Retirement Talk
WHAT to do with the rest of your life? |
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Episode 150 How much is enough?
How much money is enough? That’s a pretty good question.
When people consider retirement, that is always first and foremost in their
minds. They just don’t seem to know how much is enough. There seems to be no
hard and fast rule. What is a person to do?
This is Retirement Talk. I'm Del Lowery.
I remember facing this question years ago when we decided to
retire. It was most important. We had a chance to take an early retirement
offer by the state of Alaska. We liked our jobs, but downsizing was happening
in our profession and we were being enticed into considering stopping work when
we were fairly young. I was 44 and Brenda was 41. Now that is pretty early to
even consider retiring let along doing it. What to do?
“Life is short”, someone said somewhere at sometime. I
taught philosophy and took those kind of sayings to heart. Though we liked our
jobs, we realized the finality of life and knew that there may be other ways to
live than continuing in this one direction. We had ideas as to what we might do
if we changed direction. The big question came down to money.
If we wanted to continue to earn money then we wanted to
stay in our jobs. If we could live on the money provided in our early
retirement package then we would be free to cast about: do what ever we wanted,
live where we wanted, move, or not move, sleep late or rise early. We could go
back to college, or hike in the mountains. It wouldn’t matter. We could follow
the path laid out by Mother Teresa or we could try to emulate Warren Buffett.
Whatever.
How could we know if we had enough money? It was comforting
to know that we were living good at that time and would see a pay raise every
year as long as we continued to work. But the question loomed: “How much is
enough?”
We took a clean piece of paper and wrote down how much money
we thought we would need. The list started with housing costs: utilities, upkeep
and that sort of thing. We had paid off our mortgage on a ten year plan so that
was no longer a factor. We then figured the price of transportation: car
upkeep, etc. Then came food and clothing, etc. That really wasn’t much. Our
retirement plan included super good health care insurance; good until we die so
that was not a factor. We were very lucky on this one. We totaled up estimated figures and were amazed at how low they were.
It became clear that if we did not buy a boat, airplane or huge RV we could
easily say goodbye to the world of work seemingly forever.
That was 22 years ago. How have we done? Prices have gone
up. What has happened to our budget in light of all the changes? We’re doing
fine. We have never had to consider taking another job for money. What was the
key? I think its the idea of spending less money than you take in. Of course we
have all heard that one forever. “Spend less than you make,” that worked for
us.
I know people facing retirement are always wondering about
the future costs and the limits on their income. I guess that will always be a
guess, shot in the dark, or estimate at it’s best. But sometimes I think this
limiting factor is just an excuse to avoid change.
I’m reminded of a story of Alexander the Great when he was
on the move and his army rolled into India. It is said that he was sitting
their on his big white horse with an entire army strung out behind him and he
came on six men standing in two columns side by side. They marched up and down
in place. They were silent. The conquering hero asked his interpreter what the
men were doing and the response was, “They are asking how much land you need
since we all get only six feet – enough to bury us”.
I think of this story when I consider how much money one
person needs. It doesn’t seem to me that one needs much. Of course health care
is a big unknown every day of our life. We were lucky with our coverage. And
fortunately most Americans are covered with Medicare during most of their
retirement. I know we live in a consumer society where we are encouraged at
every turn to buy something new but that doesn’t mean we have to agree. There
are other choices.
Recently we have been temped to rent our condo in downtown
Vancouver. The Winter Olympics are coming and we could get “rich” so to speak.
I think we have decided to pass on this one. We will just stay here and enjoy
the festivities. It’s not often the Olympics comes to town.
This is Retirement Talk.
A resource from a listener: Best Free Online Degrees for Seniors guide is designed to assist seniors who aspire to enhance their intellect or consider starting a new career path. It features an overview of the top online degrees for seniors, emphasizing their numerous advantages, and a broad range of subjects to choose from.
A friend's website: Terra Firma Designs: Fine Furniture, Stained Glass and woodworking workshops.
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