Even though I say it isn’t everything, it seems every conversation involving retirement comes around to money. Anyway, let’s see how far I get today.
Like I said before, we needed to do some soul searching before we go much further and I’m glad to report that we (Harley and I) seem to have come to some kind of agreement as to how we want to spend our retirement years. Hallelujah! This is HUGE! I was getting very worried that we both had very different ideas of how we spend our golden years. Potentially, that could have been a very serious problem. Suppose Harley was adamant about selling everything and taking off on a sailboat with no plans of returning “home” and I wanted to buy a cabin in the woods, plant some roots, and live off the land. With that scenario it wouldn’t matter what type of financial plan we had. Simply put, it would have been a disaster.
Our plan, (a very loose term at this stage of the game) is to keep the house, sail for six months of the year, and summer here in Ontario. If Harley wants to do some more serious sailing he can sign up to crew in the “Caribbean 1500” or something like that….and…. I will be happy because I will still have my roots. We’ll likely leave the boat down south in the summer, and we may not be sailing in the boat we have now, but those details will fill in as the date gets closer. For now I am just thrilled that we agree on a plan.
And look at that….no money talk. I’d better sign off because I feel it coming on.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
I need to stop complaining
So I was talking with a friend on the weekend and, of course, I was whining about how much I hate work. I was also mouthing off about how I feel most of us have it all wrong by thinking we need so much money. I went on to say, like I’ve said so many times, that money isn’t everything. Blah, blah, blah…… I’m beginning to sound like a broken record.
Anyway, this friend is a family physician whose patients are predominantly elderly or down and out. She listened to my rant for a while but then I guess she had finally heard enough. I was at the point where I was saying that while we were living on our boat we lived on very little and we don’t need much to live a full and happy life. It was then that she brought to my attention that it was money that allowed us to take a year off and live that wonderful life. The fact that we had jobs to return to was unbelievable. She didn’t have to say anymore.
Boy do I feel stupid. Of course we need money….lots of it.
I am thankful for that conversation. It has made me a little more thankful for what I have. Perhaps I should stop complaining and start counting my blessings. I actually tried to enjoy work today and you know it wasn’t so bad.
I’m still planning for retirement but hopefully with a new perspective. Life is way too short. We are dead for a long time. We need to make the most of every day and stop complaining.
Anyway, this friend is a family physician whose patients are predominantly elderly or down and out. She listened to my rant for a while but then I guess she had finally heard enough. I was at the point where I was saying that while we were living on our boat we lived on very little and we don’t need much to live a full and happy life. It was then that she brought to my attention that it was money that allowed us to take a year off and live that wonderful life. The fact that we had jobs to return to was unbelievable. She didn’t have to say anymore.
Boy do I feel stupid. Of course we need money….lots of it.
I am thankful for that conversation. It has made me a little more thankful for what I have. Perhaps I should stop complaining and start counting my blessings. I actually tried to enjoy work today and you know it wasn’t so bad.
I’m still planning for retirement but hopefully with a new perspective. Life is way too short. We are dead for a long time. We need to make the most of every day and stop complaining.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Soul Searching
For years now Harley and I have been saying, “When we win the lottery we are going to buy a house on the water” or “When we win the lottery we are going to buy a really big boat and sail away” Notice I said “When we win” and not “If we win”. I learned years ago that there is power in positive thinking but now I’m not so sure. I’ve been thinking and believing that we are going to win the lottery for so long that I have actually been banking on it. I’m thinking now that maybe that wasn’t such a great idea. All we’ve managed to do with that kind of thinking is set ourselves up for failure. If we want to retire in the next four to five years we had better come up with a realistic plan. (Having said that, I’m not about to stop buying lottery tickets.)
Things are more likely to happen if we make a list of goals and work towards them. This sitting around and plodding along with the attitude that everything will work out in the end just doesn’t cut it anymore. We need to make some very important decisions and we need to make them now. Actually, we should have done this years ago but, hey, better late than never.
