loss of mobility may constrain the lives of adult children; they have to rearrange their lives to become on-call chauffeurs, shoppers, delivery persons, and social contacts.

Given the likelihood of life after driving, a prudent retirement plan ought to consider options for addressing the event, should it occur. That often starts with an assessment of where to live, which encompasses some significant questions, like…

• • Should you remain close to extended family?
• • Is your retirement residence satisfactory for a life after driving?
• • Are there amenities within walking distance?
• • Is public transportation readily available?
• • Would a private driver be practical and affordable?
• • What should be done about cottages or vacation homes?

Here’s a key point: If one of the big issues in life after driving is where you will live to accommodate your loss of independent mobility, do you want to make this decision while you are still driving?

For example, if you think your current residence would not be suitable for life after driving, it might impact some pre-retirement decisions, like paying off a mortgage, or paying cash when you down-size from a home to a condo in a gated community.

The income and lifestyle planning for the start of retirement are essential. End-of-life care and estate planning are prudent. But a thoughtful nod to planning for life after driving could make a likely in-between phase of retirement a bit better.

This article was prepared by an independent third party. Material discussed is meant for general informational purposes only and is not to be construed as tax, legal, or investment advice. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, the information should be relied upon only when coordinated with individual professional advice.

Registered Representative and Financial Advisor of Park Avenue Securities LLC (PAS), 355 Lexington Avenue, 9 Fl., New York, NY 10017, 212-541-8800. Securities products/services and advisory services offered through PAS, a registered broker/dealer and investment adviser. Financial Representative, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, NY. PAS is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian. Wealth Advisory Group LLC is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS or Guardian.

PAS is a member FINRA, SIPC.

Neither Guardian, PAS, Wealth Advisory Group, their affiliates/subsidiaries, nor their representatives render tax or legal advice. Please consult your own independent CPA/accountant/tax adviser and/or your attorney for advice concerning your particular circumstances.

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Submitted by Elozor Preil