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Nobody would plan the retirement I did. I retired from self employment at 59. Only had about $140,000 in savings, and about $2000 a month in pension income.
Bought a sailboat and condo in Florida. Spent half my time there. Sold the sailboat 4 years later; it was fun, but the original intent to sail the Caribbean didn't happen. Selling the condo this year, best investment ever, it almost tripled in price. Traveled to Europe a couple of times, and Mexico. Own a small home up north, paid for. My monthly expenses are less than $1,000 a month all in for taxes, gas, utilities, food, entertainment etc. etc.
The rest I put away for travel. I love my retirement, my fiance has a place in Mexico, and we will spend winters there from now on. I want for nothing.
Most would not even consider retiring on the amount I had put away, especially early. But being frugal has allowed me to have exceptional experiences others may spend on luxuries, restaurants or alcohol. My condo neighbors next door tell me it costs them $4,000 a month, and I have no idea how. But they are enjoying their retirement their way, and I am doing it my way. We are both happy.
Curious where you live up north for $1k/month all-inclusive...
There seem to be a lot of negative comments about planning. Personally I have never accomplished much that did not involve a plan, a commitment and lots of work toward those goals. The same has happened in retirement. I had plans to travel, plans to develop my artistic and non technical abilities and plans to learn a lot of specific things. As with all plans they need to accommodate the unexpected, to accommodate changes and to evolve. That is the way good planning should work. It is way more than just having some vague dream or vague goal.
The problem is, while YOU may make plans, many times YOUR plans are heavily influenced by factors that YOU have no control over. For instance, I worked for over 30 years, for what was once a large, successful corporation. Yes, I planned for a wonderful retirement, however, some poor business decisions by the corporate leaders had the company in deep trouble, about the time I entered my 50s.
Long story short, my long time employer started selling off business units, piece by piece, and at the age of 52, I suddenly found myself working for another company, which fundamentally changed the pension/benefits package that I, and my fellow employees, once had. On top of that, the Federal Government stepped in, and shuffled a few of the regulations regarding pension plan payouts, and that, too, had a direct effect on my retirement plans.
Yes, I still managed to retire around the same time as I had originally wanted to, but it was at a reduced pension payout. Therefore, MY retirement plans were significantly changed by outside forces, and it was something that I never anticipated.
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I also can't imagine entering retirement with a firm determination of what I enjoy or want to accomplish - I get much more pleasure by keeping as many avenues open as possible.
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Maybe it was unintended, but your post nicely explains the difference between planning and keeping everything flexible. I have plenty of time to relax, to try new things or to do nothing at all. I never plan every little thing, which I suppose is just your way of putting down people who do have plans.
Overall, I have plans for things I want to accomplish. I spent my life and career working in a highly technical field where my level of technological knowledge and computer skills were of the utmost importance. Sure there was plenty of creativity and innovation involved but nothing of what I would call artistic creativity and expression. When I retired I had a plan to grow my artistic side. That started with photography, which is a nice balance of some tech skills and the desire to express ones self and communicate visually. Those plans were always flexible but over the years have involved a dozen semester long courses, online study and critique groups, camera clubs, and way more than 10,000 hours of practice and performance. I planned, studied and worked at having my work seen in museums and galleries. My involvement in photography also morphed into an interest in painting. I have been doing both photography and pastel painting for several years and have developed a level of mastery and ability to express and communicate visually.
I find that it takes planning to make major accomplishments. I do understand that many people have little interest in investing time and energy towards major goals.
... The old adage of 'Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail' applies to retirement too.
I married when I was 21, we began planning for retirement seen there after. What did we want retirement to look like? And would my pension be enough to support that lifestyle?
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses
... My best advice is to remain flexible and hope for the best. You might get lucky.
Hope? Lucky?
Bad things can happen to anyone, at anytime. You can't hope your way into retirement.
Not me! I am having a great time eleven months the into retirement.
This concerns my slightly younger Sister who refused to follow my advice, and all others within a year or two of retirement. PLEASE! Determine what you want to do in retirement and make preparations in advance for those plans/activities.
I read a book in preparation for retirement entitled "How to Retire Happy Wild and Free" , at least I think that is the title, which discusses this major change of life. A slow read in parts, and the current reprint was not fully updated from the original 2004 edition, but the message and the joy & goal identification worksheets are still valid.
Analyze yourself to determine what you enjoy in life, what you want to accomplish in retirement, and put things in motion while still working toward satisfying both of those realizations.
The old adage of 'Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail' applies to retirement too. Don't wind up in therapy lamenting "Poor poor me, I feel so lost". Unless that is what you truly desire.
