I know some people who say they don’t know what they would do if they were retired. My experience tells me that you will, or can be, very busy. Busy, but busy doing exactly what you want to.
I remember deciding to retire and told my wife that I would always drop her a card from exotic destinations all over the world. She didn’t see the humor. She knew that there might be a chance that I would do that very thing. The day I retired - she retired.
My wife and I found that there is another choice; other than moving or staying. You can stay and move at the same time. No, it doesn’t seem to logically follow, but it is true. Here is what we did.
One of the early decisions one can make when retiring is where to live. You are no longer bound by your job to live in one particular place. For the first time in your life you can really choose where to live.
On the last podcast I set out Spinoza's thoughts concerning happiness as a possible rule to follow. Recall that Spinoza advised us to realize that happiness lies in the movement from a state of lesser perfection to yet that of a greater one.
This is a revisited performance of the second episode ever aired on this podcast entitled "What Now". I have made some changes that might better clarify and illustrate the topic. "What Now" of course relates to retiring and what comes after that. Some of us have big dreams.
This past week I came across an article about two folks - age 71 and 68 - who sold their house, sold their worldly possessions and bought a ticket to ride. They have decided to live house free during their retirement years.
When should I retire is a question we all consider if we are lucky. I wrote about this topic in the very first podcast of Retirement Talk. It seemed fitting. That was 15 years ago. I'm wondering If my thinking may have changed. I hope I've learned something during this period.
Of course we do eat to live but many of us find that living to eat certainly has attraction. We do this for no other reason than enjoyment. It is hard to find fault. We just have to remember to control the quantity.
We grandparents, we elders, pass on the responsibility of learning to another generation and hope for the best. We hope we have done our job in an effective fashion. One last challenge lies ahead. We have to let go.