Retirement Dollars
| December 10th, 2008 by Robert | Word Count: 725 | Reading Time 2:55 | 2,158 views |
Through the years, I’ve heard people talk about how much money they would need to retire. I’ve heard retirement specialists inform clients that they would need upwards of 80% of their maximum yearly income to survive retirement comfortably. I’ve heard people can’t expect to retire without a million in the bank. I’ve heard lots of stories. I’m sure you’ve even seen the stories of people winning the lottery and continuing to work at “less than sought after” jobs. What does it take to retire these days? Does it take winning a multimillion dollar lottery or a lifelong career of penny pinching and number crunching? Or, does it just take a realistic approach to living after your retire?
One very important aspect of retirement to consider… on average, people are living longer these days. No longer is retirement lasting for 10-15 years… it may last 20-30 years. If someone thinks they are going to need 80% of their maximum yearly income during their later years in life, what exactly are they spending their money on? Won’t lifestyles change as you age? I would surely think so.
After a lifetime of working and spending money to survive, priorities change, tastes change, and expectations of life change. A retired couple isn’t in the market for a massive house with multiple bedrooms, four car garages, large lawns, and pools. In my mind, a retired couple is looking for a quaint lifestyle with a nice cottage, a vehicle, and a nice front and back yard to relax in. Even if you are in the upper echelon of wealth, the “perks of life” are meaningless once you reach a certain age. Practicality supersedes possession at some point in a rational existence does it not?
Rational to me means retirement is achievable with much less money than the “experts” are projecting… for normal people that is. Yes, we can always assume that prices will always increase and that must be accounted for. But, we must also assume that our lifestyle will change and our costs of living will decrease because our purchase decisions will be affected by our changed mentality. Will a 70 year old man still want to spend money on frivolous things like a young man would? Will a 70 year old woman still be making purchase decisions like she was still a 30 year old? I would hope not. Not meaning that age removes the freedom of living young, but I’m saying that our mentality truly changes… our life’s focus changes.
If I ever reach retirement age, I can guarantee you that my tastes will be different when that happens and my purchase decisions and spending habits will change accordingly. I will not WANT a big house. I will not WANT a new car in the driveway. I will not WANT a large yard to manicure and take care of. I will not WANT all the latest gadgets and devices that are pushed upon society.
Do you know what I will want? What I will want is what I want now… more time to spend with my wife and my family. I want more freedom to serve my Church and my spiritual calling. I want more of what life offers and not what possession offers. I want LESS. I want LESS possession. I will HAVE LESS… ON PURPOSE!
Our retirement analysts push the same mentality for our seniors as they push for our young and middle aged investors, more, more, and more. We all must have MORE! At all costs, make more, buy more, earn more, and HAVE MORE! Somewhere in there, time is lost, sacrificed for the all important more. Time with your family is lost. Your life is lost. You retire and yet you never lived. But hey, your retirement will sure be a fancy one won’t it?
I say forget about the money, focus upon saving for a retirement of practicality. We must live life without sacrificing today for a future that may never exist. Be practical yes, but be rational. If you feel that you must have more even in retirement, what need are you fulfilling in your life that requires your sacrifice of time today? Is your family paying the price for your perceived reward? Are you really costing yourself and your family more than the return in a potentially nonexistent future?
on December 11th, 2008 at 9:18 am:
Can you imagine how much less the stress would be on people if they followed this advice? It would open up so many more choices for individuals while they were still LIVING. How many times have you heard someone say they wish they could change a job to something they had a passion for instead of what made the most money? Most people don’t have this option because they aren’t willing to give up their lifestyles to go after it.
I think it’s a shame that it takes so long in life to see what’s truly important.
Someone with cancer was telling me that in many ways the illness is a blessing, because now she appreciates things she was always too busy to enjoy..like a sunrise, or sunset; seeing how much people care about you and how much that means.
Why can’t we learn by others’ experiences and wisdom before it’s too late?
I know this seems a bit off topic, but I think it’s all tied together.
on December 12th, 2008 at 9:59 pm:
The world would be a much better place if our culture wouldn’t have been infected and overrun by greed and selfishness. Yes, we all are responsible for our own actions, but the society we live within rewards greed and promotes it while making it nearly second nature.
Greed and possession has nearly destroyed our way of life all the way down to the family level. No longer are we content with the way our lives are but we are constantly striving for what we want them to be. We want them to be what dreams are made of. Reality is that our families are our dreams, not the size of our bank accounts…
Your comment is right on topic. People who have near death experiences or people who are suffering from a terminal illness are given the chance to view life from a perspective the rest of us so often fail to see. Life and time is important and should be cherished. But how often do we sacrifice that all important time for such blatantly greedy and selfish reasons?