As you may or may not know, I’m retiring from the world of work at the end of this year (just 338 days to go at the publishing of this blog entry – not that I’m counting or anything). It’s a funny thing, the reactions I get when I tell people this fact. First, they always look me up and down and quizzically ask, “how old are you?” When I tell them I’ll be fifty-seven at the end of this…
I’m celebrating another birthday this week. I’ve been blessed to live for quite a few revolutions around that big ‘ol yellow-orange ball that travels across the sky every day, but I am starting to see some reminders that I’m not as young as I used to be. My minds still thinks it’s a strapping lad in the prime of his mid-twenties; however, the real boss – my actual body – has to throw up a few roadblocks every now and…
Retirement. It is the dream we’ll never catch, right? It’s hard not to read an article about how working adults don’t save enough for their retirement, how much longer they’ll have to work (if they can stop at all), the “gloom and doom” forecast of Social Security and Medicare, or the staggering amounts of accumulated assets pundits say you’ll need to survive (which are grossly inaccurate, by the way). You get the idea. All my life, I’ve tried to prepare…
As I am entering my mid-50’s this year, I have started to seriously look at my exit strategy from work – hopefully sooner than later. Yes, the pull of retirement is a strong one, and honestly, I’m tired of working. I’ve tried to do the “right thing” during my working career (now entering its 4th decade) – keeping my debt down, saving the maximum in my employer-sponsored retirement plans, putting aside an emergency fund, and saving for my kids’ college…