Regret:
“I miss doing the work that I love.”
“I don’t think retiring is for me. I want to go back to teaching.”
“I’m not sure what to do with my time. I feel lost.”
Identity:
“Fear of losing my identity created over a lifetime.”
“People do not see you anymore.”
“Feelings of rejection — internalized, not voiced.”
"You can retire from your career, but you can’t retire from life."
As you actively pursue what you enjoy doing in service of yourself, your family, and your community, think about whether that activity allows you to answer “yes” to any combination of those four questions:
Are you doing an activity that you love?
Are you good at it?
Does the world need what you offer?
Can you get paid for doing it?
Japanese neuroscientist and happiness expert Ken Mogi also suggests considering if the activity has the five pillars that further allow your ikigai to thrive:
Does the activity allow you to start small and improve over time?
Does the activity allow you to release yourself?
Does the activity pursue harmony and sustainability?
Does the activity allow you to enjoy the little things?
Does the activity allow you to focus on the here and now?
Photos courtesy Unsplash
Thinking You can retire to Arizona where... 1. You are willing to park three blocks away from your house because you found shade. 2. You've experienced condensation on your rear-end from the hot water in the toilet bowl. 3. You can drive for four hours in one direction and never leave town. 4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food. 5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door at 500 degrees. 6. The four seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME?? -OR- You can retire to California where... 1. You make over $450,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house. 2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway 3. You know how to eat an artichoke. 4. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is. 5. The four seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud and Drought. -OR- You can retire to New York City where... 1 You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan. 2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map. 3. You think Central Park is "nature." 4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multilingual. 5. You've worn out a car horn. (IF you have a car.) 6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression -OR- You can retire to Minnesota where... 1. You only have three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup 2. Halloween costumes have to fit over parkas. 3. You have seventeen recipes for a casserole. 4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons. 5. The four seasons are: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road repair. -OR- You can retire to The Deep South where. 1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store. 2 "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural. 3. "He needed killin " is a valid defense. 4. Everyone has two first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Joe Bob, Betty Jean, etc. 5. Everything is either: "in yonder," "over yonder" or "out yonder." 6. You can say anything about anyone, as long as you say "Bless his heart" at the end! -OR- You can move to Colorado where... 1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car. 2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home, so he stops at the day care center. 3. A pass does not involve a football or dating. 4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail . -OR- You can retire to Nebraska or Kansas where.. 1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name. 2. Your idea of a traffic jam is three cars waiting to pass a tractor. 3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day. 4. You end every sentence with a preposition; "Where's my coat at?" -OR- FINALLY you can retire to Florida where... 1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon. 2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind - even houses and cars. 3. Everyone can recommend an excellent cardiologist, dermatologist, proctologist, podiatrist, or orthopedist. 4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state. 5. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.
Thanks to Lyanne C. for the humor!
Perfect timing!
Many people are retiring at this time of the year and this advice will help many. I worked with a Secret Service team of five investigators.
Rebecca Simpson and Jessica Fukishura were the first to announce their retirement and I knew work would never be the same. Rebecca opened her own investigation service in Santa Barbara with her life partner Dr. Penelope Barker. The three kind of created a domino effect but I was like what is mentioned above, I had no idea what to do or if I could retire early.
As it turned out I could leave early with full benefits thanks to Jessica's interceding and I joined their firm along with Jason Spencer.
Check out your options early so you are don't put yourself in the predicament I was in.
"Why home ownership is not the key to a comfortable retirement."
"Relying on home equity to fund your retirement can be dangerous, especially if you’re unable to save little else. Before entering the market, Ms. Chung says it’s important her clients understand the ramifications now and in the future."
Read the rest of the advice.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/retirement/article-homeowners-using-home-equity-fund-retirement-plan/
A house on Hillside Ave. in Toronto’s west end on May 18.FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
"Here’s how much the average working boomer has saved for retirement."
I remember on one of my visits home, I think I was about 30, my folks talked about retirement. I told them I was confident the Secret Service pension would be adequate. They were not impressed and convinced me to invest. I took their advice and after ten years I bought the Santa Barbara Ranch to where Penelope and I retired. Thanks Mom and Dad.
"The first is a survey of 1,000 working Americans conducted recently showing much, or little, they have saved for retirement. And the picture isn’t so much bleak as devastating.
Less than half of those surveyed have saved $100,000: Not even close to enough to support a median income of around $40,000 a year in retirement. One in six say they have saved nothing. A third are currently making no contributions. And it’s not just the young, who do at least have decades to make up the ground. Respondents who are still working, with a median age of 60, have average savings of around $112,000.
One quarter of those surveyed, and 30% of millennials, said they were planning to rely on “cryptocurrencies” to finance some of their golden years. Yes, good luck with that. Meanwhile the crypto bubble continues to deflate. The survey was conducted on behalf of home financing and real estate website Anytime Estimate.
Probably the saddest part of the survey was that around 80% of people expected to see their living standards fall in retirement, while 10% feared they wouldn’t be able to retire at all.
For those who are young, the only answers are to save more, save earlier, and invest better—which usually means investing in long-term assets like stocks and keeping your costs low.
Those who are older don’t have that luxury. In most cases they will need to rely on Social Security providing the bulk of their retirement income."
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-much-the-average-working-boomer-has-saved-for-retirement-11655923201