Interesting blog thread....
Like many Baby Boomers, I vowed at a young age not to wait until retirement to have fun, do extensive traveling and enjoy life.
So many of us saw their parents slave away working hard and long hours at jobs, saying that they would have fun and travel once they retired. Then either while still working or very soon into their retirement they suffered a debilitating illness that prevented them from pursuing these goals, or worse yet, died at a relatively young age.
Both of my parents died at a young age, father at 59 and mother at 61.
That experience made me vow not to take my life for granted and to also plan for retirement at an age where I am still healthy.
As a 57 yr. old automobile enthusiast, my wife and I are now in our final planning stage for our eventual retirement. I would love to retire at age 60 and am working towards that goal. Depending on the value of our diversified financial portfolio once I reach that age will determine if I can afford to finally do something different. Now whether it is total retirement or working part time at some job that I find enjoyable, satisfying and stimulating, remains to be seen. I may do some volunteer work and possibly teach as well, in addition to our extensive travel plans.
Like some of the sentiments expressed by
motordavid, I and many others in our mid-50's, share similar accelerating feelings about our respective workplace environment and circumstances, ranging from frustration, exhaustion, exasperation, boredom and anger. These feeling compete with our realization that most of us at our age have reached the peak of our respective career paths and recognize the reality of all the pros and cons associated with the position. While we may have experienced exciting, enjoyable and rewarding careers, both emotionally and financially, after 30+ years working, many of us are getting tired of it all and asking the important questions at this stage in life, such as:
1. Is this all there is for me?
2. Do I want to continue doing this?
3. If I want to do something different, do I have the courage to try it?
4. Do I want to or can I afford to forgo the security of a regular paycheck and employer-subsidized healthcare benefits?
For those of you who love your job(s) and look forward to getting out of bed and going to work.... you are very lucky and made the right choice for yourself.
For those of us who are in jobs, positions, professions where our overall satisfaction and enjoyment of our work may not be as strong, or at least not as strong as it once was, need to decide how much longer we will persevere before we really do need to make a change. Whether that change is making a lateral move to another company or firm or taking a different type of job or deciding to retire. I am a firm believer that if we are not satisfied with our current situation that it is up to us, ourselves to do something about it and not continue to bemoan the circumstances causing the angst or discomfort.
I also agree with the points made by
Quicksilver and
JCL on one's health and health care. One of the largest variables in retirement is your health and that of your partner. Whether you have and can afford to maintain adequate health care insurance before your reach the age where you are eligible for Medicare is a major concern and issue. Also, whether or not one has or can afford to get long-term health care insurance is also another important factor. It will be interesting to see how Obamacare ultimately affects costs and how it evolves and is modified to improve its deficiencies. I was originally supporting the universal health care approach and am philosophically opposed to our for-profit health care system, but do not expect that will change in my life time.
As far as
motordavid's point on Social Security, my wife and I plan to hold off as long as we can before we tap into the Social Security system, I would guess that we will be 66+ when we finally do.
Also, my wife wants to continue working until her mid-70's (God bless her....!)
I support her wish to do so and look forward to being a house husband.
Finally, I look forward to spending more time pursuing my automotive passion, enjoying our M-B's and BMW's for all of my remaining years....
Finally, if you are really disappointed, disgusted, fearful and/or just fed up with the direction our country is going in, like
TerminatorX5 stated, seriously consider leaving the US and relocate as an Expat to another country. There are tax consequences that would have to be thoroughly investigated to fully understand the applicable rules. Panama makes sense for the points he stated. I would also suggest considering Singapore for all of its benefits including the fact that English is the official language.
AVB-AMG
