Many people today live to work and when their working years are over the loose all purpose in life and die shortly thereafter. How much better it would be if their plan for the future had taken into account a meaningful life in retirement.

If our financial planning for retirement fails to provide a reason to go on living when our first careers have ended, the result is often tragic.

Whether you’re first in line to inherit the estate of Anna Nicole Smith, or flipping burgers at the local fast food restaurant, your financial planning for retirement needs to start with your reason for living. You may have enough ambition and skill to become a billionaire, but if you haven’t taken the time to discover a purpose for your life that’s larger than closing the deal or winning the prize, your faith in the deal may not sustain you in hard times.

The pursuit of fortune as an end in itself has destroyed fortune seekers from King Midas to Howard Hughes.

There are some extremely wealthy people whose main goal was not to simply make lots of money. Bill Gates, for example, has shown that his goal is to make a difference in the world around him. That purpose has made him successful and he enjoys his success because the focus for him was not only to attain wealth.

To put that in plain English: I’m tired of Windows crashing all the time, but I’m all for what Bill and Melinda Gates are doing. Their foundation is the biggest non-profit organization in the world, and it is making a difference.

It is great to love your career and enjoy your work. It is equally important to be able to look beyond that and have aspirations that go right into retirement.

If you are not sure what you want out of life and what goals you want to accomplish give that some serious thought. Make a commitment to yourself to determine what you want for your future and then start developing a plan to help you get it.