We are suppose to figure that out in a year.......when we haven't been able to figure it out our whole lives?
A, B, and C.
A: Most importantly, while it sounds great to have goals, maybe in retirement we work out that the goals can slip and just let them go.
Yesterday, was the end of a 3 day weekend and as it wound down, I realized that I had really done nothing that I had planned to do BUT.....it was not the end of the world and I could move on with life and move along, slowly again, working on things as I could.
B: While this last weekend was not a total time waster (I just got distracted into another project), so much of my off time is lost in endless "chasing rainbows". So I really need to figure out of that otherwise, my retirement will probably be all of that. There is a cartoon that starts off with a lad having his desires fulfilled by TV and as an old Man, he realizes how his time has been wasted. He turns off the TV, goes outside to the singing birds (who he unintentionally turned away from all the years before) only to have Death show up with "Time's up".
I try not to do that such as walking out on my porch each morning and marveling at the sky, at my forest. Try to replace that for my rainbow chasing or at least, the dark side of it, but I have not been successful yet.
C: Rare is the person who gets everything done in life they wanted to. For most of us, we should be happy that we at least didn't waste it..........
........having the money to do it, of course, would be nice, too.
Curious where you live up north for $1k/month all-inclusive...
In a very small village in the middle of the prairies in Canada. Small home (I bought there on purpose due to low costs). No mortgage, taxes of $725 a year, utilities averaging around $275/month. About $300/month for groceries (that's a LOT). Fuel? Maybe $60/month, some months less, some months more. Internet $55/month. Cell phone, $25/month. Medical is covered by our universal healthcare, and I co-pay $50 about every 2 months for prescriptions. As a senior, basic dental is covered, as are glasses every 3 years.
Insurance total is $1800/year. So, to sum up, $1,000 more than covers living costs. I put the other $1000 into savings to use for travel, or hunting, or other endeavors. I live very well on this, want for nothing, and have great experiences.
I made the conscious choice to set up my costs to become a minimum. I do not have a large pension, but, I live large, as experiences are more important to me than possessions. It's not for everyone, but it works for me. I walk 200 yards and I am in wilderness and on wilderness trails. If you need or want the urban life, this is not the place for you, as I have to drive 30 miles for groceries or go to the doctor. If you like a small (350 population) village where most know you, it works great.
Life is about choices, mine work for me. On the other hand, my neighbor at my condo in Florida spends $4,000 a month they tell me. How? I don't drink, they do. I am a great cook, they eat out most of the time. I travel and go to AirBnB, they go to 5 star restorts. They buy a new car every 2 years, I drive a 10 year old Kia I bought used (I have not bought a new car since I was 23). They have payments, I never have had them. They owe money on their condo, I paid cash for it at the depth of the financial crisis (cheap!) and my small house.
Yet I suspect my experiences are more memorable than many of theirs. I hiked in mountains in the Alps, as well as in Iceland, 3 years ago, in southern Mexico last year, and in Canada this year. Two years ago I sailed in the Virgin Islands on a rented sailboat. Am planning a motorcycle trip to the Arctic ocean with my son-in-law and my girlfriend for next summer. Very little of this required me to touch my small savings (not the travel fund, the other savings), as I try and keep those for true emergencies, house repairs, etc.
I am very, very frugal. As example, I rarely buy any processed foods other than cheese and pure peanut butter. I rarely go to restaurants, as I feel I can cook better, healthier and cheaper myself. When I drive down to Florida or back, I pack food in a cooler, and make my meals from that.
It's choices. It works for me, and may not for others.
When I announced my intention to retire in the near future, a couple of co-workers said, "I just don't know what I'd do with myself if I retired!".
My response was, "Unless you have visited every state and country that you want to see, unless you have toured every museum you have ever wanted to visit, unless you have grown every flower or vegetable that you ever wanted to cultivate, unless you have ever read every book on your wish list, unless you have taken every college course that you ever wanted to enroll in, (my list went on, and on...) then there is an infinite number of things that you could do in order to feel fulfilled and productive." They both looked at me blankly and repeated, "I just don't know what I'd do with myself if I retired".
You may wish to differ, but if someone's life is defined solely by their work life, I think it's just plain... sad.
I got to "retire" as a test when my husband was transferred for 3 years. Found out I needed to have all aspects of my life in balance when I finally retire.
Physical Have plan for regular exercise in some form
Spiritual Identify some spiritual activities. Some like church. Some like meditation.
Creative Find some creative outlet
Charitable Do something for someone else as much as possible.
Personal Keep some fun activities in your life
Relationships Work to keep up good relationships
Educational Keep learning something all the time
Beautiful post.
Made a note of this
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