Taking Advantage of the Go-Go Years

Alex Z returns to this space with another piece rooted in lived experience and clear-eyed honesty. Her voice has a way of settling the room, and I’m grateful to share her writing again.

I’m a planner and I’m pretty good at planning. I love traveling, do a lot of research pre-travel and am not bad at dealing with disruptions or changes to a plan. I’m usually able to pivot if predicted outcomes don’t end up being the actual outcomes!
I had decided about 5 years ago to retire in the fall of this year (2026) or spring of 2027. Close to the beginning of 2026 my employer offered me early retirement - with a financial incentive and two weeks to decide. I went for it and haven’t regretted it (the money helps).
I went off to Europe for 5 weeks and after my return I’ve had lots of free time to deep-dive into retirement lifestyle planning, which has revealed a blind spot that I’m guessing I shared with others. I hadn’t understood how our capabilities change in our later years - until I had a major health incident.
Previously, I had seen my post-retirement years as one continuous stream of living, without taking into account that later on, I won’t be as physically or mentally capable as I am now. I can hope to be one of those people who are sharp and active right up until the day they die but statistically that’s unrealistic.
Now that my head is “in” retirement, I’ve become familiar with the Go-Go, Slow-Go and No-Go Years concept for our post-retirement lives. Changing abilities impact how or if you can travel, which I take for granted now. I’ve also realized that my ability to make my own decisions is something that may become more challenging. Nobody wants to contemplate losing mental acuity but it is something to take into account.
Statistics on spending following retirement give an indication of how life slows down. On average, real spending declines 1% per year for the first 20 years of retirement, let’s say from 65 to 85. After that, spending may climb as we require more paid support. How can we figure out the actual years of these stages for ourselves? It’s worth making some educated guesses based on statistics and your own family background.
Historically, 70 was for many people the end of the Go-Go years. If you have family members who have remained active to 75 or more, your Go-Go years may be longer. The “average” person lives 20 years post-65 but only 12 years of those can be described as “active” (to age 77). In addition to being the last chance for adventurous travel, these Go-Go years may be your last opportunity to make your own big decisions.
I have two friends who are not yet 75 who still travel regularly and take multi-destination trips. However, both are now thinking that these multi-destination trips are tiring and generate a little more trepidation than excitement before departure. They’re considering switching to single-destination trips with longer stays and perhaps short jaunts away from the main destination. This is Slow-Go travel until about age 80 or 85.
I personally plan to have my finances consolidated and easy to manage by the age of 73. After that, doing research and making decisions will be harder and I’ve already made a plan for how and where I want to live. For people who own a house, this means taking a good look at what needs to be changed to support you when you are less able. Many advisors also encourage eliminating habits and objects during the Go-Go years that won’t serve you well as you age.
During the Go-Go years you may decide to stop doing certain things, such as hanging out with certain people, doing things you don’t really enjoy and following social norms that you see as pointless. As I mentioned, it also important to make serious decisions at this stage – while you can. This can include things like consolidating finances, making renovation plans, planning your funeral, etc.
If you’re near retirement or retired and have never heard of the Go-Go, Slow-Go and No-Go Years, I recommend doing some research and making a loose plan for how you’ll approach these stages. Learning about this concept was quite an eye-opener for me. I had never considered that I won’t be able to travel on my own to Europe in perpetuity!
They say that the only thing we can count on in life is change and, while I definitely will not welcome these particular changes, I’d rather not bury my head in the sand and avoid planning for them.

Alex Z.

You won't find Alex on the pickle ball court but you will find her on a plane sooner or later. She's pretty fluent in Italian and really enjoys her adventures in and around Italy. Retirement means more adventures and probably more destinations.