Retirement Envy
November 3, 2008 – 8:03 amEnvy is a tough thing to combat, especially if the thing you envy is not completely tangible. A coworker of mine told me last week that he has decided to retire, at the age of 56. I quickly found myself envying him. After all retiring at 56 is still extremely early by most standards, especially considering that a lot of people may have to work until they pass away. It’s also impressive that he and his wife made this decision even given the economic storm we’re experiencing. The only thing I can assume is that this move has been in progress for a while, and perhaps his investments were insulated from the recent stock market issues.
This coworker wasn’t a close friend, so I couldn’t ask him any of the detailed questions I wanted to. He did offer up three comments though:
- “our investments did well and we’re in a position where we can retire”
- “well, we didn’t have any kids which helped”
- “I’m going to retire while I’m still healthy enough to enjoy it”
My dad used to say that retirement didn’t make much sense. He though that people shouldn’t have to work (much) until age 30, and then they should work until they passed away. I like my coworkers thought that you should retire, if possible, when you’re still healthy enough to enjoy it. This could mean sacrifices and less “luxuries” like fancy vacations or big homes. The flip side is that you’ll be healthy enough to run around, exercise outside, and play with the grand kids in your (smaller) home.
I also realized upon further reflection that kids are definately going to replace my goal fo an early (possible) retirement. I’m a little bitter about that, because I’m very selfish by nature. [begin pity party] I’ve been working hard to save and invest for a decade and now two little (probably crying) humans are going to slow down our plan. [end pity party.] I’m willing to give up this goal, or at a minimum set new more realistic goals now that my family will be doubling. We can’t take it with us anyway, so much like Bob over at ChristianPF.com I’m not sure that “retiring” may be in the plan at all. I will still plan and save for the future, but my future is going to change is ways I can’t comprehend in the next 9 months (read: 15,000 diapers between birth and potty-training for twins), and I doubt I’ll ever come home and think about how I wish I had given up having kids.
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3 Responses to “Retirement Envy”
Dude, don’t get so down
! Kids on the way is awesome, and by no means a reason to be down about retiring early. I think rather than saying kids will “replace” your plans for early retirement, you should say “delay”. And yes, that early retirement means giving up a lot of fun stuff now 
.
Believe me, I’m about as selfish as they come, and it hurts to give up all the cool stuff my other friends are doing. But it’s motivating to see that they’re all now in debt that they will be paying off way into the future, while I plan to live debt free with no payments. What has really helped me and my wife is sticking to a written, cash-flow budget and using cash for all but bills and gas. Helps keep the spending down, which means more money to save away.
If you need a financial boost go to a Dave Ramsey LIVE! event. I HIGHLY recommend his stuff! If you’re not motivated after listening to him, you have some issues
! My wife and I went through is Financial Peace University class as part of our pre-marital counseling and it definitely changed our lives for the better. Now I’m not saying I agree 100% with everything he teaches, but pretty darn close.
By Justin "TheNightTrader" on Nov 3, 2008
Thanks for the encouragement and advice. Perhaps this post cast me is more of a depressed light than I expected.
I am very excited to see what happens and the family size doubles, and I’m sure it’s a gift from God!
By todd on Nov 5, 2008