Month: July 2018

HI everyone!

Ok, one more from Roatan! Just as I finished up writing my last blog, I realized that I needed to mention one other lesson learned from my discussion with the resort managers which I talked about in my blog on July 14, 2018. And that is, he, as an engineering teacher, truly did love his job. He didn’t feel a need to retire to get away from it, and he probably would have kept on working for at least several more years at it if the extended opportunity to present fun, ecological seminars didn’t present itself.

His wife, however, was absolutely ready to retire when the opportunity presented itself. I understood from her reaction that she wanted to retire definitively and was very happy about this chance.

So, all this is to say, if you love your job and don’t want to or don’t have to retire, then you absolutely don’t have to! If retirement is all about doing what you want and what you love, and if you are already doing it, then there is no reason to change! When and if the time is right for whatever reason, you will be able to take the plunge at that time.

But if you definitely feel the tug to retire in the next few years, and if your finances will allow for it, I encourage you to start the process of planning for what is next! It is actually a fun and interesting process…with lots of discoveries ahead!

Of course, planning for the financially part is definitely important.  As I said in the beginning, I do not have retirement financial expertise and we relied on a financial planner significantly. If you have a 401(k) or other retirement plan at work, I recommend you talk to one of their advisors or seek private planners; but even if the money part is not ready yet, thinking ahead and implementing some of your desires for retirement now, even before your retirement,  pave the way.   There are lots of things you can start now to make things very enjoyable. Remember as we have said, the brainstorming and list making  we have talked about is great for helping to make both your NOW and THEN be what you want it to be!

Take care and happy planning! Come back next time when we will talk from the angle of being in the middle of work time still!

Mary

Welcome back!

Today I thought I would just summarize my “lessons learned” during my Roatan vacation! It was a great experience for me, and an eye-opener! I hope my list of lessons learned helps you to sort through some of your ideas about your retirement planning. They may or may not apply directly to you, but they hopefully will help you to think about whether they do apply, whether the opposite applies, or something in between.

 – While I want time freedom, I also need some structure.
 –  Writing out my thoughts has helped gel what I am thinking I want my retirement to be, and to sort through some of the little things that I hadn’t really considered before.
 – Even though Dave was diving for most of our time here, I realized that, in real life, he and I will be together more than we ever had been. We need to make our relationship as a couple be a high priority.
-  Though I haven’t written about it yet, even though our “coupleness” is important, our individuality is also important, so we need to be sure those needs are also planned for.
 – I want to take time to grow my relationship with my daughters and granddaughters, using the time I still have to leave a legacy of family, faith, responsible living, fun and love.
-  I want to grow my own relationship with Jesus Christ more fully, so I live in great anticipation of who I will meet when He finally calls me home!

I hope more ideas than these have been flowing through your mind as you have walked through this set of my blogs! These all come from when I had the time to really think. I hope you have that same opportunity, but even if you can’t get away for a week right now or in the near future, try to block out an hour or so just for you each week and write down your thoughts. Remember, neither your list nor general “thoughts” journals need to be shared with anyone unless you want to, and you are not committing yourself to anything by writing them…you are just starting the process of making sure you don’t wake up on your first retired morning and saying “Now what?” OR, even if your retirement is a ways down the road, these times to think and write things down will help you so you don’t wake up one morning and realize you aren’t doing anything you want to do other than work, eat, sleep, repeat. Writing things down is VERY empowering to help you get your sights set on what you want to accomplish in your life, both before AND after retirement!

There will be one more blog from my Roatan experience after this, but after that, my next blogs will be from when I am back in the trenches of real life…work, home, etc. But, the day I went back to work after my Roatan vacation it was 7 months till my Retirement Date in October (but from date of actual posting, is only about 2.5 months!) That will hopefully keep me going!

Take care!
Mary

Hello everyone, and welcome back!

The day I wrote this was our last full day in Roatan. So that means settling up accounts, packing, and doing the last stuff we want to do. It was wonderful break, full of discovery for me, full of diving for Dave.

As I was paying the bill at the dive shop, the resort managers were there on the dock, and I started talking with them. They are a 60-something couple who I knew hadn’t been there as managers too long. I asked them how long and found out about THEIR retirement story…and since it is interesting and proves up something that I think is good to realize, I wanted to tell you some of their story today.

The husband-manager was an engineering teacher for 35 years. The wife-manager was the administrator of a crisis teen center. In their later years they started learning about ecology, and got involved with a seminar group, speaking around the world about those issues. That brought them to the attention of the resort we were at, along with having come here as guests and “mentioning” they might consider retirement sometime in the near future. They got a call from the resort a few years ago reminding them of their retirement remark and were asked if they might be ready to retire now… and if they could come to host the seahorse festival during the entire month of November. They decided it was a great opportunity and so they did retire. The invitation then expanded to some other time frames so that they eventually spent about 12 weeks a year here doing special fun educational events.

Next up, they were asked if they would like to live in Roatan full time and MANAGE the resort! Quite the turn of events! They agreed and have been here now about 5 months full time.

I think this interesting story shows that, even if you retire, you may end up with other opportunities presenting themselves!

I really don’t think this is the end of their retirement story, however, based on our conversation. They are enjoying their role, but he remarked that he realized he really is not “retired” any more, since this managerial position for them both is a 24/7 situation, with lots to do to keep things running, improvements to make, etc. My personal opinion is this might last a couple of years, then perhaps they will go back to their fun ecological education seminars when they want to do them….OR, who knows?

The point is, retirement means a lot of different things to people. I don’t think too many of today’s retirees think of the old traditional “rocking on the front porch” version of this period in their lives anymore. I certainly don’t! My list shows that I have lots of plans for my “golden years!” I hope your list is helping you define what you want your retirement to be! And, if rocking on the porch sounds divine to you, that is great! But I think this story of these resort managers shows that retirement may change over time, from slower paced to a little more active to perhaps a whole new career, and back again! Keep your mind open to possibilities and to what you want to make of your retirement!

More next time, see you then and have a wonderful rest of your day!
Mary