For decades in my work as a financial planner, the word “portfolio” meant only one thing – a structured collection of investments. Sometimes called diversification or a balanced investment approach, portfolios have two main features. They help to manage risk – not having all of your eggs in one basket. The variety of investments permits you to take advantage of a wide range of opportunities.
As I’ve described this approach to clients, I’ve warned them to be careful that the components of their portfolio need to be truly different from each other. A lunch comprised solely of four scoops of different flavors of ice cream may be tasty, but it’s not really balanced.
Now that I am a retirement coach, portfolios have a different meaning. Just like in the investment area, portfolios are structured collections but now they contain activities. The advantages are similar. Each component of an activity portfolio can provide both balance in life and opportunities to fulfill a wide range of personal goals.
Executive transition coach George Dow coaches corporate executives as they transition to another job/career or to retirement. He recommends a portfolio approach that includes several categories of activities:
- Learning and self-development. For me this has come from a combination of my work and meeting new people over Zoom.
- Working in the form you want. My retirement coaching is my major focus in this category.
- Giving back. I have some serious volunteer activities that I participate in.
- Healthy living. I eat healthy foods and keep my weight and diabetes under control. I bicycle indoors or outdoors almost daily and do stretching/balancing/weights a couple of times each week. And I sleep more now that I have more time to do that. All of these give me the energy I need to pursue other activities.
- Enjoying personal pursuits and leisure. My most serious leisure activity is my music. I travel when I can, watch cultural events, and get together with family and friends.
I am always juggling – choosing how much time to spend in each category. I find that some of my activities fall into more than one category. For example, my work includes much learning, enjoyment, and I see it as a way of giving back.
I constructed my portfolio of activities only after I had thought about my own values and goals. This portfolio continues to evolve as I proceed down my own unique path.
How can you construct your own effective and efficient portfolio of activities?