The first thing we need to decide on is how we plan to spend our retirement years. Harley and I have always talked about doing some serious sailing when we retire. Do we want to sell everything,invest our money, and sail off into the sunset, or should we keep everything and rent our house out so we have something to come back to when we are done sailing? This is a big decision for us. We also have to think about what we want to do after we’ve had our fill of cruising. I can see us cruising for two years tops. I plan to live at least for twenty years after that. Where will we live then?…..How will we live?
Before we do anything else I think we need to do some soul searching.
Things are more likely to happen if we make a list of goals and work towards them. This sitting around and plodding along with the attitude that everything will work out in the end just doesn’t cut it anymore. We need to make some very important decisions and we need to make them now. Actually, we should have done this years ago but, hey, better late than never.
The first thing we need to decide on is how we plan to spend our retirement years. Harley and I have always talked about doing some serious sailing when we retire. Do we want to sell everything,invest our money, and sail off into the sunset, or should we keep everything and rent our house out so we have something to come back to when we are done sailing? This is a big decision for us. We also have to think about what we want to do after we’ve had our fill of cruising. I can see us cruising for two years tops. I plan to live at least for twenty years after that. Where will we live then?…..How will we live?
Before we do anything else I think we need to do some soul searching.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thoughts on Retirement
“Fifty-five years old!”
When I say it I feel old. Years ago, 55 was my retirement goal. Now here it is…..in fact, it’s been here for 9 months and every day I wake up and say to myself, “I shouldn’t be working. I should be retired. This working for a living is for the birds.” Whoever came up with the slogan “Freedom 55” was a mean-spirited jerk. How many of us middle-class individuals can actually retire at age 55 and live the lifestyle we’re used to? The way I see it, this slogan has left many of us 55 year olds feeling hopeless and inadequate.
For me, working wouldn’t be so bad if I had a job I liked, but instead I have a well paying hateful job. That’s a bad combination. If I were to be absolutely honest I’d have to say that the only reason I work is for the love of money. Isn’t that sad? Not only that, the longer I work the more money I will receive in retirement income. Sadly, this is the only thing keeping me on their payroll.
I know I’m not alone. There must be many people who have fallen into this same trap. Ya, talk about feeling trapped; it’s like putting in jail time. Surely to goodness there is a better way to live. This getting up at 4 o’clock to work like a dog, with no respect or thanks is really starting to take its toll. Perhaps it’s a sign of getting old. I don’t know but whatever the case, I refuse to believe that I was meant to live this way. This whole way of life is insane in my opinion and I believe that it’s the pressure of society that makes us feel that we need all this money to be happy and”successful” (whatever that is). I need to come up with a plan.
I hope to make this an account of my retirement process.
When I say it I feel old. Years ago, 55 was my retirement goal. Now here it is…..in fact, it’s been here for 9 months and every day I wake up and say to myself, “I shouldn’t be working. I should be retired. This working for a living is for the birds.” Whoever came up with the slogan “Freedom 55” was a mean-spirited jerk. How many of us middle-class individuals can actually retire at age 55 and live the lifestyle we’re used to? The way I see it, this slogan has left many of us 55 year olds feeling hopeless and inadequate.
For me, working wouldn’t be so bad if I had a job I liked, but instead I have a well paying hateful job. That’s a bad combination. If I were to be absolutely honest I’d have to say that the only reason I work is for the love of money. Isn’t that sad? Not only that, the longer I work the more money I will receive in retirement income. Sadly, this is the only thing keeping me on their payroll.
I know I’m not alone. There must be many people who have fallen into this same trap. Ya, talk about feeling trapped; it’s like putting in jail time. Surely to goodness there is a better way to live. This getting up at 4 o’clock to work like a dog, with no respect or thanks is really starting to take its toll. Perhaps it’s a sign of getting old. I don’t know but whatever the case, I refuse to believe that I was meant to live this way. This whole way of life is insane in my opinion and I believe that it’s the pressure of society that makes us feel that we need all this money to be happy and”successful” (whatever that is). I need to come up with a plan.
I hope to make this an account of my retirement process.
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