Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
I would advise people that if at all possible, do not wait until you have retired to follow your desired activities no matter what they may be.
Sometimes, retirement age comes with deteriorating health or wealth. Go for what you want when you can afford it and are healthy enough to enjoy it. Don't wait until some magic number tells you it's time.
It's time NOW.  |
In general, I agree.
Here's where I disagree.
[1] A person's desired activities may not be possible while that person is working. There simply may not be enough money or time to pursue them. In my case, with working 9 hours a day, with up to 2 more hours spent commuting, I found I had little time during the week, and the weekends were consumed with doing those necessary things (like cutting the grass, getting the car worked on, doing laundry, grocery shopping, etc.) that couldn't get done during the week.
[2] It's often more affordable in retirement to do certain things. With senior discounts, the ability to make a "special sale" held only between 8 AM and noon on a Wednesday, the ability to book trips "off season" or during non-peak times, in general the ability to travel without being restricted by someone else's schedule (like the boss, or the kids' summer vacations), some things are cheaper to do when retired.
That said, here's where I agree.
We're all going to die. We all hope that in retirement, our money and our health will last as long as our lives do, but all too often, one or both start to fail far too early.
One of the reasons my wife and I retired when we were 55 was for that very reason. We could have improved our retirement finances had we worked longer, but it's a crap shoot. We didn't want to work for an additional X number of years to max out our pensions, since that would mean that we would not have those X number of years in retirement.
To me, one of the very worst things that can happen to anyone is to work hard for years and years, retire, and then die - or become seriously ill or incapacitated - shortly after retiring.
I am deeply grateful that we had both the choice and the ability to retire when we did. The last 3 years have been wonderful, doing precisely what we want to, and when & how we want to do it.
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