I was asked today what my thoughts on retirement are. As someone who feels no more capable at living in the world than a teenager that turned 30 overnight, this, is a tough one. Of course, I have my opinions, I'm a terribly opinionated person. But how right could I be? What is the real question here?
So, firstly, let me touch on finances. This one is the zinger, yes? Because I'm fairly certain that if one could retire and suddenly nothing cost you anything at all, what a wonderful world this would be. But that isn't the case. Most people who are of the retirement age, and thinking about retiring soon, lost a lot of their retirement savings when the economy tanked. Maybe it was in stocks, maybe it was in their 401K, maybe their rutabaga crop just didn't fetch as much green as they'd hoped, and now they're only barely ahead of the curve. So people are working longer. Putting off their retirement, and knowing that even after they retire, they are still going to be working to make the bills.
So what is the answer for that? Everybody keeps telling me that money doesn't grow on trees, so where do you get it? Do you finally go through the mind-numbing, hair-pulling process of obtaining a patent for that million-dollar idea you had once? Do you pile together what's left of your savings, work yourself out a scraping-by budget, and hope to god your random smattering of hobbies can be turned into cash? Or do you figure you won't be around long enough to care about your credit card debt, and just buy your own island in Fiji and say, "To hell with it! I'm retired!"...? In this day and age, it's really difficult to be responsible AND still have a life.
When it comes down to it, it seems like maybe you'll be happier being retired, than being in the mad 9-5 rush and crush, but I am not sure it will be any less work. It seems to me it will actually turn out to being more. But is there a solution?
A budget sounds like the best start. How far will your savings actually get you, if you stick to your revamped budget? How much do you need to come up with a month, to continue living this way? Which of your amazing and varied talents will you need to extort in order to fill in the cracks?
I think, though, that even if you are short on cash, you should really consider budgeting into your meager allowance, doing something that you have been dreaming of doing for a while. You've earned it!
Other than that, I'm out of brilliant advice for you retirees. I have no pyramid schemes to talk you into, nor have been secretly stock-piling my lottery winnings, just in case. I wish I had. The only thing I can do now, is hope I can manage to save up for my OWN retirement. I'm halfway there... Wish me luck ;)
See a penny, pick it up. You might just have to retire on it ;)
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