OK, Your Survival Guy wishes retirement planning were a one-size-fits-all endeavor. It’s not. Because when you say, “Honey, I think it’s time I retire,” the response you receive may not be the one you expected. All those years you pulled the plow, dreaming of retirement, you envisioned how you’d ride off into the sunset to your Yellowstone Ranch. Little did you know you had a pack of wolves following you.
Now look, I love kids, I love family, and I would never refer to family members as wolves. That’s not nice. But when your “free time” becomes theirs, you begin to wonder who’s the prey and who’s the hunter. Here’s a word of advice: When a family member asks what you’re doing tomorrow, the right answer is not “oh, nothing really.”
Stop right there.
We need to have an intervention. You need to know how you want to spend Your Retirement Life and plan it accordingly. Yes, it’s a major adjustment leaving the workforce and getting over the Sunday jitters, worrying about the upcoming work week. That takes some time. And when you do finally “figure out how,” a funny thing happens. You tell me that you, in a way, miss the fight, miss the work.
On the bright side, if you ever wanted to know what it feels like to be a bus driver and a camp counselor, then retire. Your kids will have you running around like a madman. And they wonder why, when you and your spouse leave after a day with the grandkids, they’re surprised at the sound of gravel kicking up against the side of their house as you peel away to get back to yours.
This is tough work.
And we haven’t even begun to discuss Social Security benefits, Medicare, UGMAs, 529s, or Roth conversions.
Action Line: Ahhh, Your Retirement Life. It takes a village. When you want some law and order in yours, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.
Read the entire series here.
